Anker Soundcore Space One Pro review: Great mid-range beats

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Anker has made a huge business with its super-affordable Soundcore range: speakers, earbuds and headphones that undercut the prices of mainstream options not just by a few percentage points, but sometimes by huge margins.

But like many other manufacturers making affordable devices, the company has also seen the appeal of raising prices slightly, for those who are happy to pay – and is starting to expand its offering with more premium options.

Case in point: the new Soundcore Space One Pro headphones, reviewed here, the most expensive ever produced under the Soundcore name. After using them for a few weeks, they can justify their price tag and be considered one of the best the best headphones?

Anker Soundcore Space One Pro: price and availability

Anker may be more expensive than usual, but that doesn’t mean the price here is truly premium. Instead, the Space One Pro costs £149.99 / $199.99 / €199.99, and they’ve been available since early September.

That price is slightly higher than the original Space Onewhich arrived last year but still provides a distinctly mid-range price point, albeit for headphones that want to compete with more expensive options.

Anker Soundcore Space One Pro review: What’s new?

When it comes to pointing out the differences between the older Space One and these new Space One Pro headphones, you could be forgiven for needing a magnifying glass.

There are some tweaks to the design, including a folding mechanism that allows them to be stored even smaller. However, you’ll have to pay extra to get the open-sided carrying case we received for review as it’s not included.

On the technical side, however, things aren’t drastically different on the surface, but there are improvements. There are now more microphones for both calling and better active noise cancellation (ANC), plus an improvement in sound quality. Still, the price jump is interesting considering the relatively small list of upgrades.

Anker Soundcore Space One Pro review: Design and features

The Soundcore Space One Pro may look similar to its predecessor at first glance, but we think it’s a better-looking headset in terms of design, bearing the fruits of a year’s worth of tweaks. They’re still available in the attractive cream color we tested, as well as a black option.

Speaking of tweaks, the earcup design has become a little smoother and less divided into rings or layers – it’s now pleasantly cohesive (if a little less unique). However, the headband remains almost exactly the same, without that being a problem; it’s still soft and muted.

Those earcups themselves are very lightweight, thanks to an almost entirely plastic construction that makes the headphones super light. This translates directly into an extremely comfortable experience on the head – we happily wore them for hours without any pain or strain, and they are among the most comfortable over-ears we’ve ever tried.

Extending the headband is very simple and smooth, making the right fit easy to achieve, and there are handy buttons on the earcup to control your audio. These include a play/pause option, volume keys, a switch for ANC and a power button – and these are all much preferable to touch controls in our opinion. That said, the buttons are a bit plasticky and flimsy.

The lack of a carrying case in the box is also a shame, with an extra £29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99 required if you want to buy one from Anker – given the price increase over the last generation this would would have been a nice extra to throw in.

In terms of storage, these headphones fold very well, with easy-to-use hinges that let you collapse them into an almost ball-like shape that’s perfect for slipping into a bag or case.

In terms of functionality, Anker has packed a fair amount into the Space One Pro, much of which can be explored once you install the Soundcore app and connect everything up. You get EQ control, which is a must for some people, plus the ability to adjust settings like head detection and Easy Chat (which detects conversations and automatically lowers your audio volume).

These work pretty well, although in the case of Easy Chat we generally still default to taking our headphones off to talk to someone (that’s just us). You can also limit volumes for security reasons, and there’s a nice set of questions you can answer to assign a custom sound signature to suit you if doing it all manually seems like a faff.

Battery life is 40 hours with ANC enabled, or 60 hours with ANC disabled (the only difference from the Space One is an additional five hours of battery life without ANC). That held up during our testing and is again an extremely impressive marker compared to some more expensive options that don’t come close to the same level of longevity.

Anker Soundcore Space One Pro review: Sound and performance

Anker Soundcore’s reputation is built entirely on the premise that you can get sound quality that would fool an audiophile into thinking you paid a lot more than you paid for your device – and that’s quite a tough bar to clear if you’re charging triple digits for some devices. headphones.

Without being able to rely on incredibly low prices, the Soundcore Space One Pro should really excel. That is not rather the word we would use after listening to music for hours on end. That’s not to say they aren’t great – they just aren’t excellent.

With some Chappell Roan to sample the day’s biggest newcomer, the Space One Pro does very well with its piercing vocals and interesting arrangements, and heading into Jungle’s latest album, it delivers some impressive warmth as well.

Where it isn’t so top-notch, however, is in the detail, and that can cause a small but noticeable muddiness on busier circuits. This may be nitpicking, as we certainly agree that the audio on offer here is extremely solid for their price, but if you’re looking for a crazy bargain then you might be disappointed.

As far as ANC goes, things are again impressive, but not outstanding – you get decent damping in loud environments, but not for Bose QuietComfort Ultra levels. We used them on a few long-distance trips and the way they quieted things down was fine, comparable to the capabilities of the Cambridge Melomania P100.

That cushioning matched really well with how comfortable these cans are, so if you’re looking the best travel headphones but don’t want to spend a fortune, Anker’s offering could be an ideal choice for travelers.

We also found that connectivity was very solid in most situations, with good Bluetooth range, and pairing was fast and reliable, without any issues or stutters.

Pronunciation

When we reviewed the original Space One headphones last year, the low price made it very difficult to overlook their flaws, but a price increase into the triple-digit arena for the Pro model has changed things a bit. These are still great headphones, and for the money we wouldn’t hesitate to give them a run for their money, just to be clear.

However, they aren’t the total steal that the first generation offered, and with much more competition in this price range, there are others making similarly compelling arguments. If you’re a Souncore loyalist you’ll no doubt love the Space One Pro, and they’re still very good value, but keeping an eye out for deals on more expensive competitors could be a valid alternative option. And it’s a shame that the case isn’t included.

Also consider

For a little more money you could pick up the recent one Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. Their sound quality is a bit superior in our opinion, and they feel much more premium, successfully replicating the experience of true flagship headphones (and they come with a good case).

For a super neutral sound signature and solid ANC for a similar price (which sounds funny when we’re talking Soundcore), Accentum Wireless from Sennheiser headphones are also a good alternative to try out.