Big bass with good noise cancellation
The $199.99 Soundcore Space One Pro headphones are Anker’s effort to push the brand upstream in the noise-cancellation market. At twice the price of their predecessors, they match the original’s comfortable fit, long battery life, bass-forward sound, and high-quality codec support while improving noise cancellation. We like that they offer wireless and wired listening, but we wish they came with a protective hardshell case and other improvements to justify the much higher price. The Soundcore Space One headphones are still available and provide an almost identical experience for $100 less. In this price range, we recommend the $199 Urbanista Los Angeles; the headphones were recently updated and we haven’t tested them, but the original earned our Editors’ Choice award for their excellent audio, good noise cancellation, and solar-powered charging.Design: A Lightweight Build With Simple Controls
The Soundcore Space One Pro headphones have a slightly different design compared with the original, but the family resemblance remains. They come in two colors: Cream White or Jet Black. We received the Jet Black model for review.
Thanks to pleasing soft-touch leather on the earcups and headband, they look and feel more upscale than Anker’s typical headphones. They’re not the sturdiest pair I’ve reviewed, but the plastics avoid feeling cheap.
The plastic build has an advantage: less weight. With the padded leather and lightweight build, the headphones are comfortable to wear for hours at a time. They stay on my head firmly, even during movement, without causing a headache.
In addition, the headphones fold up and the earcups can swivel flat. They are compact when folded, which makes them easier to slide into a backpack or bag.
On the left earcup, you’ll find the USB-C port and the 3.5mm audio jack, along with the power button and a button for toggling noise cancellation. These controls are tiny but work well. The play/pause button and a volume rocker are on the right earcup. You can skip forward by holding the volume up for two seconds and back by doing the same on the volume down toggle. A quick press of the play/pause button answers and ends calls, while a two-second press rejects them.
You can customize some of the controls. For example, you can double-press the noise cancellation button to trigger the BassUp preset or select which noise modes the button cycles between (Noise Cancellation, Transparency, and Normal). The controls are fairly intuitive.
Internally, 40mm dynamic drivers can deliver audio between 20Hz and 20kHz. The headphones connect via Bluetooth 5.3 and support Google Fast Pair and multipoint for up to two simultaneous connections. They can stream music using the AAC, SBC, and high-resolution LDAC codecs, which is nice to see. The older Space One headphones also support LDAC.
