Anker Soundcore Space One review
At $99 the question is never "is this as good as a $449 headphone". It's "which $350 worth of improvement am I giving up, and will I notice it on my commute". Short answer: you'll notice two things, and for most people neither is decisive.
Verdict
The best argument against spending $400. Buy it if you want ANC for an office or a bus and don't fly long-haul monthly. Skip it if engine drone is your main enemy, or if you take calls in windy streets.
ANC: good at the easy thing, weak at the hard thing
Cancelling office chatter, keyboard clatter and the hum of a fridge — that it does well, and it's the reason to buy. Cancelling the low-frequency drone of an aircraft cabin or a diesel bus — that it does only partly. The difference is not subtle on a four-hour flight: the rumble stays present, and you end up raising volume, which is worse for your ears than paying more.
This is the single most predictable disappointment in budget ANC headphones, and it is the reason our flagship recommendation exists alongside this one rather than replacing it.
Sound and the app EQ
Stock tuning is V-shaped: boosted bass, lifted treble. That suits pop and podcasts and can sound harsh on acoustic material until you EQ it. The app's EQ works and persists, and a modest bass reduction plus a small 4 kHz cut gets it to a neutral-ish response. In this price bracket, app EQ is a genuine feature, not a checkbox — several competitors lock theirs behind presets.
Comfort and build
At roughly 260 g with soft pads, it is comfortable for a two-hour session and starts to warm up around hour three. The headband padding is thinner than on flagship models, which shows up as a pressure point if you have a larger head. The hinge folds, and the case is included — unusual at $99.
Not into "sound quality" in the abstract. It goes into low-frequency ANC depth, microphone arrays for calls, better earpad materials that stay comfortable past hour three, and firmware teams that fix bugs. You can hear all four, but only the first is decisive for most buyers.
Call quality is the real weak point
Indoors, callers report you sound clear. Outdoors with wind, the mics struggle and callers describe you as distant or muffled. If your job involves walking meetings or street calls, this alone justifies spending more.
Who should buy it
Buy if your noise problem is people, not engines; if you want folding portability and 40+ hours of battery; and if $99 is the budget you actually have rather than the one you wish you had.
Skip if you fly regularly, take calls outdoors, or wear headphones more than four hours a day — the comfort and microphone gaps are exactly where the money went in the more expensive models.
Buy it because
- Effective against office and household noise
- 40+ h battery, folds, case included
- Working EQ in the app
- A quarter of flagship price
Skip it if
- You fly often — weak low-frequency ANC
- Calls outdoors matter to you
- You need all-day comfort
- You want LDAC-class codecs (AAC/SBC only)
FAQ
Does it support LDAC?
No — SBC and AAC only. On Android you won't get hi-res codecs; on iPhone this is irrelevant since Apple uses AAC anyway.
Can it connect to two devices?
Yes, multipoint for two devices, though switching is slower than on flagship models.
Is it good for glasses?
Reasonable. Pads are soft enough that temple arms don't create a hard pressure point, but the seal — and therefore ANC — degrades slightly.
Related: Best headphones under $100 · Sony WH-1000XM6 review