Soundcore Space One Pro: A powerful bass attack on the upper class

The Anker brand Soundcore actually stands for affordable audio products. But with the Space One Pro over-ear headphones presented at IFA, Anker wants to compete with premium manufacturers. We tested whether the 200-euro headphones live up to Anker's claim.

The headphones are made of plastic, metal and foam covered in artificial leather. For transportation, the Space One Pro can be folded up very small for over-ear headphones, as the ear cups can be folded and twisted in. A carrying bag is included in the scope of delivery. The headphones with their large and quite deep ear pads are comfortable to wear even after long periods of listening to music.

It's a matter of taste whether you want to wear the Space One Pro for long periods of time, as the bass range is extremely powerful ex works. The higher the frequency, the less space the Anker headphones give it. Bass fans get their money's worth, because the Space One Pro plays the bass range extremely powerfully right into the sub-bass range. However, the tuning can become tiring when listening to podcasts for longer periods of time. You also have to use the app to teach the headphones some manners for consciously listening to music of many genres other than electro. The "Bass Reducer" preset makes the Space One Pro sound much more balanced. You can also fine-tune the sound yourself using the equalizer. It is pleasing that the adjustments in the app actually have a significant effect on the sound. However, if you value a bell-clear treble reproduction, you won't be happy with the Soundcore headphones, even with the help of the app.

Effective ANC

The active noise cancellation is particularly effective at combating ambient noise when it is constant. Train, airplane and car traffic reach the ear much more quietly, and in combination with quiet music you can block out such background noise completely. Voices, on the other hand, can still be heard – sometimes even more clearly, for example when they are no longer masked by the noise of the train, which is suppressed by the ANC. The Anker headphones are not alone in having this problem. A Sony WH-1000XM4 used for comparison, which is now also available for around 200 euros, takes away a little more body from the voices so that they penetrate more thinly through the ANC curtain and additional music can mask them better. The transparency mode, which is also implemented and mixes the ambient noise with the music, is also a good feature. If you pause the music, you can also hold short conversations with the headphones on your ears.

During phone calls, the headphones transmit your voice clearly but somewhat thinly, which is due to the Bluetooth transmission. The Anker headphones effectively combat ambient noise and hardly transmit it to the other person.

The headphones make contact with playback devices via Bluetooth 5.3 and understand the AAC, SBC and LDAC codecs. They can also connect to two playback devices simultaneously via multipoint Bluetooth. Anker estimates the battery life at 40 hours with ANC and 60 hours without. The headphones can also be used with the supplied jack cable. ANC and transparency mode still work, but the microphone is not passed through. The USB-C port is only used for charging.

Conclusion

The Soundcore Space Pro One is well made, can be folded up small for traveling and scores with effective ANC, pleasant transparency mode and multipoint Bluetooth. Whether you spend 200 euros on it or not should be determined first and foremost by its characteristic sound. Bass lovers will get their money's worth, while those who prefer a more neutral sound tuning with plenty of detail will probably be happier with (more expensive) alternatives such as the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2.

(rbr)