Soundcore Space One Pro Review: I Wish the Noise Canceling Was More Powerful

Have you ever encountered a product with so much potential that a slight improvement in a few areas would make it perfect? Soundcore’s recently released Space One Pros, the successor to its Space One headphones, are that product for me. Priced at $200, these over-ear headphones completely nail almost every department: long-lasting battery life, intuitively designed controls, and great sound. However, these headphones from Anker’s audio sub-brand do fall short in delivering powerful noise cancellation and a snug fit.

It’s uncommon for over-ear headphones to be loose on me. The adjustment band almost always offers enough levels for one to be comfortable enough, so I was taken aback by how many times I had to manually readjust the Space One Pros on my noggin. The noise-cancelling wasn’t terrible, but it lacked the power and efficiency to cancel intensely enough and transport me to a vacuum.

Soundcore Space One Pro Review: Design and Fit

Soundcore’s flagship headphones sport a pretty modest design that’s far from flashy or ostentatious. You’re looking at a matte plastic body with minimal company branding on the earcups’ exterior, thick foam ear cups, and a generously padded headband with leather coating. I don’t mind a modest body as long as it’s well-built. The Space One Pros don’t feel flimsy; they’re quite sturdy and robust and do justice to their midrange price. They’re also fully foldable, making them easily stowable in my little tote bag.  

The Space One Pros feature a fit so flexible that they cross into loose. I used these as my headphones for a few days, which involved wearing them on my way to and from work. As I walked briskly through the chaotic Manhattan streets, the headphones would often start sliding backward until they’d be sitting almost on the back of my head, just waiting to slip off. I had to manually adjust their fit by bringing them forward, which isn’t just bothersome but also ruins my hair. 

Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

The headphones’ adjustment band is also looser than I’d like. It doesn’t feature markings or a tactile interface that lets you see the increments you’re adjusting. Just folding or unfolding the headphones would often move the headband’s position. This didn’t affect me too much since I’d always use them on their smallest setting, but it would be fairly irritating for someone who likes to keep their headphones at a very specific setting. 

The only silver lining is that the loose, easy fit does make it easy to wear these for extended periods, though. If I could ignore them sliding off my head every 10 minutes, that would be great. 

Soundcore Space One Pro Review: Controls

It took me a while to learn each button’s job on these headphones, but once I had learned that, it was fairly easy to navigate everything from playback and calls to volume using the onboard controls. I was very happy to see the right earcup sports a volume rocker. On over-ear headphones like these with a lot of real estate to work with, I’m usually okay with swiping up and down for volume control (the Sony Ult Wear handles that perfectly). Still, the reliability and tactility of physical buttons are unmatched. The same earcup also offers a playback button that handles accepting, declining, and rejecting calls apart from, of course, playing and pausing your content. The left earcup handles powering the headphones on/off and cycling between noise-canceling and ambient mode. 

Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

That’s a lot of buttons, and it would have been far more confusing if Soundcore hadn’t differentiated them with a different feel and size. The volume rocker is elongated and is easy to tell apart from the playback button just by rummaging your finger on it. On the other earcup, the power button has been given a slightly stubbier size, and it sports a bumped-out power icon so your fingers can tell it apart from the smoother ANC button on the same cup. 

Pressing the buttons doesn’t provide voice prompts but has dedicated tones for each action performed. It took me just around two days to get used to the tones. 

Soundcore Space One Pro Review: Sound and ANC

The default sound on the Space One Pros sounded a little thick for my taste, but it was nothing that playing around on the companion app, Soundcore, couldn’t fix. I chose the Treble Boost preset, which added more brightness and airiness to the orchestra. Though the headphones are already quite low-end heavy, you can press the ANC button twice to boost the bass. It’s exactly like the bass boost button on the Sony Ult Wear, except it boosts it only once. Pressing it again will take you back to your default sound. But really, all this button did was add unnecessary thump to my music that started hurting my head after a while. It wasn’t done well enough to retain the clarity and detail, making most songs sound muddy and overly thick. I can imagine the mode working for when you’re at the gym, and all you care about is your rock playlist sounding as punchy as possible without worrying too much about audio quality.

Though there is a long list of presets on the Space One Pros, most of them aren’t gimmicky. The podcast preset emphasized the midrange in the song I was listening to, and the Treble Reducer instantly took some of the balance that I managed to achieve by tweaking the presets. This is a highly subjective area, so my preference may not be yours, but Classical was the preset I enjoyed the most. I felt it did the most justice to the song by staying true to its intended sound.

The Space One Pros boast a unique four-stage noise canceling system. Stage 1 detects noise, Stage 2 provides a noise filter, Stage 3 cancels out noise in real-time, and Stage 4 amplifies the noise canceling. While the noise canceling wasn’t bad, it didn’t match the extraordinary claims made by the company. It was decent but not outstanding. The sound of the Subway while walking over its vents, which I have found one of the most difficult noises to cancel, was merely reduced, not canceled. I could hear my caller just a little better, but I wasn’t placed in a vacuum far away from the sounds of the city. With noise that wasn’t as harsh as the Subway, such as passersby on the street, my coworkers in the office, and my flatmate cooking in the kitchen while I was in the room next to it, were all canceled fairly decent. 

Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

Soundcore Space One Pro: Battery and Other Features

Battery-wise, you’re looking at 40 hours with noise canceling on and 60 hours without. Those are higher than standard figures on most over-ear headphones. Usually, headphones this size offer around 30 to 40 hours. Quick charging on the Space One Pros give you eight hours of playback after five minutes of charging. 

Photo: Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo

The Space One Pros can connect to two devices at the same time, which is always an appreciated feature as it saves you the time and effort of manually switching between your laptop and phone. An Easy Chat option automatically lowers your content’s volume when it detects you’re in a conversation with someone. Apple calls this feature Conversation Awareness, and we recently saw it on its latest AirPods 4. Make sure the Easy Chat toggle is enabled on the companion app, though; it isn’t activated by default. It was a pleasant surprise to see a sidetone mode on these headphones. When enabled on the app, this mode allows you to hear your own sound during a call. You might want to briefly enable it to ensure your voice is coming through okay during an important meeting or at the start of an intense gaming session.

Soundcore Space One Pro Review: Verdict

The ANC worked harder at reducing the noise than it did canceling it. I struggled to listen to my calls even when the mode was enabled. Fit-wise, the leatherette on the headband was constantly trying to slide off my head to the point where I would have to manually readjust it repeatedly.

I was a fan of the bright and airy sound on the Space One Pros, even if that came after a little tweaking on the companion app. The default sound was slightly thick for me, but it could be how someone likes their music. In fact, I wouldn’t mind that at the gym, too. Easy, intuitive controls are essential to the headphones experience, and the Space One Pros aced that. You’re given a dedicated physical button for every action, and they’re all differentiated by either size, feel, or shape. Some bells and whistles, such as sidetone mode and easy chat, are also offered on these headphones. The Space One Pros definitely feature more positive aspects than flaws, but some of its flaws are too crucial to ignore. I don’t see myself using these as my everyday headphones because I need the loud, chaotic sounds of New York City completely silenced, not just reduced.