These Anker Soundcore Headphones Are Now Almost 50% Off
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 headphones are down to $44.99 from the regular $79.99. That’s nearly half the price of a pair of noise-canceling headphones that earned PCMag our Editors’ Choice and Best Budget Headphones of 2022 awards.
Available in black , blue , green , purple and white , these IPX4-rated headphones have a rounded design that fits easily into your ears without the need for earbuds. You get five sizes of silicone ear tips in the box (from XS to XL), so finding the right fit shouldn’t be difficult. You get AAC, LDAC and SBC codec support, which covers most users, although AptX is missing. If you’re an Android user who prefers AptX, this may be a drawback, but most won’t notice the difference.
Their 10mm dynamic drivers provide a frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz. Bass is deep without distortion at high volumes, and highs remain clear. If you like to customize your sound, the Soundcore app allows you to customize the equalizer. There are built-in presets such as Soundcore Signature and Bass Booster, but you can also manually adjust the eight-band equalizer to suit your preferences.
The touch controls (built into the outer bezels of each earbud) are a mixed bag. They work, but the default layout isn’t great, and there’s a slight delay between tap and action, PCMag’s review noted. You can double-tap the left earbud to play/pause, the right one to skip forward, and hold either one to switch between ANC modes. If you want volume controls, track navigation, or voice assistant triggers to be assigned to different gestures, you’ll have to set them up in the app.
As for ANC, at this price it’s impressive, but not flawless. Space A40 cuts out low-frequency sounds well. High frequencies, such as the clatter of dishes or the chatter of voices, are not completely suppressed, but the headphones still noticeably muffle them. On the plus side, you can customize the noise cancellation in the app, choosing between adaptive and manual settings. Plus, the battery life is quite long – you get 10 hours on a single charge (with noise canceling turned off) and up to 50 hours with the case. Even with active noise cancellation enabled, you’ll get about eight hours – enough for daily use.
If you’re considering alternatives with better water resistance, you might want to check out the Jabra Elite 7 Active ($179.99).