Benefits
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It is relatively affordable
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Improved design with a more comfortable fit
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Great sound for the price
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Advanced adaptive noise cancellation
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Long battery life
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Integrated voice controls
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Strong noise reduction for voice calls
Evil
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My callers say that my voice sounds muffled when I speak
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Noise cancellation would be even better
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The 3D sound mode makes the sound quality even more difficult
Back in 2023, Anker released his Soundcore Space One noise canceling headphones. While I thought they were a good value at around $100, truth be told, I didn’t like them as much as they are popular headphones. They looked great on my head and gave good, if not great, performance across the board. They were a great budget alternative to more expensive headphones from Bose, Sony and Apple, but they were out of reach for the flagship models from those brands.
Anker’s new 2026 Soundcore Space 2 headphones ($130) are a definite improvement. Not only do they feature a sleeker, more comfortable design, but they also have improved sound and noise cancellation. About a quarter of the Sony’s $450 price WH-1000XM6 again Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2)they are a great, affordable alternative to those models. Although it’s more than a B-plus in overall performance, it earns an A rating in the value department.
Read more: The best headphones of 2026
Soundcore Space 2 design
Although the Space 2 weighs almost the same as the Space One (265 vs. 260.6 grams), it seems slimmer and faster. Anker has developed the ear pads to be soft memory foam, and the headphones are comfortable and fit securely on my head without excessive pressure.
They fold down and include a canvas-like carrying case, along with a USB-C cable and a 3.5mm cable for audio devices with a 3.5mm jack. While they don’t feature premium build quality, they look and feel more premium than the Space One.
The Soundcore Space 2 comes in three colors.
When it comes to controls, there’s a pause/play button and a volume rocker on the left ear cup (press and hold the volume up button to advance a track and press the volume down button to skip back). On the right ear cup, you’ll find a power/Bluetooth button and an “NC” button that lets you toggle between noise canceling and transparency modes. Long press the power button to access your phone’s voice assistant. You can also answer an incoming call with a single press on the same button or reject it with a long press. After a few days of use, you should get used to using the buttons by yourself, although at first I removed the headphones a few times to remind myself which buttons are which.
Features of Soundcore Space 2
Space 2 doesn’t have much in the way of extra features. However, they do support multi-point Bluetooth pairing and are equipped with in-ear sensors that pause your music when you take the headphones off and start playing when you put them back on (the feature must work on Soundcore’s compatible app for iOS and Android). Additionally, they have an “AI Chat” mode similar to Siri that is always on and allows you to use voice commands to control playback, or simply ask for the weather report and other information. This also needs to be activated in the app, after which saying, “Hey, Anka,” can be used for voice commands or asking questions.
The headphones fold up and fold down.
The app offers manual calibration settings to adjust the sound, as well as several presets and a HearID EQ setting that optimizes the sound in your ears based on a hearing test. On a more serious note, I was disappointed with the 3D sound mode in the “Sound Effects” setting in the app. It didn’t expand the soundstage or provide any kind of surround sound experience and actually made everything sound worse. Maybe it will be improved in a firmware update.
In terms of audio codecs, iPhone users get SBC and AAC. Android users have the added option of Sony’s high-quality LDAC for streaming via Bluetooth (it’s Bluetooth 6.1), assuming your device supports it, as many do.
While the headphones support analog wired listening via the included cable, there is no USB-C audio support. I was hoping they would.
Soundcore Space 2 noise cancellation functionality
The headphones offer improved dynamic noise cancellation over the Space One, with better noise cancellation of high frequency sounds. That said, while walking the streets of New York, I heard more sound at all frequencies than the Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra (Gen), and Apple AirPods Max 2. In other words, the noise cancellation is effective but not in the same league as what you get with the best ANC headphones. I would put it at B-plus, while the noise cancellation of those other models gets A-plus.
I wore them on the streets of New York with and without glasses.
Soundcore Space 2 sound quality
Out of the box, I thought the Space 2’s sound quality was pretty good using the default Soundcore Signature EQ, but I can’t say I was blown away. There’s decent clarity and definition with a wide soundstage, but there’s a bass push (which some people may enjoy), and the sound doesn’t sound as clean, natural or rich as what you get with high-end wireless headphones.
After taking Anker’s HearID hearing test in a quiet room, I compared my custom profile to the Soundcore Signature setting and felt a noticeable bump in sound quality. In my profile, the bass was dialed back a bit, the midrange a bit more, and there was a spike where the mids fell. Finally, another treble was clipped. It was kind of a modified U-shaped profile with some heft to it. I liked how it made the sound seem more balanced, with the bass tightened up a tad and a little edge removed from the highs.
The Baseus Inspire XH1 (left) costs about $100 and is a close competitor.
I Baseus Inspire XH1 are among Space 2’s closest competitors at the moment. That model, which costs about $100, has “Sound by Bose” and is overall a well-designed headphone that performs similarly overall. I like the sound of Baseus a lot. It also has a bass push, but the bass is more powerful, and the sound seems to be a little more complete (and the XH1s have more opening). But which sound you prefer will largely come down to a matter of taste. Note that the Inspire XH1 does not have in-ear sensors, but comes with a hard case instead of a bag.
In the end, if I didn’t have a bunch of better-sounding headphones to compare them to, I might have gotten an even higher praise for the Space 2’s sound, which is decent with a slight shake. I’d give them an A or A-minus for sound at this price ($130 and still not cheap), but a B-plus in the grand scheme of things.
Soundcore Space 2 voice drive performance and battery life
In my tests with callers on noisy New York streets, the headphones did a pretty good job of reducing background noise to near-silent, but callers said my voice sounded muffled — like I was talking through a thick shirt sleeve. I could hear the callers fine, but based on their response, I would rate the voice call performance a B.
The Space 2 offers solid battery life, up to 50 hours with noise canceling at medium levels and up to 70 hours with noise cancelling. The Sony WH-1000XM6 is rated for up to 30 hours with noise cancellation.
Space 2 is much lighter than Space One even though it weighs the same.
Final thoughts on Anker Soundcore Space 2
Not everyone can spend more than $250 (or wants to) on noise-canceling headphones, which is where models like the Anker Soundcore Space 2 come in. A clear improvement over the Space One, they have a better design and build quality than several headphones as far as we can tell. noise canceling headphones on a budget write and match or skip their performance. Some of those headphones are a little more expensive, but the Space 2 is a great option at this price, especially when you see them on sale for close to $100.