- Good value
- Comfortable
- Strong battery life
- Effective ANC
- On the heavier side
- Weak transparency
- Not exercise-friendly
Summarizing this Soundcore Space One review, The Soundcore Space One has comfort, strong ANC, and great sound. Battery life is excellent with swivel earcups, and at $100 it is one of the best choices in its class. I would say its definitely worth it!
At $99, the Soundcore Space One is a pair of headphones I’ve been using for over a year. They’ve impressed me. But are they really the right fit for you? In this Soundcore Space One review, I’ll break down my experience with them over the past year.
Design/Comfort
The Soundcore Space One is made of plastic with a very plush headband and soft ear cups. Even though it’s plastic, it has a premium feel. It weighs around 263g, which is about halfway between the Airpod Max (384.8g) and the Sony XM6 (254g). On first wear, it feels heavy, but I got used to it in about two weeks.
The design is modern and sleek, giving off a premium look. It’s comfortable with the plush earcups and headband, but it can feel heavy after 1–1.5 hours. It’s also not great for exercising because it’s heavy. Even during lawn mowing, sweat can build up around your ears and make the earcups damp. But that sweat is only on the outside of the earcups. It doesn’t seep in. A quick wipe with a paper towel fixes it.
Overall, the Soundcore Space One is a very good-looking set of headphones—heavy, but with comfortable earcups and a supportive headband.
Sound Quality
Bass/Mids/Treble
The bass is strong and noticeable. Compared to headphones like the Sony XM4 headphones (about $80 more expensive) or the Shokz OpenRun Pro, the bass is slightly less emphasized. Still, for most people and for me, the bass on the Soundcore Space One is more than good enough.
The mids (vocals and instruments) are very clear. For example, on the track Hello by Adele, the voice sounds clear. With a higher-end pair of headphones, you can notice a slight difference in clarity and tone. Again, the mids are more than good enough.
The treble (high frequencies) is sharp—sometimes too sharp. It’s clear, but for certain tracks it can become piercing and uncomfortable. It is clear but aggressive.
The overall signature for me is balanced. Others online describe it as bass and treble-focused, or U-shaped. But, I find the mid and bass slightly more dominant. The sound is still balanced overall.
Soundstage
The soundstage on the Soundcore Space One headphones is good. I easily tell if a sound came from the left, right, or center, but the range feels limited. I didn’t hear instruments or voices that felt really far away. This is unlike the Sony XM4’s, which felt much more like a concert. In short: good, but not the strongest trait of these headphones.
ANC/Transparency Mode
ANC
The ANC is good but not on the same level as the Sony XM4. For everyday noise, though, it works well. For example, when the Soundcore Space One tries to block people talking, it does a solid job. On the louder parts of a song like Attention, it takes at least 60 decibels of noise to break through. It takes 70 decibels for slight-to-medium background noise. 77 decibels was clearly noticeable. Any higher, and it doesn’t block it. In the same test, the XM4 made 80 decibels seem like just a buzz.
Another test I tried was mowing my lawn. The Soundcore Space One blocked the noise of my electric mower well, making it sound like a medium-to-high buzz. It was still noticeable, but manageable at high volume.
It doesn’t handle sudden spikes like screaming well, as they cut through the ANC clearly.
The Soundcore Space One is strong for normal noises and ambient sounds. It handles people talking or AC buzz well. But, it is not great with very loud sounds.
Transparency
These headphones are not good at transparency. Having a conversation while using Transparency is tough—you have to strain and sometimes read lips. Transparency just isn’t strong. The solution is the Easy Chat choice in the app, which lowers your music a lot. It can be activated by talking (beta as of writing) or by pressing and holding the left earcup.
So, transparency is weak, but there’s a usable workaround with Easy Chat.
Battery Life/Charging
Battery life and charging on the Soundcore Space One are excellent.
On a full charge, you get at least 2 days of use. More specifically, about 40 hours with ANC on and around 50 hours with it off. That’s outstanding. For comparison, the Airpod Max and XM6 last only 20 and 37 hours respectively.
Charging is also impressive:
- 5 minutes of charging gives ~4 hours of playback with ANC off
- A full charge takes only ~2 hours
Call/Mic Quality
The call quality on the Soundcore Space One headphones is good. In quiet settings, voices sound clear and not too robotic. Yet, it doesn’t feel like I’m speaking to someone in person. It’s about 70% of the way there, but still solid when there’s no background noise.
If there are people near you, these headphones block the noise decently, though some words will slip through. Overall, it’s pretty good at reducing background chatter.
For wind it does better:
- Up to 67 decibels: handled well
- Beyond 79 decibels: voices became harder to understand. The wind itself wasn’t audible, but the words got mumbled.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend these headphones for frequent professional meetings, but they’re good enough for most people.
Conclusion
The Soundcore Space One headphones have been my primary headphones for over a year. They’re absolutely worth their $100 price tag for their great ANC. The sound quality and comfort are also excellent. The downsides are that they’re a little heavy compared to some top-tier headphones. The call quality isn’t great for professional use. Additionally, the transparency mode is weak. Other than that, it’s probably the best $100 pair of headphones you can find.