Soundcore Space NC Wireless Noise Cancelling headphones review: The best and cheapest alternative to Bose

Can’t afford Bose? These headphones are nearly just as good

Soundcore Space NC headphones Review
Bottom Line
Soundcore's Space NC Wireless Noise Cancelling headphones are a budget-friendly alternative to Bose that will exceed your expectations.
Sound
Noise Cancelling
Value
Build Quality
Comfort
Controls
Pros
Very good battery life
Lightweight and comfortable
Excellent sound with solid bass
Solid noise canceling
Comes with hard case and headphone cable
Affordable
Cons
Frustrating controls
Plasticky build quality
4

We already knew that Anker makes some of the best cables, chargers, and battery packs on the market, but we had no idea that they make great noise-cancelling headphones too! The Soundcore Space NC headphones are an affordable and more practical alternative to Bose headphones, and they even manage to give our favorite Plantronics Backbeat Pros a run for the money.

The Soundcore Space NCs are over-ear headphones with large and cushy donut-shaped earcups. They’re very lightweight for their size, which adds a lot to their comfort. I wear them for hours-on-end and they stay just about as comfortable as when you put them on. This is most definitely one of Soundcore’s highlights. Usually lightweight also means plasticky, and yes, Soundcores are plasticky. However, they don’t feel cheap or frail, but I’d still be a little extra cautious when throwing these in your backpack.

Battery Performance

They’re Bluetooth headphones, so they’re cordless, but come with a cable in case you run out of juice. They boast a 20-hour playing battery life, which is quite long for any Bluetooth headphones. 20 hours may be a bit optimistic, but the battery definitely felt better than average. We only charged them every couple of weeks with regular use.

Noise Cancelling

The Noise Cancelling feature works with and without the cable, and it can be easily toggled on and off. Noise Cancelling is wonderful if you wear these headphones regularly. The cancellation is lightweight and subtle, but still gets rid of a lot of ambient noise. The cancellation is not as strong as Bose’s headphones, but for most people and scenarios this will be preferable. You won’t feel like air is getting sucked out of your ears and you won’t hear an anti-noise hiss. With the SoundCores, noise cancelling allows you to hear your music more clearly and at a lower volume while reducing a lot of consistent background noise. The noise-cancelling experience is lightweight enough that you’ll likely always want it turned on.

Intuitive Touch Controls

The “Intuitive Touch Controls” were the most disappointing feature. After weeks of use, we weren’t able to get completely comfortable with the controls. Controlling volume and tracks requires a tap-and-slide on the outer right earcup. Tapping the earcup is supposed to pause and play, but we had trouble getting this to work properly. This isn’t a true deal-breaker, it just requires some dedication to really learn the controls.

Sound Quality

After comfort, the most important feature is sound quality, and we were not disappointed. Anker did a great job of producing headphones with a clear and well-balanced audio signature. They’re a little on the warmer side and have powerful bass that doesn’t overshadow the mids and highs. The sound profile is kind to just about any genre, not just bass-heavy genres.

Bottom Line

All-in-all, we were really pleased with the Soundcore Space NC headphones. Anker has exceeded our expectations – especially at this price point. The things we’d like to see improved are easier-to-use controls on the headphones and a tougher build quality. That said, the comfort, audio quality, battery life, and noise cancellation together make these headphones terrific everyday headphones and also an excellent value. Priced at just $99, they’re almost sure to be a good purchase.

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