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Anker announces the Soundcore Space 2, the sequel to one of our favorite headphones
The Space One was an incredible value, so what did Anker do to raise the bar?
Anker unveiled the Soundcore Space 2 headphone at this year's Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. It's the successor to the popular Space One that has long occupied a spot in our best headphones roundup and the only update to the product line in well over two years.
That first journey into Space was notable for offering great sound, decent ANC (active noise cancellation), a comfortable fit and more, all for $100. That's why we named it our best headphone overall — so it goes without saying we're eager to see what Anker cooked up for the Space 2.
For starters: let's talk cosmetics. The earcup design appears to be fairly different (and maybe a bit less distinctive), but the Space 2 can still fold for easier travel. The color selections have changed as well: Gone are cream, pink and sky blue; the Space 2 comes in white, black and sea-foam green.
We had no complaints with the Space One's battery life, but the Space 2 boosts it substantially: Up to 50 hours with ANC on, or up to 70 hours with it off. And Anker promises an impressive four hours of additional play time with just five minutes of charging.
The other specs are a bit more vague, including "four-stage noise cancelling" and "double-layer diaphragm drivers." How these things affect overall sound quality is something we'll uncover when we test the new 'phones.
What hasn't changed is the size of the drivers — still 40mm — or the inclusion of features like wear-detection (audio pauses when you remove the headphones and resumes when you put them back on) and HearID, which creates a customized equalizer preset based on your actual hearing.
Now for the bad news: The Soundcore Space 2 has a list price of $129.99, a $30 increase. Inevitable sales may bring that as low as $100, but we're less likely to see it drop to $80 or even $70, which happened regularly with the Space One.
We'll be testing the Space 2 as soon as we can get our hands — and ears — on it; for everyone else, the product is slated to arrive on Amazon and Soundcore beginning on April 21. For now, we continue to enthusiastically recommend its predecessor.
