Anker's $129.99 Soundcore Space 2 headphones build on the success of the original Space One, delivering impressive sound, excellent battery life, good noise cancellation, and a solid feature set at a very accessible price. They're an easy pair to recommend for everyday listening, especially if you want strong over-ear audio performance without spending a ton of money. As well-rounded and affordable as they are, Nothing's CMF Pro headphones offer better build quality and even more effective noise cancellation for $30 less, so they remain our Editors' Choice award winner.

Design: Comfortable, If a Little Unrefined

The Soundcore Space 2 headphones look similar to the Space One, so their design isn't particularly unique, but they’re not unattractive. The overall appearance is understated and clean, which you'll either appreciate or find boring, depending on what you're after. They’re available in Jet Black, Linen White, or Seafoam Green. I received the Seafoam model for review.

The headphones are generally comfortable enough to wear for hours without fatigue or pain points. I found the earcup padding cushy, and the headband distributes weight evenly across the top of my head, but the overall build quality feels a bit cheap.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The ports and primary controls live on the left earcup, including USB-C for charging and 3.5mm for wired listening, as well as buttons to activate power and Bluetooth pairing, and a switch to toggle noise modes. The right side houses a play/pause button and a volume rocker. Everything is easy enough to find by touch, which I appreciate.

You can customize the buttons, but only to a small degree. The noise mode button lets you choose which modes it cycles through: Noise cancellation and transparency are programmed by default. Double-pressing this same button can also toggle the BassUp mode, but that's the only thing you can assign it to do. The play/pause button is more flexible. With a long press, you can map it to your phone's voice assistant, the AI translation tool, nap mode, or leave it unassigned.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The headphones connect via Bluetooth 6.1 with multipoint support for up to two devices simultaneously. On top of the basic AAC and SBC codecs, you also get the LDAC support at up to 990Kbps, which I really like to see at this price point. The drivers are 40mm double-layer units featuring a silk-metal-ceramic diaphragm combo. Nothing's CMF Pro headphones also have Bluetooth multipoint and support the same three codecs.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Anker doesn't make any claims about an IP rating, so it's best to keep the headphones away from water. You get a soft carrying bag, a short USB-C cable, and a 3.5mm audio cable for wired listening. A hard carry case would have been nice, but at this price, I can't really complain.

Battery Life: Truly Long-Lasting Performance

Soundcore says the headphones provide 70 hours of playback with noise cancellation off and 50 hours of playback with it on. This is better than many headphones at three times the price. Plugging them in for just five minutes gives you four hours of listening, thanks to rapid charging. A full charge takes about two hours. Nothing's headphones are in the same ballpark, offering 100 hours of battery life with noise cancellation off and 50 hours with it on.

App Experience: Feature-Rich and User-Friendly

The headphones work with the Soundcore app, which has a fairly clean, easy-to-navigate interface. The home screen gives you quick toggles for sound modes and shows the battery level at a glance. From there, you can dig into button customization and EQ adjustments, while a settings menu handles toggles for things like wear detection. The EQ gives you eight bands spanning 100Hz to 12.8kHz, which should be enough control for most people. I'm always happy to see such a broad EQ.

(Credit: Anker/PCMag)

Anker's HearID is available through the app, too. This personalized audio feature runs a hearing test and tailors the frequency response to your ears. There's also a 3D sound mode designed to create a more 360-degree presentation. These features work OK, but I wasn't super impressed. You're better off tweaking the EQ yourself.

Noise Cancellation: Good for the Price

The Space 2 headphones feature a new noise cancellation system that’s supposed to adapt automatically to your listening environment. Overall, the noise cancellation is quite good. It's close to par with the Nothing CMF Pro, though not as impressive as more expensive models.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

In testing, the headphones reduced steady, low-frequency sounds, like airplane engines, noticeably, but the system doesn't eliminate them entirely. Some noise still sneaks through across the lower frequency range. On a city bus, the ANC takes the edge off things like opening and closing doors, but those sounds are still clearly audible and easy to identify. In a busy cafe, conversations nearby become quieter but remain audible. If you're expecting the kind of near-total silence that options like the $549 AirPods Max 2 deliver, that just isn't what you're going to get in this price range.

Transparency mode does its job, but it doesn't sound all that natural. The headphones let enough outside sound through that you can have a conversation or stay aware of your surroundings without taking them off, but you may not want to keep the mode active for very long. It produces noticeable background hiss and doesn't reproduce high frequencies well, which is distracting.

Sound Quality: The Real Highlight

On The Knife's "Silent Shout," the headphones simply sound great. The bass is deep and round, with a slight boost that never crosses into boomy or muddy territory. It's easy to overdo it, and Anker keeps it in check. The highs are solid, too: They don't quite have the razor-sharp crispness of top-shelf headphones, but they handle the track's aggressive synth textures with enough detail to give it a well-rounded presentation.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Kendrick Lamar's "Loyalty" is a similar story. The bass response is excellent across the board and faithfully reproduces the sub-bass notes at the 34-second mark. Even the lowest of these notes generates a rumble that helps ensure the track doesn't feel disjointed, unlike many other headphones. At the same time, there is generous detail in the high frequencies, and voices are rich.

Bill Callahan's "Drover" requires a more natural tone, and while the headphones don't have a neutral curve, this track is enjoyable to listen to. Callahan's signature baritone vocal is rich and present. While the kick drum has good bass and there's plenty of detail from instruments like the cymbals, I would have liked more clarity from the acoustic guitar. Generally, the acoustic guitar still sounds good.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The headphones perform well on orchestral tracks, like the opening scene to John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, too. Notably, they offer good instrument separation thanks to a wide-enough soundstage that gives each instrument its own space in the mix. Generally speaking, the solo vocalist cuts through the mix clearly, and the brass sounds bright and present.

Microphone Performance: Serviceable for Calls

The microphone isn't necessarily impressive, but it functions well enough. Call quality is decent, though the frequency response is limited even with Anker's AI noise reduction tool, making my voice sound a bit thin and unclear. Recordings I made with the Voice Memos app on an iPhone are audible, and I can hear all the words without issue, though my voice sounds a little tinny.