Soundcore Space Q45 by Anker

Wearing comfort of the Soundcore Space Q45

The Soundcore Space Q45 weigh 295 grams and have pivoting and retractable cups. This allows the over-ears to be transported in a space-saving manner in the hard-shell case supplied, and they adapt flexibly when worn. The headband size adjustment also covers a wide range, from small to large heads. The fit is neither too loose nor too tight, meaning the headphones do not slip during a short jog and do not create an unpleasant feeling of pressure. According to the manufacturer, the hinges are made of a robust aluminium alloy, while the ear pads are made of skin-friendly materials. I noticed that this closed over-ear model already has high passive insulation properties, with no excessive heat build-up on the ears.

Soundcore Space Q45 – up to over 70 hours of battery life

A good 33 hours of listening time can be achieved with the Soundcore Space Q45 when the noise cancellation is used continuously at the maximum setting at a high playback volume, but more than 70 hours of runtime can be achieved in standard mode. If the battery is empty, it can be fully recharged in 100 minutes via the USB-C port. A quick charge of five minutes also provides capacity for two and a half hours in ANC mode or three hours and 40 minutes in basic mode. These headphones have a 3.5mm input on the right side of the earcup with Hi-Res Audio certification, which also allows for wired use. A corresponding mini-jack cable with a length of 100 centimetres as well as a USB-C to USB-A charging cable is included in the package.

How easy it is to use the Space Q45

Switching on the headphones, which support multipoint connections with two devices simultaneously, is done by briefly pressing and holding the power button on the left side while holding it longer puts the system directly into pairing mode. The NC button for switching between ANC, transparency and basic modes can also be found on the left side, and it is possible to specify which modes are to be switched between via the app. You can also choose whether pressing twice switches the Soundcore Space Q4’s BassUp function on and off. The other controls are located on the right-hand side of the headphones. Playback can be controlled via the Play/Stop button, which is also used to answer and end phone calls and, when pressed twice, activates the voice assistant. A short press rejects calls and enables muting of the microphones. The plus and minus buttons can also be used to control the volume and to select a track by pressing and holding the plus button to skip forward and the minus button to skip back. Unlike the NC button, commands for device control cannot be configured via the app; this would be a desirable enhancement. Nevertheless, the remote functions perfectly. The wireless connection also proved to be very stable during our test, bridging several rooms and one floor inside buildings without any problems. Outdoors, a distance of 30 metres could be achieved.

Multi-purpose: the Soundcore app

A central element of the Soundcore app (Android and iOS) is the ambient noise control. Adaptive noise cancellation, which automatically adjusts to the environment, and a manual mode with five intensity levels are available. The amplification of external noise is also divided into a speech mode, which lowers the playback volume, and a five-level transparency mode. There is also an optional widget that can be set up to switch between the operating modes and their settings, which is a well-realised feature. The tone control offers a wide range of options with the BassUp function, 20 pre-configured pre-sets and an EQ that provides eight bands for custom settings. The hearing protection section of the app displays the current playback level on a scale and allows you to set a volume limit between 75 and 100 decibels. This is an extremely welcome option for protecting the hearing of adolescents, as well as your own hearing, especially as helpful information on the guide values is provided. In addition, firmware updates and earpiece settings can be made via the app, such as activating and deactivating voice prompts, multipoint connections and wind noise reduction.

Speech intelligibility when talking on the phone

In a quiet environment, the Soundcore Space Q45s are perfect for communicating, and wind noise was also filtered very well by the microphone technology that uses A.I.; as a result, there is hardly any interference, even in stronger gusts. The attenuation of louder background noises, on the other hand, was less convincing, meaning the intelligibility of one’s own voice was limited. Construction site or street noise may not be perceived as such by the caller on the other end of the line, but it was regularly transmitted in short, fragmentary sequences.

This is how good the Space Q45’s noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency mode are

The Soundcore Space Q45’s noise cancelling works with slight background noise, but this does not affect playback. In transparency mode, noise was audible from the third level onwards, which increased in the further levels and was also present in speech mode. Furthermore, in ANC and ambient mode, there was a richer sound image, while the basic sound appeared somewhat brighter in direct comparison and had more present voice reproduction.

In combination with the passive shielding, the active noise cancellation proved to be impressively effective. Even at moderate volume levels, ambient noise was greatly reduced and almost completely blocked out. Voices only remained perceptible when playback was paused, but these were also noticeably attenuated. This applied to both the manual and the adaptive ANC mode, which filtered noise sources just as reliably. The amplification of external noise was also effective, and the transparency mode, with its five levels, enabled specific adaptation to the environment, especially as voices could be understood effortlessly in speech mode. A further advantage was the ambient noise control of these over-ears can be used via wireless or cable.

Good harmonic sound

In contrast to the previous model, the Life Q35 (review), the Soundcore Space Q45 do not sound bass-heavy but is much more balanced with an appealingly clear sound image. The bass reproduction seemed powerful, reached quite far down and had a certain fullness in the low bass. However, the lower registers were by no means bulky and muffled as with the Life Q35 but were tight and defined so that bass-oriented music styles were reproduced powerfully. This was accompanied by a detailed, lively midrange with verve that seemed wide and well-structured so that more complex productions did not feel cramped. Voices were also reproduced centrally and with high intelligibility, appearing energetic and softly rounded without losing naturalness. Sibilants were reproduced rather gently, although the fresh, agile treble reproduction could lose its smoothness at higher volume levels and sometimes sounded a bit sharp. If necessary, this could be remedied with the help of the EQ.

A further positive aspect was that the headphones do not have to be turned up loud to reveal their sound potential. Even at low playback levels up to room volume, the tuning seemed coherent and harmonious.