Soundcore Space One Pro headphones review: A polished performance with a perfect party piece
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Over-ear headphones are the dream ticket for audiophiles like me. Unlike the admittedly more convenient earbuds, they have cushioned cups to envelop your ears, and plenty of space to build powerful driver and diaphragm setups.
They can hold much bigger batteries, there's more room to bake in better noise-cancelling technology, and their headbands can make them a much more secure fit.
The trouble is, they tend to be a bit cumbersome. The truly compact ones are often flimsy, or uncomfortable to wear, but the plusher ones we'd happily spend all day wearing are bulky things to carry around.
This was one of the core problems Soundcore set out to solve when reimagining its superb Space One headphones. They've been topping the round-ups for over a year now, thanks to their performance, comfort, and value for money. So the new Pro version had big shoes to fill.
Thankfully, Soundcore has pulled it off. The new Pro version is better in just about every way. It's also quite a bit more expensive, but I'll get to that.
Fundamentally, you've now got a smattering of new technology built into the attractive new design, including improved four-stage noise cancelling, which can adapt to changing environments to tune out a wider range of sounds.
There's also a set of advanced drivers, with triple composite diaphragms, with an LDAC mode for high-resolution audio, and a slightly better battery. You can now listen for up to 60 hours without the noise cancelling, or 40 hours with it turned on.
It also charges quickly, with eight hours of playback achievable in just five minutes.
And then there's the party trick. While the Space One was loved for its compact folding mechanism, the Pro version takes things a stage further, with the cups rotating against one another and slipping up into the headband. This gives you a neat, round "ball" that fits into the palm of a hand. It's great for popping into a bag of perhaps an inside coat pocket.
On paper, then, it's all shaping up well. But how about its performance? The good news is, the sound output is absolutely lovely. The noise cancelling is, obviously, impressive but even without it switched on, the comfy cups sat well on my ears and pumped out a variety of music styles without a hint of distortion.
There's a welcome clarity to the sound, but plenty of power to drive the lower frequencies, giving an overall rich, relaxing experience. It's just a huge step above the audio quality you'll get from earbuds and, while it doesn't have the acoustic majesty of, say, a top Bose headset, it doesn't cost anything like as much.
And that brings me on to the price. At launch, the Space One Pro costs £149.99. And while that may sound like a lot of money, the amount of technology you get for that price is pretty much unrivalled.
Compare the Space One Pro to a similarly priced set, for example, the JBL Live 770NC which I've also tested, and the sound quality is significantly crisper. The new noise cancelling on the Souncore set also completely outperforms the JBLs.
And that's before we consider that trick folding mechanism, which makes the JBLs look clumsy and dated.
Truth be told, there are better-sounding headphones out there. But I can’t think of any for this price. And none of the ones I've tested blend comfort and practicality quite as well.
For travellers, then, these are absolutely perfect. But even if you're just after a fresh set of cans and don't want to shell out £500 for the premium brands, you can't go far wrong with the Soundcore Space One Pro. They're terrific all-rounders.