They have got the looks (and are crazy comfortable)

The Space One come with a very eye-catching design. They are made mostly of plastic, but give off very premium vibes, with a shiny frame to which are attached the earcups, which have a matte finish. On the back of each earcup is a shiny Soundcore logo. The earcups rotate inwards, which makes them easy to bunch up and carry.

A single charge delivers close to forty hours of audio with ANC. (Express Photo)

There is a lot of padding on the headband and the cushions on the earcups are also large and provide ample padding, which makes the Space One among the most comfortable headphones we have ever worn. Although they are not exactly super light at 265 grams (the Sony CH 720 weigh 192 grams, for comparison), we found that we could wear them for hours without any trouble at all. They come with clamping force that is just right and does not squeeze one’s head or ears too much, while keeping the headphones firmly in place.

The Space One are available in Black, Blue and a slightly gold-ish white, and all three radiate class. We recommend the light blue one for those who want to turn heads (it is such a rare shade in the headphone world, where dark shades rule), while the black ones work best for those who prefer a more understated, elegant look. Those willing to regularly clean their headphones can go for the white model, which looks gorgeous but is a pain to maintain!

The earcups rotate inwards, which makes them easy to bunch up and carry. (Express Photo)

Soundcore has provided a carrying bag with the headphones, which is a little basic, but well, we guess funds had to be saved somewhere. Fortunately, the headphones are sturdy enough to be chucked into a bag and carried without any damage. They are, however, not water resistant so we would not recommend using them for extensive running or gym sessions.

Terrific ANC, good sound and very good battery life too

While they look very good indeed, the Soundcore Space One’s biggest USP is their ANC. The headphones come with adaptive ANC that adjusts to the noise around you, and its performance was astonishingly good, and close to what we have experienced on the Sony 1000XM4 (which still retail for close to Rs 20,000). The Space One killed most of the sound in a noisy cafe, removed a lot of the sound in Metro travel and even muted a lot of the noise in an auto ride in noisy Delhi traffic. In fact, we often found ourselves using the ANC even when we were playing no audio on the headphones, as it made our surroundings much quieter.

The volume and virtual assistant buttons are on the right earcup and the power and ANC buttons on the left earcup. (Express Photo)

The 40 mm drivers on the Space One also deliver some very good quality audio. The default audio signature is slightly bass-heavy, which will make these perfect for those who want headphones with a bit of beat and rumble in them. Being closed ear headphones, they do not come with a wide soundstage, but they capture an impressive amount of detail. They also come come with support for Hi Res Audio and support for Hi Res Audio Wireless as well as LDAC, which is generally seen in much more expensive headphones.

Those who find them too bassy for comfort, can tweak the sound using the equaliser settings in Soundcore’s comprehensive app. The app even let us customise a special profile for the kind of audio we loved to hear, but we would recommend sticking to the out of the box sound, which is warm and pleasant and has enough detail to make these headphones great for just about every scenario.

The 40 mm drivers on the Space One also deliver some very good quality audio. (Express Photo)

The Space One come with very good battery life – a single charge delivers close to forty hours of audio with ANC. Turn off the ANC and one gets over 50 hours of battery. We found ourselves getting through an entire week on a single charge. And when the headphones do run out of charge, one can simply use them over a wired connection by connecting them using the 3.5 mm jack. They also come with ear detection, which makes audio pause when you take them off. As we said, these have pretty packed with premium features.

Not perfect, but easily the best headphones at their price…and in fact, below Rs 15,000!

This is not to say that the Space One are perfect. They have their quirks. The control system is totally button driven, which might put off touch interface enthusiasts. The controls themselves take some getting used to, with the volume and virtual assistant button on the right earcup and the power and ANC buttons on the left earcup. The buttons are also located on the part of the frame that connects to the earcups rather than on the lower part of the earcups themselves, as is generally the case in most headphones. We found ourselves struggling to find the right button while wearing the headphones, which can be a little irritating.

Soundcore has provided a carrying bag with the headphones. (Express Photo)

Another field where the Space One are not top notch is call quality. While they handled calls perfectly and clearly indoors, when we used them in more noisy conditions (say while walking in a crowded park or market or on a particularly noisy road), the people we spoke to often complained of not being able to hear us clearly.

It never reaches deal-breaking levels, though – most people will be pretty content to use these headphones for calls. We learned to move to slightly quieter areas when making calls using them.

The black ones work best for those who prefer a more understated, elegant look. (Express Photo)

The all-round performance of the Soundcore Space One comfortably matches (and even beats) those of many headphones priced at Rs 15,000. They would have been a decent proposition evenat their initial price in India. At their current price of Rs 6,000 – Rs 6,500, they are no-brainers for those wanting a flagship headphone experience on a tight budget. Good design with premium vibes, great ANC, good sound and very good battery life – the Soundcore Space One have them all. And now have a killer price tag as well.