The best noise-canceling headphones under $100
- Battery life: 10 hours, up to 50 with the case
- Ambient sound modes: Adaptive ANC, Transparency mode
- Dust/water resistance: IPX4 rating
Noise canceling in inexpensive headphones has come a long way in the past couple years, and Anker has been leading the charge. With the Soundcore Space A40, not only are they leading the charge, Anker is competing above their price class. The Space A40’s ANC is at least as good as earbuds for $150, like the Jabra Elite 5.
The adaptive active noise canceling on the Space A40 ably handles low drones, such as airplane cabin noise or HVAC units. It even takes the edge off of midrange conversation that you’ll find at the local coffee shop. It doesn’t completely remove it, but if you’re listening to music at a low level it’s enough to keep you focused in your own world. Within the Soundcore app you can choose between two Transparency modes, one full range and one that puts the focus on letting voices through if you need to have a quick conversation.
Out of the box, the A40 have a nice sound profile, although their highs (especially cymbals) can be a tad piercing and mids are a little covered by the low end. Thankfully, the app includes an 8-band EQ to address these issues. There’s also HearID Sound, which profiles your hearing perception in each ear and creates an EQ curve customized to your ears. It works pretty well and delivers a nice improvement over the default profile. Hi-res audio and LDAC are both supported.
There are touch controls—single tap, double tap, and hold for two seconds—that can be turned on and off per control. They’re also fully customizable, assignable to volume, track controls, and for the two-second hold the added options of Ambient Sound Mode select, Voice Assistant activation, and Game Mode toggle.
Throw wireless case charging on top of the features pile and the Anker Space A40 set a new standard for earbuds performance under $100.
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