soundcore Space 2 Review: How Good Is the ANC Really?

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]What I have here is Soundcore's latest Space Tube, a pair of over-ear headphones with a full-stage ANC system, smart adaptive calibration, and high-res audio wireless with LDAC. And honestly, at $129.99, I didn't expect it to perform like this.

[00:00:19]So, in this video, I want to find out how well this actually hold up against the industry best, especially the ANC on low-frequency noise. Starting with the design, this actually gives a pretty solid first impression in hand. The finish looks clean, the hinges feel well put together, and the folding design is practical right away. If you're throwing this into a bag for travel or daily commute, the ear cups are roomy, the headband padding looks generous, and overall it has the kind of shape where you can already tell comfort was a big part of the design brief. As for the core specs, you're getting 40-mm dual-layer drivers, support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC, and up to 50 hours of playback with ANC on, up to 70 hours in normal mode. And also, 5 minutes of charging for up to 4 hours of playback, and Bluetooth 6.1. So, even before the actual testing starts, the package already feels pretty focused. Now, this part really comes down to one question: How strong is Space Tube once we get into the kinds of noise people actually want ANC for, especially travel rumble and everyday background chatter? Since I want you to hear a difference with me, I kept the test control indoors and recorded every pass the same way, same source, same volume, same microphone placement. So, here what matters is the relative change from mode to mode. Let's start with a combined travel noise track with airplane engine rumble and subway-style low-end layered together.

[00:01:53]First, here is the raw source with no headphones at all.

[00:02:09]You can hear right away that this is the kind of sound that fills the whole background. It is dense, heavy, and it has that constant low pressure that makes flies and train rides feel tiring.

[00:02:21]Now, here is Space Tube in transparency mode.

[00:02:32]Most of that rumble is still coming through, which is exactly what I would expect here. Next, here is normal mode.

[00:02:44]There is a small reduction, though the low-end is still very present. Now, here is noise canceling mode.

[00:03:12]This is where the result becomes obvious. The biggest drop is in the low rumble, and that changed the whole feel of the noise right away. What stood out most to me is that the biggest reduction was clearly in the 18 to 200-Hz range.

[00:03:27]That's exactly where airplane engines and train rumble usually sit. A lot of headphones in this price tier lose confidence here. Space Tube sounds very clearly tuned for this band. Now, for the second test, here is a more everyday noisy environment with people talking and general background chatter.

[00:04:07]This is good, too, and fully useful in daily life. You still hear more information coming through than with travel rumble, which is normal. ANC usually have an easier time with steady low-frequency noise than with speech.

[00:04:21]So, if I have to sum it up, Space Tube is strong with daily noise, and especially strong with travel noise. And once you hear that, the full-stage ANC design starts to make more sense. Stage one is the sensing part. The enhanced noise sensors pick up the outside noise around you. Stage two is processing part. The upgraded processor gives the system a cleaner signal to work with.

[00:04:44]Stage three is acoustic part. The chamber is optimized specifically for low-frequency sounds, which lines up directly with what I heard in the test.

[00:04:54]Then stage four is the driver itself.

[00:04:57]The double-layer diaphragm is custom-tuned to generate more accurate anti-noise signals for maximum cancellation at the source. After that, I brought in the Sony WH-1000XM5 as the premium reference and ran the same indoor simulations again. First, here is XM5 with the same combined travel noise.

[00:05:30]XM5 still does a solid job, but here I actually prefer Space Tube. The lower band felt more reduced, and the background sounded more controlled. Now, here is XM5 with everyday noisy environment.

[00:05:57]This one is closer, though I still prefer Space Tube slightly overall. So, I want to phrase this carefully. I'm talking specifically about these control indoor simulations, and specifically about the low-frequency range this headphone is clearly targeting. In that lane, Space Tube performed extremely well, and in my testing, it came out ahead of XM5. The last pieces is consistency, because ANC also depends on fit. That's where smart adaptive calibration comes in. So, I tried with a normal fit, then with glasses, then with a cap. And the good news is that Space Tube stayed pretty stable across all three. I did not get that annoying drop when the seal shifts a little and ANC suddenly lose its grip. That kind of fit compensation is easy to overlook on paper, but in daily use, it really matters. On the audio side, the big point here is feature completeness. At $129.99, Space Tube is offering LDAC at up to 990 kilobits per second, high-res wireless with a 20 to 40 kilohertz response, and triple high-res audio certification.

[00:07:09]That's a strong set of specs for this category. So, instead of spending too much time on the codec side, I think the more useful thing here is just to listen.

[00:07:37]>> [music] >> I see the shadows on the [music] wall tonight.

[00:07:47]They [music] dance a lonely waltz.

[00:07:52]You're everything I want, but I can't deal with [music and singing] all your love.

[00:07:59]You say you're the one, but it's your actions that [music and singing] speak louder.

[00:08:05]Giving me love, and you are >> [singing and music] >> down and need another.

[00:08:11]I've got to get away and leave.

[00:08:13]Meanwhile, if you just want to focus on work or have a little background sound, the Soundcore app gives you a wide range of white noise options to choose from.

[00:08:39]What stands out right away is that the tuning feels pretty balanced. Vocals come through clearly, the low-end has enough present to give the track some weight, and it does not feel over boosted or bloated. Soundcore also gives you custom EQ adjustment in the app, so there's room to tweak the sound if you want to. But honestly, for most people, I think the default Soundcore Sense tuning already works really well, and that's the one I'm using. After performance, the next question is whether these are actually easy to wear for hours. The clamp is a little on the tighter side, but not in a bad way. It feels secure without getting uncomfortable. Glasses was totally fine for me, which is always something I pay attention to with over-ear headphones.

[00:09:22]The headphone also stayed pretty unobtrusive, so I never really had to think about it once they were on. Heat was not an issue in my use, though that's always going to depend somewhat on weather and room temperature. Battery life is also strong here. That just means charging does not become a consistent concern, which is exactly what I want from a headphone like this.

[00:09:44]And there's are the extra quality of life features. Nap mode makes sense for travel, office use, or short breaks when you just want quick background audio.

[00:09:53]Wearing detection is a smaller feature, but it does help with the whole experience feel smoother. So, after everything, the clearest takeaway for me is this. If your priority is low frequency ANC for commuting, flights, trains, and everyday travel, Soundcore Space 2 is generally impressive. That's the part of this headphone that stands out most. And once you add in the comfort, the stable fit with glasses, the long battery life, and the stronger codec, the whole package feels very well-rounded. There's a very clear use case here. This is a headphone before people who want daily practicality first, but still want a feature set that feels more complete than usual for the price. And at $129.99, that value is hard to ignore. So, overall, I think Soundcore get the priorities right here. The low frequency ANC is the highlight, but the rest of the experience supports it well enough that Space 2 feels like very convincing all around option. The Soundcore Space 2 launches April 21st, so check the link in the description for the latest.

[00:11:03]That's it for today's video. Thank you for watching, and as always, see you in the next one.