You must have heard it before of the golden age of TV, a renaissance brought about by the streaming era is, sadly, now on the verge of decline. It may not bring us other Better Call Saulbut there is another golden age that is still very shimmering in A/V: wireless headset market.
From audible things escape their prescription strings Into 3D spatial sound and customizable listening, earbuds are innovating at an amazing rate. And new options like Anker’s Soundcore Space A40 prove that you can reap the benefits of this brave new world on almost any budget.
A few years ago, you couldn’t find a pair of headphones with effective noise cancellation for less than $200. The Space A40 offers it for half the price, alongside good sound, great battery life, and lots of extras to help you customize your experience. It’s all wrapped up in a comfortable and compact design that looks more luxurious than the price tag suggests.
The A40 omits some conveniences, such as automatically pausing when you take out your headphones, and the controls can be a bit inconsistent. But with great performance in a surprisingly affordable package, the Space A40 is one of the best bargains in this portable listening heyday.
Stylish and Slim
Photo: Anker
Even with headphones everywhere shrinking around them, the A40 stands out not only for its super-small size, but also for its good looks. The pill-shaped charging case, Qi standard is very fashionable and feels comfortable in the hand. Its matte exterior, accented by a metallic Anker logo at the top and a trio of LEDs where the clamshell lid contacts the base, creates an air of premium.
Inside, the glossy plastic terminals house the matching glossy earpads, with a more matte finish on the outside for the touchpad controls. The buds are ergonomically shaped, and most importantly, their weight is just under 5 grams each (for reference, Apple’s Professional AirPods weighs 5.4 grams) meets the unofficial baseline standard for buds that seem to disappear in your ears after a few minutes.
The Space A40 does just that, and the fit is relatively stable. The five sizes of earplugs outpace most of the competition, and I was able to do all my usual activities enhanced with earplugs, from gardening to hiking in my local park. me, with just a small correction here or there. I did feel them a bit jostled for a run, and their IPX4 water resistance is solid but not dipping, so those looking for stability and better weather resistance can weigh in. prompt to upgrade Jabra’s Elite 4 Active.
One place where the buds spoil the level curve is their large battery. You get up to 10 hours of playback, with four full charges in the case for a total of 50 hours. I ran for about 7 to 8 hours with noise cancellation, but that’s still about 40 hours, beating the more expensive flagships from Samsung, Google, and Apple.
Customize everything
Space A40 lets you customize everything. That starts with the fit and extends to the reassignable trackpad via audio app. They offer near-total control, from volume to voice assistants, so you rarely need to reach for your phone.
You’ll need to specify the volume in the app (it’s off by default) and I find double tap to pause or skip a song can sometimes be triggered when you’re trying to do a few quick taps to increase jamming speed. I also don’t like the hold command, it seems to take hours to go through noise cancellation and transparency modes (it only takes a few seconds, really).
