soundcore by Anker Space A40 Auto-Adjustable Active Noise
soundcore by Anker Space A40 Auto-Adjustable Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, Reduce Noise by Up to 98%, 50H Playtime, Hi-Res Sound, Comfortable Fit, App Customization, Wireless Charge
From the brand
Speakers
| Dimensions: | 6.78 x 4.41 x 2.85 cm; 18.14 Grams |
| Model: | A3936011 |
| Batteries Included: | 3 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Anker |
| Dimensions: | 6.78 x 4.41 x 2.85 cm; 18.14 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
Now that big disappointment is out the way, the quality and depth of audio is the best I’ve experienced, and I’ve tried quite a few ear buds so far. Previously I’d been enjoying Anker’s P2 ear buds, not because they were the best, but because they worked, had good audio and didn’t cost all that much. Anker’s A40 buds have real punch to the base, and it’s not distorted at high volume or frequencies. I actually heard stuff I hadn’t noticed in many of my past ear buds. Call quality is good too, although like any mic, wind is often your nemesis.
So are they worth buying? Well yes, but if your wanting noise cancelling, then you’ll have to buy over the ear headphones, which then doesn’t give you a hand free phone solution. Like I said, I’ve not come across any ear buds yet that live up to the claim of noise cancelling.
I did come across these. I was very skeptical at first as I have never heard of this brand before. I have to say. I was more then impressed when I first connected them to my phone. App makes it very easy to set them up the way you like it. This includes noise cancelation level and even sensitivity of each earphone which is done via ear test build into the app.
2 months later and I am still very happy with them. Sound quality is super crisp and battery lasts for a long time. I would certainly recommend these if you fancy good earphones, but have a tight budget. You won’t regret purchasing these.
It is a good option, decent noise cancellation, good bass, the app helps to better adapt the sound settings to your age and is Hi Res certified and excellent battery life.
Has a decent sound quality and it’s own app for your phone the battery life is very good but don’t use noise cancellation very often the only thing that slightly bugs me and it’s not there fault the left piece fit’s perfect but the right is a bit loose
I read a lot of great reviews for these earphones, both on the Web and on Amazon, but I didn’t expect the product to deliver at such high quality. The noise reduction is superb and the sound quality is A+. Do not pay twice the price for others… get these.
Update: In fairness to Anker they are excellent to stand over their products. They offered me a full refund for the headphones and were very good to deal with. I’d purchase Anker products again, purely because I know they will always stand over their products.
These are not and do not
The active noise cancelling is better than anything I’ve known. Ambient noise is killed but if someone says something the mic picks it up and you can hear them. Likewise, oddly, if you need to hear something select Transparent in the app (or tap tap the bud) and you have an ear aid that amplifies sounds. They are incredible.
These fix that and come with a wealth of additional features for only a bit more money.
Noise cancelling is superb, well on par with earphones twice the price.
Hearing profiling works really well so does the ear tip fitment testing.
LDAC support does make a notable difference to music quality.
For the price, these are hard to beat.
I’ll probably be buying these again though!!
The connectivity is fantastic, straight out of case and connect on iPhone, dual connectivity is also handy when switching between devices. The noise cancelling for me worked great, make sure you play around with the ear covers to get the right fitthe supporting app is also very good providing the ear test to set up the EQ, although you also have a load of options with default EQ settings by music genre or audio book etc.
I bought this ones because I wanted a nice pair of ear buds, with noise cancelling, that weren’t too expensive. The sound quality is great, and the app will adapt it to your hearing range. The fit is fantastic, it comes with 5 different sized tips for your ears, I don’t run with them but they wouldn’t move from my ear for normal use. The app is good and it let’s you chose how to configure the different taps on both ear buds, you have an option for single tap, double tap, and hold for 2 seconds, for both, so 6 different options. You can also use the app, but once configured, no need to use it again. Regarding noise cancelling, it is not great but it is not bad either. If you really need noise cancelling while not listening to music, go for the bose quietcomfort, but if like me just a bit of noise cancelling will do for you, they are not bad at all, and if you switch on noise cancelling and play a bit of music on moderate volume, you won’t hear a thing around you, it’s beautiful and so peaceful. I only had the for 24 hours and so far I am really loving them, I have tried them on different scenarios and I am very happy with them.
Very very happy use for gym and everyday life – noise cancelling is very good
Bought these on the recommendation of Which? Magazine. Very impressed with the sound quality and noise cancelling function. Well made too and great value for money.
Very good sound quality and ANC features
Battery life is good too
For listening to music, I use the A40 pods every time:. The sound is noticeably clearer and has a better frequency range, so is actually pretty good for classical music. By comparison, the AirPods, good though they are, have a muddy sound and lack bass.
For listening in a noisy environment, though, I generally pick the AirPods, whose noise cancellation in the Series 2 iteration is quite remarkable. By contrast, noise cancellation on the A40s is merely good.
The A40s are slightly more fiddly to hold and insert or remove from the ear, and the case is slightly more awkward to hold and open than for the AirPods. On the other hand the A40s beat the AirPods Pro for battery life, both of the pods and of the case.
Given that the AirPods Pro cost about 3 times the A40s, I’d suggest that these SounCore pods are
a complete no-brainer compared to the AirPods unless you absolutely *must* have the superior noise cancellatio
These ear buds are rated by Which? as a Best Buy and Great Value at 90. I totally agree – and with the Amazon price of less than 70 inc delivery i just couldn’t be more delighted with my purchase.
Noise reduction is excellent as is sound quality
New York Time review 6 Jun 23 ‘Wirecutter’ rate the A40’s as best Bluetooth earbuds ; ‘ Which’ give the product a 77% rating.
At GBP 67 my view is you can’t go wrong
Took a few attempts to show up as available for Bluetooth pairing but straightforward after that. App is good with hearing test to create personalised EQ profile. Lovely sound with warm base. Voice announces battery is low when 30% remaining. Biggest niggle is case that doesn’t always stay shut in your pocket.
Speaking of the app, you real must install this. It lets you set up the buds for YOUR ears. It also makes it easier to turn on noise cancellation.
Does sound get any better? I had Bose, I had Sennseiser and others but no other in ear speakers sounded like these. Very positively surprised. Not tested the battery life nor ANC but even if these are subpar I will still keep these just for the sound and fitting comfort.
This is gonna be a short review.
Sound is fantastic, rich natural sound from all genres I’ve listened to. App is great, very easy to use and customise to your liking.
Only downside is the noise cancelling. It’s non existing. Not a deal breaker for me as the sound is second to none
Slightly confused at first as the paper instructions had every language except English.
However, once you download the app (soundcore) onto your phone/ tablet, everything is in English and pretty easy to set up.
I took the apps hearing test so the sound adjusted to my ears. Set the mode to noise cancelling and played Dark Side of the Moon, 2023 remastered version. Oh gosh, without any exaggeration the sound is marvellous, deep smooth bass, soaring singing and well controlled high notes.
Tried other music, all sounded as good as I had ever heard them.
Comfort? Not bad, select the right size ear cushion for your ears, it comes with 5 differing sizes. This is important for the sound as well as comfort.
Noise cancelling, not had a chance to really test it but it certainly cut the TV sound out so I think it will be pretty good. Looking forward to trying it on a flight in three weeks time. I’ll try and remember to update this review.
I have to commend Which Magazine for drawing my attention to these earbuds, I only expected this sort of sound if I spent considerably more.
Active noise cancelling is performing well. It is cancelling the majority of the unwanted noise, which is definitely fine. When I talk on the phone using these earbuds, people are happy with my voice quality and they say that there is so less background noise. There are tons of positive reviews about this product on Youtube and I believe they are all correct. After my long term usage, I decided to buy another one for my family. I believe this is one of the best earbud purchases I made so far and I am happy with its price tag vs quality.
I spent of time trying to find the right kind of headphones for myself as I use them for walking and love deep bass but didn’t want to spend a fortune.
These are super easy to use and comfortable, how durable they will be remains to be seen but the sound quality is amazing and the app enhances the experience!
Great bass and amazing sound and battery life
I have found them good value, producing great quality sound and very comfortable to wear and an extremely good battery life. This was reflected in the Which magazine report and tested as a Best Buy product. Superb %
Second pair I have bought. First pair for me then as they were so good, this pair time for my wife. Both very pleased with them. Easy to pair and the app is easy to use.
I’ve got tiny ears so I’ve not used earphones for years. These are my first earphones and they’ve blown me away! The app is great, it even has a free ambient noise maker on it which I love. So easy to set up and I used the xs silicone tips and they fit snugly in my tiny ears. The noise cancellation is amazing and the bass is great too, especially in bass booster. I love that they adapt to your environment and your hearing. The case is cute and ergonomic. There’s also no lag when watching people talk on YouTube videos. Honestly you get so much for your money, you can’t be disappointed!
The sound is really good for music and voice. They stay in my ear very well. Being able to set them so you can hear ambient sound if you want is a real plus for me though they work very well using just one. They are comfortable lying in bed which is great for my husband when I can’t sleep at night and listen to the radio (that was my main reason for getting them). I love the little charging capsule but one slight negative is mine flipped open when it’s dropped out of my bag. The earbuds bounced & were fine though.
I use them to listen to music when I’m out exercising 5 days a week for an hour.
I love good quality music, but I don’t use them more than that so I couldn’t justify the price of Apple Ear Buds.
These had a great review from Which, the consumer magazine, so I went for them.
The sound quality is absolutely first class.
The rest I won’t know until I’ve used them for a few months.
These are nice / sound is clean, bass I would say is average. Fit in the ear nicely without issue. App is great with lots of features. Overall impressed. Paid 67 in the Spring sale so good value. Shame the logo is wonky on each earbud.
They are probably OK for pottering around a fairly quiet house – but then I’d use my bluetooth speaker. So, overall, pretty disappointed.
UPDATE: I thought that I’d give them a second chance on another flight. This time, they were more effective. Perhaps there was more vibration on the first flight which went straight through my bones? Anyway, I’ve increased the score to 4 stars.
Soundcore have managed to pack in so much here for 67 (on offer)
You get duel drivers, LDAC, Great ANC and fantastic battery life! The sound for the size of these is unbelievable! LDAC paired with Quboz is fantastic! The bass is great although not too thump which is fine for me! Mids and Treble are very clear! i use the customer setting “Acoustic” this seems to be a good balance for my ears!
Soundcore’s app allows you to tailor the sound to your ears using HearID, and you can customise the touch press on each bud!
ANC is great although some highs get through – but if you have your music at 80% you cannot hear anything!
The fit is great too, using the medium tips provided and the seal is great!
50 hours battery life in the case is just incredible! i did a lot of research before buying and im glad they live up to most of what i read/watched!
If your on the bench considering these, you have nothing to fear!
I have only been using these buds for the last three day and have not had chance to fully test the adaptive ANC against a noisy enviroment. But the sound quality is fantastic. My last headphones were a primium type which I got on sale but now out of my price range. After reading a lot of reviews I decided to take a chance on these and wow. I will see how they are in the long ru
I love these Anker Space A40 ear phones, I already own a pair of Anker Life A1’s, I even tested the Anker Liberty 3 and the Sony XB700 which were more expensive plus the Anker A3i, the cheapest but in my opinion “the best sound” (lots a deep bass and high top end) but these A30’s suited me perfect for fit so took the slight hit.
Sadly however after 3 months the RIGHT plug has started to intermittently omit a high frequency whistle type.
This whistling is occurring on its own when wearing out and about or indoors, it is not the “feedback” type sound you sometimes get when you have covered the plug with two fingers when pressing into ear.
I also believe the overall volume has decreased in this RIGHT plug chucking the balance out. The supposed “centre” is now towards the Left Side.
I would like to return these as faulty for a new pair but typically they seem to have gone faulty 3 weeks after the cut off date.
I ordered these on November 17th 2022 so just 3 months old!
How do I return these please.
Update: Seller never responded or any help via this review so I returned via Amazon Customer Services who were extremely helpful for a full refund. I immediately purchased another pair which did sadly cost more.
The noise cancelling was also pretty poor–it had almost no effect on steady-state noises like a home air filter or vacuum cleaner, which it should be good at. This may have been related to the fit issues. There’s a fit test in the app; I tried it with all 5 included ear pieces, and it told me to try a different size or adjust the fit with all of them.
I eventually gave up and returned them. I replaced them with their Soundcore “Sport X10” model for about the same price. The new ones have hooks behind the ears.
The earbuds are light and unobtrusive, and having picked the right silicone tips, are comfortable to wear for a couple of hours or more, and don’t fall out. The combination of passive and active noise cancelling blocks out low-frequency continuous sounds very well, even without any music playing. Even higher-frequency sounds are deadened somewhat, so that nearly all the trolley noises, announcements and ambient music of a large supermarket were eliminated, at only a moderate music volume. I’m not a sound expert, but the quality seems very good, and can be modified to a degree using the equaliser in the app.
I had no problems in setting up the app, connecting to my phone, and running the ‘fit test’ and ‘HearID’ personalised frequency program. The interface is clear and easy to use. The earbuds provide touch controls, and I liked the ability to use the app to tailor the play/pause/volume/back/forward/volume functions available with one tap, two taps or long taps, on the left or right earbuds. The bluetooth range covers the whole of our semi-detached house, and even outside too. I’ve not tested the battery life, but it seems very good. The microphone also gave acceptable call quality on a phone call.
The only minor niggles are that (a) the app/phone sometimes ‘forgets’ to connect to the earbuds, especially if they’ve been left out of the case for a time, but this is resolved by closing and reopening the app; (b) when playing music from an app you’ve just returned to, the volume comes in at mid-level by default, which is way too loud; (c) the increments between volume levels are too coarse, although this seems to be an issue with my (android) phone rather than the earbuds; (d) on a windy day, I did get a fair bit of ‘whistling’ through the earbuds, which the ‘wind noise reduction’ option did nothing to reduce, but I’m not using them outside that much, so I’m not bothered by that.
Overall, a very good choice, and much more affordable than some on the market.
I returned them, which was a palarva, did some research, which I should have done first anyway. My research introduced me to Anker Space A40.
I ordered them. They arrived the next day. They are snug in my ears. They paired easily and immediately. They sound good. They cost much less than the Apple Air Pods. They do exactly what I wanted….in fact, to use an old phrase; ‘they just work’.
Bit by bit my 20 year love affair with Apple is coming to close.
There are better, cheaper and cooler products than Apple products almost everywhere these days.
Sound quality is decent once you’ve run through the HearID process and you can EQ them as you like. For top dog sound quality then yes that extra 170 on the Sony XM5, Bose 2, Sammy beans 2 pro is worth it. But out in the real world these are pretty good. My Father is a retired Sound Engineer and I have some pretty serious HiFi at home (some from his old Studio). So I do have something to compare with. My daughter has the overear Q30 and Dad was reasonably happy with the sound signature (pointing out the consumer V and where she had EQ’d for her liking) . He can tell you which mike something was recorded with and likely which headphones someone mixed with
ANC is pretty good at deeper lower freq stuff but is a little light at the higher freq end – so not totally isolating. There are two transparency modes which means you can reduce the loudest sounds while still hearing around you or you can set the buds to vocal mode which attenuates most other sounds. It is a little weird and yes the top end models are a bit better at it. There is also an ambient mode which will react automatically on most sounds or you can set the ANC to high and remove most sounds pretty well. I have it set to vocal in most places.
[As an aside back in the early 90’s my Masters dissertation was on Active Noise Control. I could simulate 1 channel for 4 seconds using 200k equipment that was as big as a filing cabinet. Now we have multichannel ANC in earbuds that last hours! I was interviewed by Sony Research Labs in Japan for the ANC stuff.]
I’ve not had any issues with battery life and the case is pretty small and gives extra charges.
Comfort – probably the most difficult to deal with as we all have different ears. The HearID test helps you choose the correct tip size for each ear as it tells you if they seal or not. Very useful – I thought I needed larger tips than I actually did. I have had SoundMagic E10s, Sennhieser CX300, FiiO FH1, Moondrop Chu and various other earbuds over the years and once the tips are correct and you twist them properly into place the A40’s are pretty comfortable. They stay in my ears when walking out and about, cooking etc. I’m not a gym rat so no idea if they would stay in on a treadmill. They are splashproof rather than waterproof so no swimming.
Overall – absolutely worth the money. I’m not certain that I would gain so much extra with spending 250 on the big boys – though now I have a handle on what these can do and a deep pocketful of cash I might 😀
After reading the reviews I decided to buy the A40 as I needed something more portable and easier to use.
Overall…
1. The packaging is good and everything was present and in place. First impressions positive.
2. The earbuds connected with no issues, they power on as soon the case is open
3. Soundcore app prompt me to update the firmware prior of proceeding, again positive experience
4. The app is good and all settings are clear and easy to use
5. Sound quality is good – surpised to see LDAC support
6. Noise reduction is astonishing for earbuds!
7. Buttons are customisable but… Double tap issue, not always responsive, maybe it takes time to figure how to double tap.
8. Microphone is good and recorded voice sounds clear – better than expected.
9. HearID makes a noticeable diffeerence on sound quality
I can recommend them for daily use and seems they can be used for calls/ teams meetings.
Sound quality and noise blocking without any enhancements is exceptional at only 50-55% volume so no issues there – full marks!
They’re the perfect amount of tiny to not be a bother when in the ears, even to the point of actually forgetting they’re in at times.
The app and amount of control and settings you have to tinker with are second to none (barring the low battery alerts – more on that later):
+ HearID to tune the buds to your own ear profile and/or one of the many pre-set equaliser settings (or your own of course).
+ The ability to customise the various button presses to your own preference (or turn them off altogether).
+ Setting the ANC and transparency.
– Why do headsets like the Q30s have a setting for playing relaxing/sleep sounds when they’re too bulky to sleep in, yet these have no such option when they’re perfect for it (barring the low battery nagging – soon).
Dual Pairing ends up being more of a hindrance than a help depending on how you’ve got everything set up – taking them out of the case to change a setting on the app caused my PC to have a seizure because the A40s were immediately trying to take over from my in-use Q30s because there was sound there and not on my phone, making the audio jump back and forth and glitch out – I’m not sure if Dual Pairing impacts the battery at all yet as that’s on my ‘things to test’ list; but while we’re here – why is my device list history populated with five ‘king bory 8868’ entries?!
Speaking of the battery life – the claims are that they have (up to) a 10h battery life, that’s without anything hip and happening turned on, but I only got 8h on Normal at 55% volume before the low battery harassment begins – how can you have a device with so many options and settings but no low battery warning toggle?
Unfortunately, I have to call the maximum life at the first sign of harassment on any earbuds/headset as you’re spending the rest of your battery life anticipating the next warning rather than enjoying what you’re wanting to listen to, which is a shame as there was another potential hour of use there…
Despite the annoying warnings, I persevered, and the initial test showed that the first low battery warning kicked in at 7h52m, followed by another 5 at 10m intervals giving a potential 8h50m runtime (which is when the left bud expired) – no small feat by any means, but it’s 10% off the claimed time; then take another 10% off for the low battery botherment and you’re getting less than 80% of what’s advertised, I dread to think how much worse it’d be with some bells and/or whistles enabled…
I’ll do some more tests but I may have to return them if the best I’m getting is 80% before the woman pipes up for the first of many warnings – I mean, I could get two pairs of A3is for a combined ~14h+ (sans warnings) and still have change for what I paid for these.
Edit: More tests…
Game Mode just makes everything sound like it’s being played down a telephone, and Dual Pairing on or off appears to make no difference to the battery life so it’s a redundant option.
Battery life with ANC on and volume at 35% gave the battery warning at 6h45m and every 10m thereafter until the left bud died at 7h45m (thankfully before the last warning came through).
In short, for the extra hour these offer over A3is, Game Mode sounding so poor there’s no benefit to it, and Dual Pairing that’s never sure which device it wants to connect to, these aren’t worth the extra ~40 more than the their cheaper counterparts – they’re going to have to be returned.
Edit 2: I’ve returned these and bough the A3i buds… I’ve left a base review for those and, simply put, even for the price, they’re worse for battery use.