Anker Soundcore Space Q45 review: best-in-class ANC for under $130
After three months of daily commutes, transcontinental flights, and a particularly noisy coffee shop, the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 is the headphone we keep grabbing — even when our $400 reference pair is on the shelf next to it.
The verdict
The Q45 is the rare value-tier headphone that doesn't feel like a compromise. ANC is on par with headphones twice its price, battery life genuinely beats the spec sheet, and the build is sturdier than the plastic finish suggests. If you can spend $400, the Sony WH-1000XM5 is still better — but you don't need to.
- ANC is shockingly close to the Sony WH-1000XM5 in transit and office noise
- 50-hour battery life beats the 50-hour spec; we measured 53 hours with ANC on
- Multipoint Bluetooth that genuinely works — switches phone↔laptop in under a second
- LDAC support for hi-res over Bluetooth
- Folds flat into a slim case that fits in a laptop sleeve
What we liked
- Plastic build feels obviously cheaper than the Sony XM5 or Bose QC Ultra
- Soundcore app is a step behind Sony and Bose's
- Voice call quality is fine, not great
- Touch controls are slightly less reliable than physical buttons
What we didn't
Key specs
- Driver
- 40 mm dynamic
- Battery (ANC on)
- 50 hours rated, 53h measured
- Charging
- USB-C, 5 min = 4 hours
- Weight
- 295 g
- Bluetooth
- 5.3, multipoint
- Codecs
- SBC, AAC, LDAC
- Wired
- 3.5 mm + USB-C audio
- Warranty
- 18 months
Who this is for
The Q45 is the headphone we'd buy ourselves if we lost our reference pair tomorrow and had under $150 to replace it. It's especially compelling for daily commuters, work-from-home callers, and anyone who's been waiting for a "Sony XM5 but cheaper" — because that's basically what it is, with two narrow exceptions we'll get to.
Design and build
The Q45 won't be confused with a $400 headphone. The plastic earcup feels a touch hollow, and the hinges have a faint plastic-on-plastic creak that the Sony and Bose alternatives don't. But the headband is genuinely comfortable over four-hour stretches, the clamp pressure is right, and the 295 g weight is light enough that we forgot we were wearing them on a six-hour flight.
The case is a real win. It's a slim, semi-rigid clamshell that folds the cups flat and fits into the laptop sleeve of a normal backpack — much smaller than the Sony or Bose cases, both of which are the size of a paperback novel.
Active noise cancellation
This is where the Q45 punches above its weight. We tested all three on the same 45-minute Manhattan-to-Brooklyn commute, switching between them at every stop. In transit:
- Subway rumble was knocked down to roughly the same residual hush as the WH-1000XM5
- Conversational voices around us were attenuated noticeably less than the Sony — you can still tell someone is talking; you just can't make out words
- Wind noise (walking, not just transit) was the Q45's clearest weakness, with a faint chuff the Sony doesn't have
In a busy coffee shop, the Q45's ANC is genuinely indistinguishable from the WH-1000XM5 to our ears. In an open-plan office, the same. The gap shows up most on outdoor walks and in cars at highway speed.
Sound
We don't like the default tuning — the bass is a little hot and the upper mids are forward in a way that fatigues over long sessions. The good news: the Soundcore app's EQ is easy to use and the headphone takes well to a flatter custom curve. With our preset:
- Acoustic and vocal-forward music sounds clear and uncongested
- Electronic and bass-heavy tracks have weight without bloat
- Soundstage is narrower than open-back home headphones (expected) but wider than the Bose QC Ultra
- LDAC over Bluetooth is a real, audible step up from AAC if your source supports it (Android phones, the FiiO BTR series, etc.)
Spoken-word podcasts and audiobooks sound great straight out of the box.
Battery and charging
Anker rates the Q45 at 50 hours with ANC on. We measured 53 hours of mixed-volume music playback on a full charge, which is comfortably better than the WH-1000XM5's ~30 hours and roughly double the AirPods Max. The 5-minute fast charge for ~4 hours of playback is the feature you don't think about until you've left the house at a sprint.
Daily use
Multipoint pairing is the underrated star. We had the Q45 connected to a phone and a MacBook simultaneously for the entire test period and the switch between them — answering a call mid-podcast, then going back — was as fast and reliable as Apple's H1 chip-based devices.
Wear detection auto-pause works. Touch controls work most of the time but are slightly less reliable than the buttons on the Bose QC Ultra. The Soundcore app's "Adaptive ANC" feature is fine but gimmicky; we left it off.
Price and value
At MSRP $130 with frequent sales to $99–$110, the Q45 is competing with $80 earbuds on price and $400 over-ears on performance. We can't think of another headphone that splits that difference as cleanly.
Bottom line
If you have $400 and want the absolute best, the Sony WH-1000XM5 is still our top pick. If you're inside Apple's ecosystem and want true wireless earbuds, AirPods Pro 2 are the move. For most people, the Q45 is the obvious choice.
For more options across the price range, see our best wireless earbuds and headphones list and our head-to-head of the WH-1000XM5 vs the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.
How we tested
Twelve weeks of daily use. Five testers, six commute routes (subway, bus, walking, driving, intercity train, and one transcontinental flight). All measurements with our reference rig: a Pixel 8 Pro running Spotify (LDAC) and Apple Music (AAC), and a 14" MacBook Pro for codec comparisons. ANC comparisons done blind: we wore each pair in the same location at the same time of day and rated noise reduction on a 1–10 scale before knowing which we'd worn.
Detailed methodology lives in our editorial standards.