Soundcoreby Anker Space A40 Adaptive Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, Reduce Noise by Up to 98%, Ultra Long 50H Playtime, 10H Single Playtime, Hi-Res Sound, Comfortable Fit, Wireless ChargeCarbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services

Own a set of P40s bought here also... and have some meaningful comparisons to make with this A40.Bought the P40s for their frankly amazing battery life claims (which in the field have proven to be accurate and not just plausibly-deniable marketing). A40 has two hrs less life on full charge, which drove me to the P40s -- which also wowed with its *amazing* sound vs. my old inferior pair of Jabra Elite 7 Pros at dbl the retail price. So far so good...But over time the one flaw (at least for this user) P40 had, became an issue: fitment is dirt-poor -- meaning they fall out of ears or need adjustment constantly, in my ears at least. The Jabras were already bad due to how heavy they are vs. the 2024 crop of Li-powered earbuds... but P40 despite feeling half the weight of the Jabras in-hand... fell out like I'd used too-small an earcup. Wrong, as the only size that wouldn't fail the Fit Test on the Soundcore app, did feel initially to seal correctly. The problem is the oblong design of the cups themselves -- you cannot get an oval cup to fit in a round canal and seal, again at least in my ears.So when resting on the sofa, they need minding and readjusting about once every 10m or so, just to preserve their great sound... which is a showstopper.So saw these A40s did not use an oval earcup, but a round one. Not surprisingly taking them out of the box this morning, fit *perfectly* with the same earcup size Fit Test suggested in the app for P40. To boot, the shape of the A40 differs from the Jabras (similar form factor) in that they are a bit shorter, thus stay in contact with the skin of the outer ear more closely -- leading to better retention. I can shake my head as hard as I can, and the fit stays the same -- the Jabras would be in the gutter on a run, which was frustrating as they retailed for $129, more than dbl the cost of these A40s.So were curious about 1) sound, and 2) battery life. Battery will need a few days to figure out, so will update later with more field exps... but the sound? Tbh the only difference I hear P40 vs A40... is the dynamic rage of the A40 is ever-so-slightly muddier. But the P40 won't resolve bass as well, and will clip, again ever-so-slightly, as long as you haven't cranked preamp settings thru the roof. So for the bulk of my listening (80% YT and calls, 20% music) the A40 is the better buy -- unless of course you want them to last a flight from NZ <--> HI, or UK <--> TH -- which 90% of earbuds will tap out long before the landing sequence.So far, having tuned A40 with the app... the only things I find the P40s do better, is respond to touch controls (takes a half-sec vs. virtually instantly), which is offset by the P40 touch 'area' on the earbud body being way too sensitive -- much easier to adjust the A40s in your ear w/o activating touch controls -- which to me is preferable. The case holds just as much charge in hrs-playtime, so really for my use case the A40s have it.Still like the P40s, and will defo take them on long roadtrips or flights, granted no running w/ bags in the airport's a given (which tbh it never is 100% 😅). So P40 will serve bedtime duty and A40s will be for the road and office (job requires lots of moving around and lots of head articulation away from eyes-horizon... which the P40s have dropped out of ears more times than I can count). Reviews for these, pls believe them when they say, it's a great buy not to be missed if you like snug fitment *and* awesome sound.Five stars; will update if any showstoppers or concerns pop up ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️UPDATE 10 FEB 25:Having tried both the P40i and A40 now a couple of weeks... I can without any reservation whatsoever endorse getting the A40 between the two.Not only is it less expensive, but the difference in ear tip design + more secure fit in my particular ears make both a secure fit when in different body positions, and doesn't sacrifice any quality of sound I can detect (P40i still feel as if it's a hybrid betw. the no-eartip, non-sealed designs, and true round-section ear-canal-sealing earbuds -- without a clear advantage over each). The only advantage P40i offers for its price tbh, is a slightly more feature-full options list in the Soundcore app, and better advertised battery life on one charge and in the case -- that's it. 10H in my use case is plenty of life, and both take less than 15m on a 2A charger to go from the 'recharge battery' warning, to 100%.Anker has a winner in the A40, by balancing the features I want, with cost. Both the fancy Liberty and P40i both seem to be less so in this regard, given the considerable premiums over A40. I'll be keeping my P40i around, as it's still a better-than-average earbuds..., but they'll be more on backup / loss duty, than daily / sports use.TL;DR:Pros: Amazing bass response for the price; nearly all the bells and whistles available in the P40i for much less cash; nearly identical and very brief charging times vs. P40i; better fit in my ear canals in all situations -- did I mention it's less cash upfront?Cons: 2H less battery life on a single charge; some options like control of normal/transparency/noise cancellation aren't customisable for each earbud, selections apply to both earbudsGet the A40. Or get two, as I'll be doing soon, so you're never interrupted on the road :D

Honestly probably one of the best purchases I've made. Almost perfect for the price. The battery lasts so long I can't even remember the last time I charged it. I charge mine like every other month at most.The sound quality is pretty good. For these smaller buds I don't expect amazing quality like nice cups at home but for what they are I think they sound great. I'm catching a good amount of detail from the music. I mostly use them for playing some games and watching YT videos during my commute. They connect flawlessly to my Steam Deck and Switch. I have used them on my MacBook and Pixel phone. The interaction on my Mac and Pixel can sometimes be weird. You can connect to multiple devices but when the MacBook connects sometimes it just doesn't want to let go lol. I'll turn off Bluetooth on my laptop and then it will reconnect to my phone. I did have to re-pair it one time to my phone after that but I've been going good since.There is an app lets you adjust the noice cancellation, EQ, button functions and other things. You can disconnect from devices in there too. The noise cancellation is decent. For the price and size I'm not going to complain about it on an earbud but if it's your most important thing I would maybe say get a different pair. I use this on the train and I'll still pick up some things but if you are actively listening to music or watching a movie it's pretty good.Overall very impressed. If longer battey life is important to you, I would get this one no questions asked as it has decent enough noise cancellation. I'm not a fan of the overpriced buds from Apple and Google so I think these are a great alternative. I've been using them for over a year now and no issues.

2025-06-05. Wireless earbuds by Soundcore. Auto adjustable active noise cancelling (ANC). Comfortable fit. 50-hour play time. Hi-Res sound. App customization. Wireless charging. Blue.Line: SpaceModel: A40Being a student, I'm always looking for value; and to clear the air, I'm not cheap, I'm just poor! Value is about getting the best you can within your budget, not necessarily the least expensive thing out there. When it comes to headphones & earbuds, for me, it means less than $100.There are quite a few brands out there that make really decent stuff for this price, and Soundcore by Anker is no exception. I recently purchased the Soundcore Life Q30 headphones (you can read my review on them here: https://www.amazon.com/review/review-your-purchases?asins=B08HMWZBXC&channel=YAcc-wr&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_rev_prod) and had a really good experience with them so decided to give Soundcore another shot with their earbuds.But before I begin, I would like to define a few things that may help put my review in perspective. Headphones are way different from earbuds. Headphones will usually provide better sound and possibly better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), but they are usually poor when it comes to staying on your head on-the-go. Earbuds on the other hand are designed for this purpose, thus making them much more suitable for commuting, sports, and fitness. As noted earlier, I already have a pair of the Life Q30 for when I'm at home, on a plane, at the library, or at a coffee shop, but I wanted something more for the urban commute, or for use at the gym.Truly Wireless. Unlike headphones where both left and right speakers are attached to the same unit, earbuds are separated. Truly wireless means that there are two distinct sound channels (i.e. stereo sound capability) and sound is simply not relayed from one earpiece to the other (i.e. both earbuds are picking up their own signal from the source.) This is important because they're wireless, and any lag, even really small ones can put the music out of sync.In terms of sound, these Space A40's have low-bass with a balanced amount of punch and rumble out of the box giving a warm tone to vocals and instruments. If your taste is more heavy bass, Soundcore has a companion app that has a graphic EQ as well as some presets you can use to customize or switch up the sound profile. These earbuds are closed-back, so the soundstage will not be open nor immersive. One last notable about the A40's is that it supports the LDAC codec. LDAC is Sony's proprietary codec for Hi-Res (high resolution) sound.The A40 also has a built in mic for phone calls. Like all wireless earbuds and headphones I've tried in this price range, it's sub-par. It's passable, but that's about it. The integrated mic has poor recording quality and during my testing, the people on the other end said I sounded distant. In a public park, the mic was able to separate my voice from the background noise, but in louder environments like a coffee shop or busy streets, it was terrible. Stick to quieter places if you need to make or take a call.Like the Life Q30, the Space A40 excels with their Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). These earbuds did a great job at blocking out background noises like engines. And since these are in-ear headphones, they work even better than the over-the-ears of the Q30. With a naturally tighter seal of these in-ear buds, coupled with their auto-adjusting ANC, these A40's block an even wider range of distracting noises and will constantly adjust as you change environments! These definitely performed better with commuting and travel over my Q30's.Battery life is one of the downfalls to earbuds over headphones. But these have a decent lifespan of up to 8 hours on a full charge (depending on ANC usage levels). The good news is that the storage case can recharge your earbuds up to 4 additional times. Like the Q30's, these A40's are fast charging, and a 10 minute charge will give you about 4 hours of usages. This is twice the time as the Q30's, but is normal since these recharge wirelessly and wireless recharging is way less efficient than wired recharging.Waterproofing is one of the pluses you can get with earbuds over headphones. These Q40's are rated IPX4 (I'll list what this means at the end of my review so as to not bore you with technical details), which essentially means that they are resistant to water splashes.From a fit perspective, the A40's come with 4 sizes of ear tips so you're sure to find one that best suits your ear size. They don't have the stability fins, so they may not stay on as well as some others out there, but I had not issues with fit with the included ear tips. What I also like about these earbuds is that they are really small, smaller than all of the other Soundcore earbuds I was considering. This translate to a smaller case as well, and the less bulk, the better IMO.Lastly, these earbuds can connect with up to two devices at a time, making it super convenient for the office as you can seamlessly switch between your laptop and phone for calls and meetings. The ANC is also fantastic at the office of reducing ambient chatter of other nearby.Overall, I continue to find that Soundcore makes a very decent product in the $50-$100 range. Their ANC is superior to others I've used, especially with their companion app which I highly recommend you download. If you noticed, these A40 earbuds are from the "Space" line whereas my Q30 headphones are from Soundcore's "Life" line of products. The Space line is more expensive, and they typically have better specs, but I went with A40's because at the time of my purchase, Soundcore offered a 44% discount on the Blue color only making these cheaper than the regular retail price of the Soundcore Life Dot2's I was originally considering. Remember, I'm all about the VALUE, and these presented it. I did a quick check on the prices and these are still on sale at 44% off (RRP $80); however, the Life Dot2's currently (at the time of this posting) have a promotion coupon for $10 off (RRP $50) making them $5 cheaper vs the sale price of the Space A40's. It was a no-brainer when the A40's were $5 cheaper than the Dot 2's, but now the shoe's on the other foot. If you can afford the $5, I'd go with the A40's for sure.As promised earlier, if you want to learn IP ratings, read on.IP stands for Ingress Protection and an IP rating is standardized and officially given to a product that undergoes special testing by a certified, independent company. An IP rating consists of four positions. The first two is simply IP and is followed by two numeric digits. The first digit (3rd position) ranges from 0-6 and represents protection from solids. The 2nd digit (4th position) ranges from 0-9 and represents how well it's protected from water. The ratings are as follows:Protection from solids (0-6)0: The product is not protected against any physical contact or objects.1: Only protected from objects larger than 50 mm. You won’t accidentally stick your hand into this product, but you can still easily get, say, your finger in.2: Protected from any object larger than 12.5 mm. This now includes fingers.3: Protected from things above 2.5 mm, which includes most tools and thick wires.4: Protected from anything bigger than 1 mm.5: Dust resistant. Some dust may get through, but it won’t be enough to damage the product.6: This product is fully dust tight.Protection from Water (0-9)0: The product offers no protection from water.1: Can resist water that drips vertically onto the product.2: Can resist water that hits the product at a 15° angle or less.3: Can take water sprays of up to 60°.4: Is resistant to water splashes from any direction.5: Can resist a sustained, low-pressure water jet spray.6: Can resist high-pressure, heavy sprays of water.7: Can be submerged up to 1 meter in water for 30 minutes.8: Can be submerged deeper than 1 meter. The exact depth is specified by the manufacturer.These A40 earbuds by Soundcore were certified to a rating of IPX4. An X in the 3rd position simply means that it was not tested for protection from solids. This is common for earbuds as the likelihood of solids entering them is pretty much non existent. They're tiny to being with and just about all of them will resist solids larger than 1mm. Manufacturers will not pay to certify that they are dust resistant to keep costs down, but most of them probably are. The letter "X" for "not tested" applies to protection from liquids as well, so ratings like IP5x means the unit is dustproof, but not tested for protection against water.