Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Anker Soundcore Space Q45 review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT in 2025. I’ll also be comparing the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 vs Space One, JBL Tune 770NC, Sony WH-CH720N, Sennheiser Accentum, Sony ULT Wear, and more!
I’m going to do my best to share whether these headphones are worth it, and ideally who these headphones are for. I’ve owned these headphones for a while now and have quite a few thoughts.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist.
Let’s dive right in!
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Headphones Review in Short
The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 is a solid all-arounder in the budget wireless, over-ear, noise cancelling headphone class under $200. Easily the best build quality in its class, with “good enough” sound quality, but fairly mediocre noise cancelling performance. Competes very well in the budget class with JBL Tune 770NC, Sony WH-CH720N, Sony ULT Wear, Sennheiser Accentum, Anker Soundcore Space One, and Anker Soundcore Life Q30.
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Pros and Cons
- Best build quality under $200
- 65 hour battery life
- Great value at under $100
- Comfy
- Sound quality is just fine
- Weaker noise cancelling performance
- Heavy
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Want to save up to $20 or more?
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Sound Quality
My first impression of the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 is that it’s perfectly… fine.
There’s nothing too offensive about them, but after having reviewed almost every premium wireless ANC headphone under $1,000 – it’s just nothing special at this point.
And that includes against similarly-priced budget contenders like the Sony WH-CH720N, JBL Tune 770NC, Sony ULT Wear, and Sennheiser Accentum.
Against all of those budget headphones mentioned above, the Q45 competes, but it simply doesn’t stand out at all.
To quickly point out some of its flaws: the bass is overly boomy and uncontrolled, vocal and instrument timbre is very artificial and unrealistic, weak separation and layering, mediocre dynamics, and the vocals tend to be more in the background and can be either muffled or lack body.
Now that sounds quite nitpicky, I know, but after you’ve heard dozens of these headphones, I’m simply putting the Q45 in its place on the totem pole.
Now on the GOOD side, the Q45 should be enjoyable enough to listen to for the casual listener.
And compared to the lower-priced Anker Soundcore Life Q30, I much prefer listening to the Q45.
I might even prefer the Q45 over the higher-end Soundcore Space One, due to simply a more pleasing sound profile than the Space One (and for some reason the Space One sound quality degrades with ANC on for my pair).
It excels the most for Rock and Metal genres of music, and most of my nitpicks are for pretty much any other genre.
I actually do enjoy listening to these for Rock and Metal, but am less enthused by Pop, Hip Hop, EDM, Classical, Jazz, and pretty much everything else.
There’s just more exciting and engaging options, even at this price range.
Although the bass is a bit loose, it is decently fun, but could use a little more slam.
There is decent amounts of detail, but I would like some more body in the vocals to make them sound fuller.
Also, the vocals tend to get drowned out a bit at times, which is the opposite of what I look for in a headphone when listening to music.
If you’re not too picky about audio, then I think the Q45 suffices.
Especially for people who primarily (or exclusively) listen to Rock and Metal.
Sound Quality Score: 7.5 out of 10
Comfort
The Anker Soundcore Q45 is one of the heavier over-ear, wireless noise cancelling headphones as weighed on my scale:
- Sony WH-CH720N – 186.4 grams
- JBL Tune 720BT – 223.2 grams
- JBL Tune 770NC – 227.1 grams
- Bose QuietComfort – 236.1 grams
- Sony WH 1000XM5 – 245.9 grams
- Sony WH 1000XM4 – 251.6 grams
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra – 254.4 grams
- Beats Studio Pro – 268.6 grams
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 – 292.9 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45 – 297.5 grams
- Sonos Ace – 318.1 grams
- Apple AirPods Max – 387.8 grams
Wow, I truly wasn’t expecting the Q45 to weigh close to 300 grams.
Most other budget headphones in this category are primarily cheap plastic, and weigh closer to the 230 gram mark or below.
But the Q45 is a step above in build quality with what seems to be some metal components contributing to that weight.
My initial impression of them was that I found them fairly comfortable, although less comfortable than I expected.
I do feel a bit of that weight around the earcups and ever so slightly on the headband.
Earcups have plenty of interior room so my ears aren’t touching anything, which is always nice.
Overall, the Q45 is one of the more comfortable headphones that I could wear for hours.
Comfort Score: 4.0 out of 5
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling
Features
The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 was originally released in August 2022, so they’re a fairly modern headphone with most of the modern features:
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- Smartphone app with customizable EQ
- Multi-point connection between 2 devices at once
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio
- LDAC
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling (choose from 5 levels, or Adaptive)
- Transparency Mode
- Includes Compact Hardshell Case
- Foldable and Collapsable
It’s great to see the more updated Bluetooth 5.3, which I’ve had much more reliable connectivity with than the older Bluetooth 5.1 on other headphones.
These also don’t have Spatial Audio or Dolby Atmos support, for those that care.
Also nice that these include a fairly premium compact hardshell case, something you definitely don’t see often in the budget class.
These headphones do fold and collapse, fitting nicely into the smaller case.
The included case reminds me of Bose’s size and design, perhaps ever so slightly cheaper-feeling.
Build Quality
When it comes to build quality, I think this is where the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 shines in the budget class.
The Q45 has better build quality than any headphone I’ve tested under $200, and overall just feels solid when handling.
This headphone feels more like $200 to $300 headphones in the class, featuring some Aluminum metal in the headband.
Most budget headphones in this class are the cheapest of plastics and feel like they could break at anytime.
The drawback to this build quality and feel is the heavier weight than its competitors, but this bodes well for its long-term durability.
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Battery Life
The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 has 65 hours of battery life with ANC set to OFF, and 50 hours with ANC on.
This is definitely above average battery life and towards the higher end of the wireless over-ear ANC headphone class.
There is also a “Rapid Charging” feature that provides 4 hours of listening time with 5 minutes of charging.
Thankfully, these also feature the modern standard USB-C charging port.
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Noise Cancelling Performance
Up to this point, the Q45 has made itself out to be quite the feature-rich headphone for the budget class.
But unfortunately, I’m a bit disappointed with the Q45’s overall noise cancelling performance.
You can either set it to “Adaptive”, or manually choose between 5 levels of noise cancelling strength.
Going through all the settings, I found that the Q45 just freely lets in certain frequencies with ease, even when set to the max level.
If you look at their product listing page on Amazon, it seems the ANC has been tuned to focus only on specific frequencies like jet engines and dogs barking.
But this leaves a decent amount of outside noise unchecked and flowing through.
There’s also a Transparency Mode, which is decently functional and mostly gets the job done.
Overall, I do think “you get what you pay for” when it comes to noise cancelling performance.
For this budget class, I’d rather have the ULT Wear’s noise cancelling performance.
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling Performance Score: 4.0 out of 5
Value
At the time of this writing, the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 retails at $149.99, but can be found on sale for as low as $89.99 to $139.99.
At full price, I’m less excited about the Q45.
But I’ve seen them on sale for around that $90 price point, which I think is a fairly amazing value.
No headphone under $200 brand new has the build quality of the Q45 (aside from maybe Soundcore’s Space One).
But I walk away a bit disappointed by both the sound quality and noise cancelling performance, so it isn’t a slam dunk for me.
Value Score: 4.5 out of 5
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Sound Quality: 7.5 / 10
Comfort: 4.0 / 5
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 4.0 / 5
Value: 4.5 / 5
Total: 20 / 25
Is the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Worth it?
That depends. If the Q45 is on sale off that full price of $149.99, I’d say it’s worth it for being feature-rich, having the best build quality, and “good enough” sound for the casual listener.
But I must admit that I do walk away a bit disappointed by its noise cancelling performance and then its sound quality from an audiophile perspective.
That wouldn’t be an issue IF it weren’t for other budget standouts like the Sony ULT Wear, JBL Tune 770NC, and Sennheiser Accentum being so good today.
If you can get a good deal on these, snag them.
Otherwise, I’m going with one of those other top options for my money.
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless headphones are:
- Sony ULT Wear
- JBL Tune 770NC
- Sennheiser Accentum
- Sony WH-CH720N
- Anker Soundcore Life Q30
- Anker Soundcore Space One
- JBL Tune 720BT
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
- Sony WH-1000XM4
- Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort (2023 model)
- Beats Studio Pro
- Bose QuietComfort 45
- Sennheiser Momentum 4
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra
- Apple AirPods Max
Some Relevant Comparisons in this class of wireless headphones are:
- Sony WH-1000XM4 vs Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort 45 vs Sony WH-1000XM4
- Beats Studio Pro vs Sony WH-1000XM4
- Beats Studio Pro vs Sony WH-1000XM5
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra vs Sony WH-1000XM5
I highly recommend you check those out next!
Lastly, if you’d like to save some money and keep supporting RecordingNOW.com’s 100% independent, unbiased reviews, do consider using some of our affiliate links below to shop and even just compare prices. We purchase all products we review with our own money to maintain the highest level of integrity, and your support goes into that plus a continuously improving site experience.
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Want to save up to $20 or more?
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Anker Soundcore better than Bose?
Having tested several Anker Soundcore and Bose headphones, I would say that Anker Soundcore isn’t better than Bose, and they don’t directly compete with each other based on price.
Bose headphones tend to be quite a bit more expensive than the budget-friendly Anker Soundcore line of headphones, and thus have superior sound quality and noise cancelling performance.
Which is better Soundcore Space One or Q45?
Having tested both, I prefer the Q45 over the Space One, which seems to be the better dollar value and has a slightly more pleasing sound profile.
Which is better, Soundcore Q30 or Q45?
The Soundcore Q45 is the higher-end upgraded model to the Q30, which is cheaper and lower on the Soundcore lineup of wireless over-ear noise cancelling headphones.
When was the Soundcore Q45 released?
The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 headphone was officially released on July 5th, 2022.
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
Read Next
Anker Soundcore Space One Review
Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Review
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 Review
Bose QuietComfort Review (2023 Model)
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Review
