High-end wireless headphones like the AirPods Pro and the Sony WF-1000XM5 are great, but getting the absolute best performance doesn’t come cheap. If you want a more affordable pair that’s actually decent, Anker Soundcore Space A40 is a top pick in our budget wireless headphone buying guide, and a new deal has dropped it to $53 at Amazon. Outside of a brief drop to $50 during Cyber Monday, this is the lowest price we’ve tracked. It’s also $47 below Anker’s list price, even though the set has typically sold for $79 for most of the past year. In recent weeks we have seen it drop to $59. Still, it’s a good chance to save a little more. This deal applies to the color black, but son and white models are available for a dollar more. You can also get the headset for $53 at Anker Online Store by clipping a coupon on the page. Anker’s listing says the offer will run through Sunday.
This deal marks one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for these recommended wireless headphones.
As noted in our guide, we like the Space A40 for providing the kind of features we’d expect from headphones costing two or three times as much. Its active noise cancellation (ANC) isn’t as powerful as something like the Sony XM5s, especially at higher volumes, but it’s still excellent value for money. It will adapt to your surroundings by default, but you can manually set it to strong, moderate, and weak levels if needed. The ear tips themselves are lightweight, comfortable and waterproof with an IPX4 rating, so they’ll survive most gym sessions. Battery life is around eight hours, with an additional 40 hours available via a compact case that also supports wireless charging. The pair can connect to two devices simultaneously, plus there’s a usable transparency mode.
The Space A40’s sound quality won’t surprise anyone, but it’s better than many budget headphones we’ve tested. It has a warm profile by default, so there’s a punch in the upper bass range and the highs are a bit underemphasized. As a result, it can’t capture as much crisp detail as the best premium pairs, but it’s far from a mess and is still enjoyable with most popular music. If you don’t like how it sounds right away, you can customize the EQ curve quite effectively via the Soundcore app.
The big trade-off for all of this is microphone quality. The Space A40 can still work for phone calls in a pinch, but your voice will sound muffled and can get lost in a noisy environment. This pair also doesn’t have wear detection, so it won’t automatically pause your music or podcast when you take an earbud out. Still, it’s a great value overall, and this discount only reinforces that.
I follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying tips.
https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-budget-wireless-earbuds-are-down-to-53-right-now-154024026.html?src=rss