Inperson 1 Intro So these are the Soundcore Space Q45, they
are a pair of entry level ANC headphones that defiantly try to punch way above their weigh
class.
Overall, they’re decent and they definitely get the job done, but I can’t help but feel
that they are using last gen tech for headphones in 2023.
Nonetheless, lets see what the Space Q45 are all about.
Voice 2 Price Now when it comes to pricing, these headphones
retail for $150.
And given their feature set and the fact that they come included with a hardshell case…
that is very impressive.
Now overall, im fairly neutral on these headphones, I don’t hate them but I don’t love them,
but I can still recommend them.
So if you want to pick these headphones up they’ll be linked down below.
And I think that it safe to assume that they will go on sale on a regular basis.
Voice 3 case Now first lets talk about the case.
These headphones come included with a decently sized case.
Its foot print isn’t huge like with the XM5’s case… but its also not as small
as either the Bose QC45 case or Sony 1000XM4 case.
But more importantly, the fact that these entry level ANC headphones come included with
a hard shell case is very impressive.
Cause with a lot of other entry level ANC headphones… either they don’t come included
with a case, or they only come included with a carrying pouch.
Voice 4 Design But now lets talk about the headphones themselves.
The Q45’s have a mostly plastic body, and the majority of this plastic has a matte finish
to it, which personally I do like.
The ear cups themselves fully swivel and these headphones are also fully collapsable, which
again, I like this.
We’ve got an exposed stainless steel headband, which is very Sony 1000XM2 like, we’ve got
padded leatherette underneath the headband… and overall the leatherette on the ear pads
feels nice too.
Its very soft, and it kind of feels like the leatherette on the XM5’s… as in there
isn’t any grain to it.
It kind of feels like soft touch silicon… except its not as smooth as the XM5’s.
Overall, impressed by the build quality on these headphones.
Voice 5 However, when it comes to the looks of these
headphones…
they’re not my favorite.
Looks wise these headphones are rather bulky because they have a fairly bulbous headband.
But also, the design of the ear cups themselves is very wide, making your face look wide,
you look like mega man, and you can actually see these ear cups in your perfifial vision
as well.
And this is something that was a lot more common in 2018.
These days, headphones are trying to look as sleek and as low profile as possible.
Voice 6 Now when it comes to fit, these headphones
fit well but they’re not my favorite.
Now when it comes to clamping force, they have a neutral amount of clamping force.
As in, they aren’t tight, but they also aren’t lose like with lets say the Bose
QC45’s.
Overall I will say that these headphones are big head approved and they will also fit very
well with hats cause their headband expands a lot.
However, when it comes to their weight, the Q45’s weigh in at 298 grams, which is average
for a pair of premium ANC Headphones.
However, when compared to lets say the Sony 1000XM4, these weigh in at 254 grams.
The XB910N weigh in at 252 grams, the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams, and the Bose QC45 which
are currently my favorite headphones, these weigh in at 234 grams.
So what im saying is, the Q45’s aren’t over weight like the AirPods Max which weighs
in at a staggering 384 grams… but the Q45’s are noticeably heavier than the headphones
that these headphones are actively trying to under cut.
So when compared to all of these other headphones, the Q45’s are more noticeable when they're
on your head.
And yes, I have been spoiled by daily driving the Bose QC45’s, and after recently testing
the Sony WH-CH720N’s, which weigh in at 192 grams… going back to the Q45’s which
weigh in at 298 grams…
im going to notice the difference.
But also, I noticed that with the Q45’s, due to their very wide design…
I think they have a wide center of gravity, cause whenever I turn my head with these headphones…
their momentum is a lot more pronounced than other headphones who’s ear cups are a lot
more low profile.
Voice 7 But then there’s the headband on these headphones…
the padding on the headband is very soft… and I’ve noticed that at the 1 hour mark,
this headband does create a hot spot on the top of your head, and that’s cause this
super soft padding just gets super flat after awhile.
So personally, I can only wear these headphones for one hour at a time before I need to take
a break.
And finally there are the ear pads on these headphones.
Now these earpads are fairly spacious and they should have no problem fitting most ear
types.
However, they’re not as deep as the ear pads found on the Bose QC45’s, so if you
have ears that stick out a lot… then these could still press down on your ears.
But what I really don’t like about these earpads is that they have a lot of surface
area coming in contact with your skin, and this padding collects a lot of heat, so these
ears pads do like to heat up rather quickly.
So overall fit wise, I will say that these headphones will get the job done…
but personally they are not my favorite fitting headphones out there.
The fit of these headphones feels a little last gen when compared to newer or more premium
headphones.
Inperson 8 Battery life But now lets talk about tech specs, regarding
battery life, this is actually very impressive and I think its part of the reason as to why
the Q45 have their super wide design which personally, I don’t like too much.
Now these headphones have an advertised battery life 50 hours with their active noise cancelation
turned on… which is super impressive.
And with their active noise cancellation turned off, they can go for as long as 65 hours.
So these are amazing for traveling.
Inperson 9 Now when it comes to charging these headphones,
they charge via a USB C port as they should… and their fast charging is very impressive
as well for a pair of entry level headphones… cause if you were to plug them in for 5 minutes
from a dead battery, you’re going to get 4 hours of playback time.
Inperson 10 bluetooth Now when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity,
these headphones can be connected to two devices at the same which is good if you’re a power
user cause you can use your headphones with your phone and computer at the same time,
and they don’t have to be in the same eco system.
Inperson 11 Regarding performance, these headphones have
zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re
using an iPhone or an android device, and when it comes to audio codecs, these headphones
have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s on LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res
audio codec.
Inperosn 12 Just keep in mind that if you do want to use
LDAC you have to be an android user cause iPhone top out at AAC.
Also if you use LDAC then these headphones will only be able to connect to one device
at a time… and LDAC does take an additional toll on the battery life.
Voice 13 Sound But now, lets talk about actually listening
to music with these headphones.
Now I feel that the Space Q45’s sound good enough to get the job done.
But these headphones are defeneitly not going to be able to please people who like to actually
feel the bass in their music.
These headphones have very little physicality in their bass, and even if you were to go
into their customizable EQ and raise their bass all the way up… you’re still not
going to get much physicality out of them.
Now, the Q45’s do have a bass up feature which is going to give these headphones a
little more physicality in their bass, but if you use this feature, two things are going
to happen.
First off these headphones are going to sound very shallow and they’re going to sound
like you’re listening to them through a cup a little bit, the low ends just become
so over powering and muddy… but also, on rare occasions the bass is going to bottom
out.
Now when the bass bottoms out on these headphones, it is very slight and it can be a little hard
to hear…
its not as prominent as when the bass bottoms out on the Surface Headphones, but it is there.
Voice 14 So personally, I wouldn’t use the bass up
feature on these headphones cause it makes them sound shallow and cause the bass can
bottom out.
But in general, these headphones do sound a little narrow and the instrumentals can
get lost at little bit.
These headphones are mostly bass and vocals, and the bass on these headphones is mostly
on the audible side.
So like I said, these headphones sound good enough to get the job, but if you’re someone
that likes to feel the bass in your music, these aren’t going to be able to deliver
as well, and if you like really good instrument separation, these are going to struggle in
that area as well.
These are right down the middle and strictly for super casual listeners.
Voice 15 But when it comes to controlling your music,
these headphones are using physical buttons, and over all, I like these buttons.
They’re very well placed, they are easy to tell apart and they have a satisfying click
to them.
Voice 16 ANC But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation
on these headphones.
Now the ANC on the Q45’s is very impressive cause they are blocking out an above average
amount of noise for a pair of entry level ANC headphones.
The Q45’s block out noise more similar to a pair of really good mid tier ANC headphones.
But so that you can see for yourself, we’re going to jump into the ANC test.
ANC Test
Voice 17 So like you may have just seen, the Space
Q45’s do a really good job of keeping up with the likes of the Bose QC45’s and Sony
1000XM5’s which are some of the best preforming ANC headphones out there right now.
The XM5’s are currently number one when it comes to blocking out noise, and the QC45’s
aren’t far behind.
However, I do feel that the ANC on the Q45’s is a little last gen cause these do have a
noticeable amount of cabin pressure.
However, if you were to go in and lower the ANC on these headphones to 3, then that cabin
pressure is less noticeable, but they are going to block out less noise.
But overall, the ANC on these headphones is very impressive and I honestly feel that that
is their main selling point.
Voice 18 Ambient Mode But next up is their ambient mode, these headphones
have a decent enough sounding ambient mode.
You can go in and adjust it to your liking, and the microphone array on these headphones
does a really good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
Or if you want to, you can set these headphones to talk mode, so that this way, if you press
the ANC button on these headphones, they will automatically lower the volume of your music
and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone
without having to take off your headphones like this.
Talk mode demo
Voice 19 But unfortunately, you can’t have both.
You can either have transparency mode or talk mode, but not both.
And personally I hate when companies do this cause you can fix this through a software
update.
Mic 20 Q45 Quite But finally here’s the microphone test,
and overall I have to say that im rather impressed.
Now while in a quite room this microphone can sound a little robotic, but it defnfeitly
still gets the job done.
Mic 21 Q45 Road Noise Now when it comes to blocking out noise pollution,
this microphone is doing a decent job of blocking out this road noise…
although there is some interference going on with my voice.
Mic 22 Chatter But when it comes to blocking out chatter,
this microphone is doing a good job as well.
Now my voice can sound a little hollow, but you can defeneitly still understand me.
So overall, I will say that the Soundcore Space Q45 has a decent enough sounding microphone
for phone calls and you can get away with some noise pollution.
Voice 23 verdict So with all of that being said, the Soundcore
Space Q45’s are a pair of entry level ANC Headphones who’s main value proposition
is going to be their Active Noise cancelation and very impressive battery life.
With the amount of noise that these headphones block out and their 50 hour battery life…
these are a great choice for frequent flyers and commuters.
However, I do have to caution that fit wise these aren’t my favorite.
Their headband can create a hotspot on the top of your head due to their super soft padding.
Their ear pads can get a little hot a little too quickly, and their very wide design just
makes their momentum very noticeable when you move your head around.
And then theres there sound, they sound good enough to get the job done, but if you're
someone that likes bass or instrument separation, these aren’t going to be able
to deliver.