Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Review (2026)

Why you should trust this review

I bought this pair myself in December 2025. Anker did not send me a sample, and there is no review unit to return at the end of this, just a headphone that has lived in my bag for four months. I have been writing about audio gear for fourteen years, and the thing that interests me about budget over-ears is whether the headline numbers survive contact with real use. Most do not.

So I treated the Space Q45 the way I treat headphones that cost three times as much. I ran it on the same source files I used for the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Sennheiser Accentum Plus, played the same reference tracks, and carried it through the same commutes and flights. When my own measurements disagreed with the spec sheet, I went with what I measured.

How we evaluated

My over-ear protocol runs a minimum of thirty days. For the Space Q45 I extended that to a full 122 days because the battery claim alone takes most of a month to verify properly. I measured noise cancellation with a calibrated dB meter at six frequencies, from 50 Hz cabin drone up to 10 kHz, inside a small acoustic room. I ran battery tests with pink noise at half volume, both with ANC on and off, three times each, until the headphones shut themselves down.

Comfort came from a four hour wear test with check-ins every thirty minutes, plus a clamping pressure measurement. Call quality was graded across five environments against a studio control track. And because LDAC is the headline feature here, I ran a parallel A and B between AAC and LDAC on the same Android source so the only variable was the codec.

Battery life that actually matches the box

Anker rates the Space Q45 at 50 hours with ANC on. In my standardized run at half volume on AAC with cancellation active, it logged 49 hours and 36 minutes across three passes, within one percent of the claim. With ANC off it managed 64 hours and 48 minutes against a 65 hour rating. Those are some of the most honest battery numbers I have ever measured in the budget tier, where inflated claims are the norm.

What that means in daily life is simple. At roughly 90 minutes of listening per day I charge these about once a month. I have genuinely forgotten whether they were charged, picked them up, and gotten through a full work week anyway. The quick charge helps too, a five minute top up buys around four hours, which has saved me more than once on the way out the door.

This is the single feature that justifies the recommendation. The Sony WH-1000XM5 I keep for travel does not come close on runtime, and the only over-ear in this price neighborhood that matches it is the Sennheiser Accentum Plus.

Noise cancellation: good for the money, not flagship

My meter averaged 24 dB of attenuation across the six test frequencies. That is 12 dB behind the Sony and 4 dB behind the Sennheiser. The number sounds abstract until you sit on a plane with it. On a four hour leg from LAX to ORD the Space Q45 took enough edge off the cabin drone to be tolerable, but I had to push the volume to around 70 percent to mask it. On the Sony, the same flight sat comfortably at 55 percent.

In an office or on a bus, the gap matters far less. The ANC handles steady, mid frequency hum well, which covers most commuting. It is the deep, low frequency drone of aircraft where the budget hardware shows its limits. If most of your listening is at a desk or on the street, the cancellation here is more than enough.

Sound quality and the LDAC question

Out of the box the tuning is warm, with a noticeable bass lift down around 80 Hz. The Soundcore app saves the day with a nine band parametric EQ and a long list of presets, easily the most control I have used at this price. My settled daily preset pulls the bass down a touch and nudges the low mids and treble up, which flattens the response into something I actually enjoy on acoustic material.

In a blind comparison against the Sennheiser Accentum Plus, my panel split. More listeners preferred the Sennheiser on default tuning for its warmth and stable imaging, but after EQ tuning a meaningful share swung to the Anker for clarity and bass control. Without touching the EQ, the Sennheiser wins more often. The takeaway is that the Space Q45 rewards the listener willing to spend ten minutes in the app.

LDAC is real on Android. On critical listening with high resolution tracks I could hear slightly more detail in cymbals and reverb tails, the kind of thing you notice in a quiet room and stop noticing the moment a bus rolls past. My rule has become LDAC at home, AAC on the move, and the long battery makes that switch painless.

Comfort and call quality

At 289 grams these are heavier than the Sony or the Sennheiser, and you feel it after a few hours. That said, the clamping pressure is moderate and the earpads stayed below the threshold of uncomfortable across my four hour wear test for nearly every tester. The synthetic pads get warm in summer, which is the main downside, and after four months they show light wear at the seam. They are user replaceable, which is rare and welcome at this price.

Call quality is where the budget shows. In my five environment test the microphones placed near the bottom in noisy cafes, gyms, and windy outdoor calls. In a quiet office, calls sound perfectly fine. If you spend your day on calls, this is not the headphone for you. If you mostly listen and occasionally talk, the compromise is easy to accept.

Who should buy the Anker Soundcore Space Q45?

Buy it if you have a firm budget and want a real over-ear experience, if you want the longest battery in the class, if you use Android and want LDAC, or if you travel and value the flat folding design. Skip it if you need flagship cancellation for frequent flying, if you take a lot of calls in noisy places, if you want a premium feeling metal build, or if you want a gym headphone, since there is no water rating and the pads get clammy.

The verdict

The Space Q45 is not a Sony killer and never claims to be. It is roughly sixty percent of the flagship experience for a fraction of the outlay, and after four months it has held up exactly as well as I hoped. The battery is the star, LDAC is a genuine rarity here, and the app gives you tools to fix the only real sonic complaint. The ANC and the mics are the price you pay. For someone who wants a long lasting, well supported budget over-ear, this is the one I keep recommending.