Anker’s Soundcore Space A40 is the best recommendation in our guide to best budget wireless headphones, because it offers good sound and a meaty feature set for under $100. If you’re looking to grab a set on the cheap, take note: A recent sale on Amazon has dropped the headphones to $49, which is the lowest price we’ve seen. The headphones technically have a list price of $100, but they’re there It sells for $59 For most of 2024, so you’re saving about $10 here. We last saw this discount about a month ago.
In an amusing error, Amazon’s product page currently lists the hoodie as “Gildan Unisex-Adult Fleece Hoodie Sweatshirt.” Why? We have no idea. The correct name pair appears when you add it to your cart, so there should be no cause for alarm. (Unless you really want a new hood.) The deal itself is sold directly by Anker and applies to the black model; the blue and white versions also sell for $1 more.
Soundcore
This matches the best price we’ve seen for the top budget pick in our guide to the best wireless headphones.
We recommend the Space A40 because it has the features we’ve come to expect from more expensive headphones. It is not fully compatible with its adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC). the absolute best from Sony or Bose — especially when it comes to sounds and high-pitched sounds — but for $50, it’s still great and more than capable of drowning out the hum of the office or the daily commute. The headphones are small, comfortable and IPX4 rating, so they should hold up to all but the sweatiest of gym goers. Battery life is around eight hours per charge, with another 40 or so available in the box, it’s pocket-friendly and supports wireless charging. The pair can connect to two devices simultaneously, and has a usable (if not superior) transparency mode to let in extraneous noise.
The Space A40 has a warm sound profile out of the box, with a noticeable but not overwhelming boost in the upper bass region. The highs are a little under-emphasized, so some tracks won’t sound as crisply detailed as on more expensive pairs. But it should be pleasant for most, and Anker’s companion app includes an EQ to tweak the sound if needed. The main downsides here are the mediocre microphone, which isn’t clear at all for phone calls, and the lack of in-ear detection, which means it won’t automatically pause when you take the earbuds out of your ears.
If all of this sounds tempting, but you prefer an AirPods-style shape with easy-to-grip “stems”, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is the second in our guide and it also retails for $74.50. That’s about $5 above the pair’s all-time low, but $25 below its usual rate. This model sounds more bass heavy by default, but has about the same features with slightly wider touch controls.
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