Beats Solo 4 vs Soundcore Space One: Which Headphones Should You Buy?

The Beats Solo 4 and the Anker Soundcore Space One get cross-shopped constantly, and it is not hard to see why: at a glance, the Soundcore looks like it is trying to be a Beats headphone, right down to the logo placement. But they land in different price tiers and make very different trade-offs. Beats' on-ear design skips active noise cancellation entirely and leans on styling and Apple integration; Anker's over-ear design packs in ANC, a companion EQ app, and multi-point pairing for less than half the official price. We did not run our own side-by-side listening test — this is a roundup of TechRadar's separately scored, hands-on reviews of both, plus what over 44,000 combined Amazon owners actually report.

At a glance

A note on the table: TechRadar's category scores (Features, Sound quality, Design, Value) are each out of 5, from two separate reviews published at different times — Beats Solo 4 in May 2024 by Lewis Maddison, Soundcore Space One in September 2023 by Jennifer Allen. We converted each set of category scores to a 10-point average for this comparison's score badge.

Beats Solo 4: what reviewers and owners say

TechRadar's Lewis Maddison came away with mixed feelings after testing the Solo 4 for over a week. He praised the passive noise isolation as surprisingly effective "despite the lack of active noise cancellation," and confirmed the 50-hour battery claim held up in his testing. But sound quality was the biggest letdown: he described the "lower mids" as "disappointingly muddy," with bass that could be "boomy and wooly," concluding the Solo 4 offers "middling sound quality for the price" compared to rivals like the Sony ULT Wear at the same $199 price point. Comfort was also a sticking point — he "could not wear the Solo 4 for more than an hour at a time" due to thin headband padding, though he noted this affects people differently depending on ear sensitivity.

Amazon's 28,745 ratings tell a much rosier story, averaging 4.6 out of 5. Amazon's own review summary says customers find the headphones "of good quality with clear sound" and "appreciate their phenomenal battery life that rarely needs charging." Comfort and value get more mixed feedback in the Amazon data too — "some find them comfortable and worth the price, others report they hurt the ears," and a minority of reviewers reported units that stopped working entirely. Multiple five-star reviewers specifically called out the Spatial Audio feature and the convenience of switching between Apple devices.

Soundcore Space One: what reviewers and owners say

TechRadar's Jennifer Allen tested the Space One against the Beats Studio Pro, JBL 670NC, and Sony WH-1000XM4, and came away impressed given the price. She called the ANC "special," writing that with it switched on "you won't hear conversations nearby you," and rated Value a full 5 out of 5, concluding "there's not much out there at this price that could currently beat" it. Sound quality scored lower at 3.5/5 — she noted bass is "the highlight" but mids and treble are "fine but nothing special" out of the box, requiring a trip through the Soundcore app's HearID EQ calibration to sound its best. Her main complaint was wear detection, which she found "very patchy" during her two weeks of testing.

Amazon's 15,991 ratings average 4.4 out of 5. Amazon's summary says customers "praise these headphones for their sound quality, noise cancellation, and comfort, noting they can be worn for hours without discomfort." Battery life and Bluetooth multi-point connectivity draw consistent praise in the review data. Durability and fit get more mixed feedback — "some customers find the headphones durable, others report them breaking almost immediately," and the fit is described as "too loose" by a minority of reviewers.

Head-to-head: which should you buy

If active noise cancellation is a requirement — for flights, open offices, or noisy commutes — this comparison is effectively decided before you factor in anything else, since the Solo 4 does not offer it at any price. The Space One also wins on value by a wide margin: TechRadar scored it a full 5/5 on value against the Solo 4's 2.5/5, and it costs roughly half as much at official pricing. Where the Solo 4 pulls ahead is styling, Apple ecosystem integration (Spatial Audio, Hey Siri, Audio Sharing), and a battery claim that held up to independent testing at 50 hours flat. If you are an iPhone owner who prioritizes design and does not mind skipping ANC, the Solo 4's real advantages are still real — they are just narrower than the price gap suggests.

Before you buy: what to check

The Beats Solo 4 is frequently discounted well below its $199.99 list price — TechRadar found it as low as $129.95 at Amazon during their review period — so check the current price before assuming you are paying full retail. The Soundcore Space One line also includes a "Pro" variant and the separate Space Q45, which have different drivers and ANC hardware, so confirm the listing specifically says "Space One" (not "Space One Pro") if that is the exact model reviewed here. Both are on-ear/over-ear designs rather than in-ear, so if you specifically need workout-stable in-ear earbuds, neither of these is the right category — check each brand's earbud lineup instead.

Sources

• TechRadar — Beats Solo 4 review, Lewis Maddison, May 2024
• TechRadar — Anker Soundcore Space One review, Jennifer Allen, September 2023
• Amazon customer reviews — Beats Solo 4, 28,745 verified ratings, 4.6/5 average
• Amazon customer reviews — Soundcore Space One, 15,991 verified ratings, 4.4/5 average

Keeping this comparison current

Both product lines get refreshed periodically — Beats with new colorways and successors, Anker with the Space One Pro and Space Q45 sitting above this model — and pricing shifts constantly with sales. We revisit comparisons like this rather than treating them as a one-time snapshot, and will update this page if either listing's specs, pricing, or availability materially change.