Soundcore, Anker’s audio model, not too long ago launched a brand new pair of high-end Bluetooth headphones: the Soundcore Area One Professional. With this $199.99 mannequin, Anker shifted the gear by a notch. We lose a little bit by way of value-for-money proposition however regardless of some shortcomings, the Soundcore Area One Professional affords an expertise worthy of Bose or Sony headphones that price twice as a lot. I will share extra on this full assessment.
Good
- Elegant, compact design
- Stable battery life
- Extremely efficient Energetic Noise Cancellation
- Complete utility on each Android and iOS
Unhealthy
- Very unbalanced bass signature
- No IP score
- No put on detection
Anker Soundcore Area One Professional: All offers
In a nutshell
The Soundcore Area One Professional has been obtainable since September 19, 2024 for $199.99 a pop. You should buy it from the official Soundcore retailer or retailers equivalent to Amazon.
Soundcore Area One Professional Design
The design of the Soundcore Area One Professional completely sums up the producer’s philosophy. It looks like a premium product, regardless of some technical shortcomings.
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Visually, I discovered the Soundcore Area One Professional to look very elegant in its shade of beige. It is also very comfy to put on, with generously padded cushions within the headband and earcups. The scarf is a little bit vast, although. Even with my massive noggin, I may put on it on the tightest configuration.
The earcups will also be folded inwards and rotated 180 levels. This makes the headphones very compact and simple to hold. They will also be worn comfortably across the neck. The carrying case included within the field is made of soppy cloth with a faux-leather lining. This makes it not excellent to guard the headphones. Soundcore does promote a nicer, extra inflexible case, nevertheless it prices $34.99.
Design-wise, the Soundcore Area One Professional has two actual shortcomings. The absence of an IP score for water and dirt resistance and missing put on detection for the headphones.
Unbalanced Audio High quality
The Soundcore Area One Professional has a really bassy profile by default. This audio signature turns into much more unbalanced when Energetic Noise Cancellation is deactivated.
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The frequency vary that the Soundcore Area One Professional faithfully reproduces ranges from 20 to twenty,000 Hz. That is par for the course. What does this imply? The headphones cannot go very low by way of bass. Nevertheless, Soundcore’s Bluetooth headphones additionally has the unlucky tendency to amplify bass far an excessive amount of.
Whenever you mix these two parts, you get a sound signature that is completely drowned out by the bass. The bass is not exact, and overflows into the remainder of the sound, the place the vocals and devices lose an excessive amount of particulars. What must be a heat, rounded sound turns into muddled.
Soundcore affords an excellent equalizer in its utility. Nevertheless, it’s a must to select from 23 presets. That is far too many, and also you are likely to get misplaced. Whereas there are many on-line tutorials on learn how to use a third-party equalizer, I feel this goes in opposition to the concept of a shopper Bluetooth headphones that is speculated to be prepared to make use of proper out of the field.
By the way, this bass imbalance turns into even worse whenever you disable Energetic Noise Cancellation. Be that as it could, the Soundcore Area One Professional’s sound high quality is not unhealthy. It is simply unbalanced. I believe most of you’ll have to spend a while to right its audio signature.
Soundcore Area One Professional ANC
Energetic Noise Cancellation (ANC) has at all times been Soundcore’s sturdy swimsuit. The Soundcore Area One Professional’s ANC is not any exception. I additionally discovered the transparency mode very pure.
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In guide mode, you possibly can select from 5 depth ranges for ANC. You too can depart it to the headphones to robotically adapt the depth in line with the encompassing sound setting.
I discovered the Soundcore Area One Professional cancelled all structure-borne noise very successfully. Airborne noises equivalent to voices have been additionally properly attenuated, albeit much less successfully. It is not the very best ANC performer in the marketplace however within the sub-$200 Bluetooth headphones phase, Soundcore is clearly on the prime finish.
I discovered the transparency mode very pure as properly. There was no distortion nor hiss. Nevertheless, it lacked energy. Amplified ambient sounds, although trustworthy, weren’t loud sufficient for my choice.
A Complete App
Soundcore has an Android and iOS app for organising the Area One Professional. The app may be very complete with quite a few options. There’s loads of management over Energetic Noise Cancellation and its audio signature.
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I actually favored the HearID Sound operate. It means that you can carry out a number of audio checks to customise the headphone’s audio signature in line with your listening to and preferences. You too can create your equalization profiles with the eight-band equalizer. It is good to have such a level of management.
The bodily controls should not very customizable although. On the precise earpiece, there are two quantity buttons and a play/pause button. These buttons should not customizable in any respect. On the left earpiece, there’s an on/off button and a button to activate ANC. Solely the latter is customizable.
| Â | Left earpiece | Proper earpiece |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity +/- buttons | Not customizable | – |
| Play/pause button | Not customizable | – |
| Energy button | – | Not customizable |
| ANC button | – |
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The Soundcore Area One Professional has no put on detection to pause music when the headphones is eliminated, nevertheless it does have an automated sleep operate. It is usually good to see multipoint connectivity supported.
The absence of Spotify Faucet and Discover My Gadget is not a serious flaw for my part. It’s the sort of handy characteristic I would nonetheless have favored to have although, particularly at this worth level.
Battery life & Charging
The Soundcore Area One Professional has a reasonably strong battery life on paper. The headphones claims to final 60 hours with ANC disabled. When ANC is enabled, battery life stands at 40 hours. After all, I used to be unable to confirm these figures.
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We’re a good distance from the 90-hour battery lifetime of the Audio-Technica ATH-S300BT (assessment). Nevertheless, the Soundcore Area One Professional’s claimed 60 hours locations it on the very prime tier.
Nevertheless, the 60 hours of battery life are solely doable with ANC and LDAC disabled. With ANC (and with out LDAC), the determine rises to 40 hours. With LDAC and ANC enabled, the determine drops to 25 hours. Even then, the Soundcore Area One Professional is a minimum of as long-lasting as a Bose Quietcomfort Headphones (assessment) or a way more costly Apple AirPods Max.
Personally, I used the Soundcore Area One Professional inside these parameters:
- 100% recharged
- No charging throughout my session
- ANC is at all times activated and set to most
- Transparency mode is at all times disabled
- 50% listening quantity
- Paired to an Android smartphone
- AAC/SBC codec
I used to be in a position to obtain the marketed 40 hours underneath the situations listed above.
Ought to I Purchase the Soundcore Area One Professional?
Would I like to recommend you purchase the Soundcore Area One Professional for $199.99? No, however…
I feel the Soundcore Area One Professional does not fairly justify the value distinction with the Soundcore Area One. I hope to have the ability to assessment it and give you a comparability.
Moreover, I additionally assume many reviewers in contrast the Soundcore Area One Professional with fashions from Sony, Bose, or Sennheiser on many fronts. The Soundcore Area One Professional is a pair of $200 headphones and never $400.
Its shortcomings should not turn-offs for me. For $200, I feel it is a good pair of Bluetooth headphones. Nevertheless, it is true that Soundcore has considerably botched its product technique. If it actually had wanted a top-of-the-range, flagship mannequin in its catalog, Soundcore ought to have gone all out and never skimped on the options and {hardware}.
Personally, I would discover its price-to-performance ratio way more acceptable if it have been priced at $150.
What do you consider the Soundcore Area One Professional after this assessment? Do you plan to purchase these Bluetooth headphones?
