Anker Soundcore Review - A Loud Surprise
- Avichai Elimelech
- Oct 15, 2018
- 2 min read
For the past week I got to review the Anker Soundcore Bluetooth speaker. Although you may think this speaker is big by looking at online picture, it is just tiny! With measurements of 165x45x54mm it has a really small footprint compared to other Bluetooth speakers, so right off the door - I was skeptical about performance.
Moreover, with a price-tag of 20$ (which is what it is going for right now on Amazon) this could be a heavyweight contender to other Bluetooth speakers, right? WRONG!
PROs
Small and very portable
Promises great battery life with 24hrs (real wold usage put it at 16hrs)
Cheap price
Gets very loud for its size
Good for small to medium sized rooms (12 square meters)
CONs
Sound quality could be better
Very directional soundstage - placement is critical
Not waterproofing nor weather resistant (water and dust)
No added features such as connectivity to another Bluetooth speaker for stereo sound
Has a very not practical microphone for bluetooth calls
Connectivity
The speakers uses Bluetooth 4.0 which is a bit date and I've managed 10 meters distance before I could hear any stuttering, which is very good considering the small size and Bluetooth version.
No high definition music codec here like aptx HD or LDAC.
You can also connect a 3.5mm analog connection via AUX in, this would greatly increase sound quality as well as battery life.
Performance - music
So this is where I was surprised - for such a tiny forum factor it gets pretty loud, easily filling a medium sized room (12 square meters).
The vocals are clear but the mids and bass is very lacking.
My song of choice to check the bass is - Skrillex & Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley - Make It Bun Dem, It just stuck with me after hearing it on the Far Cry 3 video game, and the speaker is not punchy enough to make this song come to life.
At the end of the day - this speaker is not for audiophile or bass heads, but it's good enough for the average person.
Battery life
In my time with the product I couldn't get the battery to deplete - but the claim of 24 hours seems just a little but off. I see people claiming around 16 hours which is more in line with what I've experienced. Of course it all depends on the usage with volume and connection strength being a factor here.
Charging time is about 5 hours via micro USB and a standard 5V/1A charger.
Bottom line:
Who is it for? As a low budget bluetooth speaker it's pretty good. The directional sound can make the experience average at best for events outside - if you're looking for a speaker for that - the UE Wonderboom has 360 degrees of sound and a small form factor on a budget.
Other than that it's a pretty surprising little speaker - it does what it should, maybe not the best but it sure is not the worst.
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