Bluetooth speakers have really gained in popularity recently. With more and more companies making them these days, and bringing prices of them down considerably. Anker has actually launched a few Bluetooth speakers including the new SoundCore which comes in at under $50, making it a pretty interesting Bluetooth speaker, and that’s what we are here to take a look at today. This is Anker’s newest Bluetooth speaker and comes in with 24 hours of battery life (or roughly 500 songs, according to Anker), something that many other Bluetooth speakers don’t boast at any price point. It also features Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, allowing you to connect the speaker to your smartphone and stream music without using a ton of battery life (like older versions of Bluetooth do), always important in this day and age of batteries not lasting as long as we need them too. Let’s see how well this Bluetooth speaker stacks up to other models available right now.
Specs
The spec-sheet doesn’t disappoint for the Anker SoundCore either. It features dual high-performance 3-Watt drivers, as well as a unique spiral bass port and less than 1% harmonic distortion on the sound quality side. Additionally the battery inside can handle up to 24 hours of continuous usage, with Bluetooth 4.0, you can enjoy a range of 66-feet.
Build Quality
Anker’s products generally are built pretty darn well, and the Anker SoundCore continues that trend. We have a soft-touch feeling material around the outside, which I actually really like, as it looks good and also feels good when you pick up the speaker. One of the things I’ve noticed here is that unlike other products that have a soft-touch shell, this doesn’t collect dust and dirt as much. The front of the speaker, where the speaker grill is, is made of aluminum and sport the Anker logo on the front. It might be a bit of overkill, but at least it’s not plastered on the home button. There is another logo on the back-side of the SoundCore speaker as well which is black and sort of blends in with the rest of the speaker. On the top of the speaker are all of your controls. From left to right we have the power button, volume down, play/pause, volume up, and Bluetooth. On the right-hand side of the speaker we have your micro USB port for charging the speaker, as well as a 3.5mm AUX port for plugging in a device instead of using Bluetooth, and a microphone hole.
Pick up the SoundCore and you’ll immediately feel how high the quality is on this speaker. And that this definitely is not a cheap Bluetooth speaker. Anker has definitely put some time into building this speaker and it definitely shows. The SoundCore is nice and light-weight as well, allowing you to pick it up and throw it in your bag with ease. The speaker is not waterproof, however, so don’t take it to the beach or the pool and expect it to survive. That would be a great feature to have included, but it’s not here. Likely to keep the cost low.
Audio Quality & Performance
For a speaker that’s under $50, most wouldn’t expect a pretty stellar experience on the audio side of things, but that’s exactly what we have here with the Anker SoundCore. With the dual 3-Watt drivers inside, the SoundCore can really put out some great sound without getting distorted at all. That’s great news for all those that love hearing some great music from their Bluetooth speakers. And with the harmonic distortion being under 1% according to the specs, that shouldn’t be all that surprising.
The SoundCore is a pretty small speaker, so it is a bit surprising that it can get as loud as it can. As with any speaker, the louder it gets, the bottom end gets a bit flatter, but it’s not as bad as some other speakers in this price range. It can fill a room up with sound pretty easily, so it’ll be great for all those get-togethers with friends and family. The microphone built-in to the SoundCore appears to work pretty well as well. We’ve been able to take calls on the speaker, without the user on the other end having any difficulty hearing us, and best of all there’s no lag either.
We’ve been using the SoundCore for a few weeks now and haven’t had any issues with Bluetooth connectivity on the SoundCore. With it boasting a 66-foot range, it works quite well, and can stay connected across the room and even in other rooms. Connecting the speaker to a Bluetooth device is pretty simple, and it can remember up to 5 devices. The battery life on the Anker SoundCore is about what Anker boasts, around 24 hours. Now, obviously we didn’t use it for 24 continuous hours, but we did use it for about 6 hours a day for about 4-5 days before it needed to be recharged. So give or take, about 24 hours or more. Battery life will fluctuate depending on how loud the audio is that you’re playing through the speaker. So keeping it lower will net you longer battery life.
Final Thoughts
Our time with the Anker SoundCore Bluetooth Speaker has been amazing. We absolutely love the sound that comes from such a small speaker, not to mention the fantastic battery life. Being such a portable speaker, is a great thing. As it allows you to pop it in your bag with you and take it wherever you go and start up a party there. The 3-watt drivers inside the speaker really do their job to deliver rich audio to our ears, no matter what type of music is being played, or audio. The SoundCore isn’t loaded up with Bass like some other speakers might be, it does have a nice balance though.
We’d definitely recommend picking up the SoundCore, especially if you are looking to get a speaker for just $42.99. And there are usually sales on the SoundCore speaker, so you’ll likely be able to pick it up even cheaper. The price for this is spot on, and definitely hard to pass up.
Anker SoundCore