Bluetooth Speakers, Anker Soundcore Bluetooth Speaker Upgraded Version with Stereo Sound, BassUp Technology, 24H Playtime, Built-in Mic, Portable…

I’ve had this speaker for not quite two years now and I have to say I really love the battery life. It goes and goes! The problem is that the usb-c plugin (where you plug in to recharge) is messed up and became that way shortly after using it. I have been “making it work” for more than a year by wriggling it in a funny position to get the charging light to come on but now it seems to have gotten worse each time and now it has become harder and harder to get it charged which is a shame because I find this to be a great little speaker in general… one that you can just take anywhere and not have to worry too much about it because the rubbery surfaces are great and it sounds pretty decent too especially for the price. I’m not sure how long the warranty is for something like this but I’ve had great luck with many Anker products in the past but this one hasn’t really held up as well as I think it should have.

UPDATED REVIEW:
After reading my review above Anker customer service reached out to me and promptly sent me a new speaker! They did this on their own accord. I was not seeking a new speaker, my review above is based on my honest experience with this speaker. Anker customer service is top notch and in fact, I always buy a lot of Anker products knowing they are a great value and if you do have an issue they will practically bend over backwards to make it right! The new speaker is working great, you should get one of these if you’re interested because it’s a great value for what it does and Anker always stands behind every product I’ve purchased from them!

Anker Soundcore Review

I bought this device 4 weeks back and have been using it and testing it on a consistent basis. Here’s my review of the Anker Soundcore. I base my review on the following criteria.

1. Sound clarity
2. Volume
3. Durability
4. Connectivity
5. Battery Life
6. Looks
Pros – Amazing sound clarity, Very good mids and highs, Superb Battery Life, Very Loud
Cons – Bass can be so-so (but for $25 it can’t get better)

1. Sound clarity.
I will give you a very realistic assessment of the sound quality of the speakers.

Bass – Most speakers in this price range have little to no bass at all. The bass on the Anker Soundcore can surely be a little underwhelming (ignoring the price point for now) but saying it has little to no bass would surely be an understatement. When these speakers are placed near a wall and you are listening to them from upto 2-3 feet, you can hear some bass. This bass is slightly on the higher end of the bass spectrum, so there is not much oomph to it, but it does sound clear. Now taking the price point into consideration, I think Anker has really done an amazing job with the bass. It really doesn’t get better than this at an $25. Sure it doesn’t sound like the $150 JBL Charge 4, but so what? I believe it is not possible to provide amazing bass at this price point, and the Anker Soundcore gets out the best it can for 25 bucks.

Mids and Treble – Oh my my! This is where I fell in love with the speakers. The mids sound really good and the treble might give other twice or triply priced speakers a run for its money. I actually bought these speakers to listen to videos and audiobooks (and some occasional music), and its just so damn perfect for this. I absolutely love listening to the mid-range voices coming from the speaker. Additionally, the hihats and other high sounds very crisp.
If you have a small budget and are looking to get Bluetooth speakers, please stop reading all reviews, do yourself a favor, and just get one of these, you surely won’t regret.

2. Volume
Sound clarity doesn’t mean anything if the speakers can’t get loud enough and/or can’t maintain clarity at loud volumes. These speakers surely tick (infact, maybe even double tick) these boxes. I stay in a 1000 sq ft house with two bedrooms. When I play this in the living room (~500 sq ft) at full volume, this fills the entire room and a good amount of the remaining house. It is loud and if you were to not look at this and just listen to it, you would surely feel as if the sound was coming from speakers that are much larger. The small package pushes out a really good volume of sound. The sound maintains clarity at the highest of volumes. So, Loud Volume – Check, Clarity at loud volume – Check.

3. Durability
The package seems very sturdy and seems like it’s built to last. Haven’t tried to drop it active or put it into water, but the Anker Sound core seems like it could take a lot of abuse if needed. One of the reviewers here was mentioning that they dropped the speaker from a height of 8 feet onto a tile floor but it still worked fine. Please don’t do it, but I think it might last if you were to.

4. Connectivity
I have no issues with connectivity in the house. Even when I place the speakers in the corner of the room and take my phone to the other end (with multiple walls in between), I have faced no connectivity issues. For other ranges, I haven’t been able to test it actively. I did some research on amazon and other places online and found out the actual range varies between 40 and 70 feet, with a clear line of sight. This should also be fine enough for this range.

5. Battery life
This claims to have a battery life of 24 hours. I am not mad enough to test it in reality, but in my experience, I have had to charge it only once in the past four weeks. I listen to it for an hour or two a day. When I used the speakers out of the box, it had a battery about 20%. That battery lasted a week and could have lasted more, if I didn’t choose to charge it because of the annoying low battery sound below 10%. I think this has a really fantastic battery life. No complaints at all.

6. Looks
I got the blue color and I got my girlfriend the black color. The unit looks sexy AF and I have no complaints in this department at all. Just one little thing, the speakers are slightly prone to finger prints.

Final Verdict – Budget below $30? Please stop reading and buy it.

P.S. This is an honest review of these. I have not been sponsored by anyone. If you found this review helpful, please select “Yes” below.
It would be great if others could access this in-depth review. I fear this review will be lost in the sea of reviews. Anyways, thanks if you read this through

With the exception of the ugly “Anker” logo in the front, I’d buy these again.

I have these AND the SoundBot® SB571 (about $35 bucks). While I think the Soundbot ones are a great deal at $35, these ones are worth the extra $17.
Reasons (especially compared to the SoundBot® SB571 ).
1. The battery is very good. It easily last a few days before I have to charge it, with regular use for music in the morning shower, and an hour or two in the evenings.
2. The bluetooth connection works more easily, and connects with very little effort more reliably than the SoundBot® SB571. I’d say the “just works” factor. Your tech-phobic mom won’t even need to call you to ask “Son, how do i connect this speaker????”
3. In my experience (cables and mice/keyboards and speakers), Anker has been a great company, with great customer service. There have been no problems, but i foresee any problems would be dealt with quickly and simply.
4. Premium materials. The metal mesh and the rubber coating feel good, and I know they’ll hold up.

Downside:
1. There are no skip-forward or skip-backward buttons. The SoundBot® SB571 has all the buttons this Anker has, PLUS additional ones. Personally i like this because I can now leave my phone/computer/music playing device in a different room, and still control the playlist when the speaker is beside me.
2. The logo is ugly. I’d probably get the red one next time.
3. Sound is equally as good as my SoundBot® SB571. For $17, there’s no *truly* noticeable difference. These are clearer, but the SoundBot® SB571’s go louder.

If you’re really pinching pennies and doing things on a budget, I’m happy with the SoundBot® SB571. But the longer battery, better connectivity and better feel of these Anker’s is worth it IMO.

I plan on using this speaker on my deck – so small and portable was important as I don’t plan on leaving it outside.

The speaker has a nice solid feel to it – the exterior has a silky soft texture that make it look and feel expensive. The operating buttons are slightly embossed and barely noticeable from a distance (which suits my preference). Power and auxiliary ports are located on the side of the unit – powered via short usb cable (included). The speaker is also equipped with a microphone that will allow you to take phone calls while connected.

I haven’t had the product long enough to verify the advertised battery life, but I can try to update once I have had a chance to run it at home.

Edit – battery is exactly as advertised. I honestly plug it in every 5 uses or so just in case (hours of usage). Great speaker. Great value.

Sound quality is as expected for a unit in this price range. Very clear at low volumes, but only packs so much punch when cranked – but that is what you are getting with a speaker this size, so it is more a statement of reality than criticism.

If you want bass output, this isn’t going to satisfy you. It has kick, but this isn’t going to pump out your house / electronic music the way a larger system will, which should be obvious.

I was able to connect my phone via Bluetooth within seconds of turning the unit on, but you can connect directly using an auxiliary cable if you prefer.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in a nicely constructed portable speaker. My parents recently purchased a Bose mini-link system and after listening to both, and in my opinion there isn’t a noticeable difference in sound quality. However, you would be spending $100 less on the Anker speaker.

Great return for the price, would buy again.

 This speaker had great reviews, so I tried one out – I compared this Anker in detail to some other portable speakers I have. I used my high end Bose Soundlink ($250) and a budget/comparable VTIN R2 (available on Amazon.ca for under $30).
The Bose was superior, no surprise there , but compared to the cheaper VTIN R2 though, the differences are smaller and harder to see.

Summary:
Overall 3/5

Sound quality – 2/5 – clear voice, good for podcasts, terrible for music with bass.

CLEAR decent mids/highs but TERRIBLE bass. I would have given up some of that highs/mids clarity for some bass.
See video for comparison to VTIN speaker. the VTIN had surprisingly good bass.

Build Quality – 4/5 – This is WELL built , except no covers for the usb/aux ports. But it feels worth more like a $100 speaker than $50. Blue LED is annoying though.
VTIN is not built as well but does have covers for ports, it gets a 2/5.

Battery 4/5 – Pretty decent, ran for hours, but so did the VTIN.

Anker makes some really good products, but probably to get decent portable sound that comes close to expectations of the brand you may want to buy the more expensive $100 speakers and be happy with the sound as well as build quality. For this price range, I would just go cheaper, get a meidong or a vtin and keep your expectations mid/low overall.

Note – All speakers were paid for and owned by me, None of these review/promoted units.