Xander Fredrickson—June 1, 2020
I did some research into wireless speakers. Found these, did more research, and decided to go with these for a few reasons, in no particular order or priority. 1) They are small and portable. 2) They support wireless stereo, allowing for quick and easy pairing of two speakers. 3) They have a 360 degree sound angle, and have been said by others to have great sound quality. and 4) They have RGB lights. Initially I was just worried that they wouldn't be up to expectations. But after using them, they greatly exceed my original expectations. For two small, portable speakers, they sound amazing, and have a very nice, premium quality feel and design to them. They really do sound amazing. They have amazing clarity and bass, nothing muddled or anything that sounds scratchy. And they can get really loud for their size, too. I bought these to use at work, and for my purpose, they work excellently. Turn them on, set them up, and play some music as I work. And at $62, the price is excellent. Against something like a Sony SRS-XB32 (of which I used previously, and was beaten up and getting a little old), two of these in combination sound a lot better. Overall, I would most certainly recommend these speakers for anyone looking for something of really good quality for a really good price. There are better speakers out there of course, but unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a single speaker unit, these are amazing for what you pay for. Read more
Alastair Knowles—May 11, 2018
I love Anker products (they're one of my very few 'go-to' tech. brands - have wireless earbuds, other bluetooth speakers, bluetooth keyboards, battey pack, etc.); so I was excited to pick one of these up when they came out. I'll try to keep this quick: I compared this to two other products, a Sonos One All-new Sonos One - Smart Speaker with Alexa voice control built-In. Compact size with incredible sound for any room. (black) , and a Anker Soundcore 2 (not the Soundcore 2+) Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Superior Stereo Sound, Exclusive BassUp, 12-Watts, IPX5 Water-Resistant, 24-Hour Playtime, Perfect Wireless Speaker for Home, Outdoors, Travel . Here's what the consumer needs to know: BUILD QUALITY AND USER EXPERIENCE: if you've ever owned an Anker product, this won't surprise you - build quality and user experience are both exceptional - bluetooth connected to my pixel 2 as soon as I turned it on, and has ever since (no issues); the fabric is the same quality you'd find on any of the other popular speakers right now (amazon's or google's); the light on the base is cool without being tacky (I was a little worried about this), and it can be turned off if you like - primary color settings are: oranges/yellows (chill), greens/blues (spring), and mixed (party) - using the soundcore flare app allows you to sync the light to the music (which is pretty cool - more on the app later). The Flare isn't quite as durable (I'm guessing) as the Soundcore 2 - if I was focused strictly on durability (not necessarily 'build quality') and portability, not as much on volume and sound quality, the Soundcore 2 would be a better option (and that's not to knock the Soundcore 2's volume or clarity, it's just not where the Flare's is - more on that later). PORTABILITY and BATTERY: I've attached pics to highlight how portable this is (imagine a slightly tall/fat soda can), this is slightly less portable than the Anker Soundcore 2, and obviously far more portable than the Sonos One (not portable). For this speaker's size, it's pretty darn impressive - easily something you could carry around with you in a messenger bag or backpack if you were doing a day-trip somewhere, or wanted a great speaker to take on vacation with you (granted, much bigger than earbuds, but it does fill a room with sound). I haven't stretched the battery yet, but this is an area that Anker has always excelled in (I'm assuming that having the light on, and bass-boost on will impact it, but I'm sure it'll still be as good - or better than - as advertised) I do not anticipate that this will get the kind of battery life the Soundcore 2 gets, due to the elements already mentioned which the Soundcore 2 doesn't have to manage. VOLUME: very impressive for its size - I tested it in a room that is about 375 square feet, with vaulted ceilings, and it got LOUD when I turned it up - at 50% volume it was solid from a volume standpoint for that same room. The Bass-Boost button DOES make a difference in the bass put out by this thing, and the bass is pretty impressive for a speaker this size. Testing the Soundcore 2 in the same room as this device (the flare), you can notice a difference in both the volume and the base, which isn't enormous but it is significant enough to be noticeable (this was playing them at 50% volume, and became more noticeable at full volume). Again, this isn't a knock on the Soundcore 2, which also filled the room easily and got LOUD when at full volume - the Flare was just noticeably louder. Anker said it was bringing a new Bass technology to these speakers, and they clearly delivered (that's where the biggest difference between this and the Soundcore 2 can be heard). If I'm being fair, the volume and the bass on this is a ways off of the SONOS one - but again, you have to keep in mind that this is a portable bluetooth speaker with long battery-life and a much smaller footprint than the SONOS one (and at less than half the price of the older model, and about 1/4 the price of the newest SONOS one). At 100% volume, there is almost no distortion out of this speaker (even when it's managing multiple components of a track simultaneously...bass, acoustics, and vocals) - at 90% there's no distortion. This is more than loud enough for most contexts in which I'd imagine people using it - you could probably use it to facilitate a tiny dance party if you really wanted (and if you paired it with a second one - which you can do - it'd serve that purpose well). If you were having a gathering of 20 people in a 400 square foot room with vaulted ceilings, this would more than serve admirably as the music outlet. SOUND QUALITY/360 EFFECT: really great for a portable speaker - not as good as the SONOS one, but not miles off either. I wouldn't call myself an audiophile, but I do like listening to music and I do like it when it sounds nice - this speaker sounds nice. The sound quality is slightly better than the Soundcore 2's (the bass is the most pronounced upgrade from the Soundcore 2), and the sound quality is noticeably better at higher volumes (again, not a knock against the Soundcore 2, which also has decent sound quality). I would have no problem with having this is my primary speaker for my home, from a sound quality and volume standpoint. THE 360 EFFECT: this does project music in all directions - I walked around it constantly, attempting to ID a 'blind-spot' from a projection standpoint, and couldn't find one - this makes it uniquely useful for certain purposes, and is a positive differentiator from the SONOS one and the Soundcore 2. If you want a speaker system for your patio, but don't want to invest in a ton of wiring, two of these would fill the largest patio/deck with quality music (they're also IPX7 water resistant - I never test that stuff, but I trust Anker not to market it if it's not legit). APP: clean, minimalist, not too elaborate in what it can an can't do (I can see them building this out with time, but for now it's pretty straightforward/bare bones). You can control the base's light from the app (which I found myself more amused by than I thought I would be); You can pair an additional Soundcore Flare (which I didn't have to do, but trust Anker to make as easy as everything else they do); you can adjust the volume; and you can use their wave equalizer to turn the Bass-Up feature on or off, and select different listening settings (Default, Voice, Flat, and Chill). Overall, the app is limited, simple, still useful, and very user-friendly...I can see them building this out as they grow Soundcore as a product line. SPEAKERPHONE: I didn't test this extensively, when I made a call with it everything went fine - not a great tool for speaker phone use but not worse than most bluetooth speakers. I wouldn't get this for it's speakerphone functionality (or any other bluetooth speaker - smartphones are usually just as capable speakerphones on their own). NOTE: this can become a smart-speaker if you pair it with an echo dot or google's home (I think) - I don't like the idea of smart-speakers in my home, but it should be acknowledged that this has that functionality when paired with the appropriate hardware. CONCLUSION: overall, this is an awesome bluetooth speaker. The volume, bass, and sound quality is superior to the Soundcore 2 (which is already great); this isn't quite as portable as the Soundcore 2, or quite as durable (but it's close), and I don't expect the battery life to be quite as strong. If portability, durability, and battery life are most important to you - saving $20.00 by going with the Soundcore 2 is probably your best bet (again - it is still a really great speaker); if volume, bass, aesthetics (the flare is prettier), and sound quality are most important - this does offer a noticeable upgrade to the Soundcore 2 in all those areas. When compared to the SONOS one, this is truly a different product with a noticeable gap between it and the SONOS when it comes to volume, bass, and sound clarity/quality...but for a fraction of the price, I'd take a hard look at this if you think it'll meet your specific needs (its 360 degree music dispersal, and portability are particularly useful features that the SONOS one doesn't have). I also like that this speaker doesn't 'require' an app to use it (whereas the SONOS does) - the app for the flare is nice, but I could still have a friend connect to it and stream their music without having to have them download the SONOS app to do it. The SONOS one was a gift to me (and I do love it)...if I were spending my own $ on a speaker to listen to music on, 9 times out of 10 the Flare would likely be the one I'd go with (save $100 or more - spend that on a second Flare and still save approx $50.00). The 1/10 scenario in which I'd go with the SONOS: if I was getting it as a dedicated home stereo speaker/system, that was never going to leave wherever I placed it in my home...even then, I don't know how two of these Flares (paired to stereo mode) might compare to one SONOS one serving the same function. Read more
tangent—March 6, 2020
I did my research and ultimately chose to purchase the Anker over the JBL. Cost was certainly a factor but not the first. I wanted a good speaker for my daughters to enjoy. Plus, I was sick of listening to them blare their music through the crappy phone speakers. Now at least, I can hear a bit more depth. I took note if this type of speaker when a friend traveled to visit brought his JBL. we had fun putting it in the center of the table on the patio while we chatted and took turns choosing songs on his phone. I decided on the Anker after talking with a different friend who had a different Anker. I purchased a pair of these along with the carry case for each of my two daughers. The sound is great, and can fill a room without trouble. It may not have all the features of the JBL (cant hook 99 of them up in series for a bon fire beach party--bummer?) but they work great, and the ring lighted base that strobes to the beat is pretty cool. It can be turned off, by the way. They take a while to charge, 6+ hours I think. But this speaker puts out strong sound for a long time. Its pretty durable and I like that it stands erect rather than horizontal as it takes up less footprint on a table. Since my car does not have bluetooth or a patch cord, the speaker often gets placed on the dash or between the seats with no problem. I never know how much abuse electronics will get from my daughters who seem to go through screen protectors every month, and this Anker is holding up really well. its pretty rugged. Another reason i strayed from the pricier JBL, thinking that if it got trashed, my sense of financial practicality would not be quite so wounded. All the controls are on the top of the unit and we have had no connection issues at all. I also got the patch cord so they could hook it up to their laptop. So ya, all in all, its been a good purchase and after 4 months, no problems and still going strong. Read more
