Anker Upgraded Soundcore Boost Bluetooth Speaker with Well-Balanced Sound, BassUp, 12H Playtime, USB-C, IPX7 Waterproof, Wireless Customizable EQ via App, Stereo Pairing, Portable Speaker for Music

I have a friend that has a Bose soundlink mini II that made me want to get a small bluetooth speaker. The $150. price tag sent me off to find a cheaper alternative and I searched online, high and low, read reviews of different speakers, specs, youtube reviews and even went to best buy to listen to every single speaker on the shelf but I couldn't find anything cheaper than the Bose that sounded good enough. There were several others that sound great, like the UE Mega boom I think, the most expensive one and the super high end JBL that was around $300. I even looked on Ebay and found some of the JBL's that were new that were way cheaper than in the store, knockoffs! I nearly gave up my search but found a review on this speaker and since I found it on Amazon I figured why not give it a try. I am so glad I did. Pros: The price: for under $100 you sure can't beat that The Look: Nice look, rubbery top and bottom with nice fabric around the front side and back. The Size: It's not too big and doesn't weigh a lot but isn't light as a feather, this thing does have a little weight to it The unboxing experience: The box that this comes in is a heavy duty cardboard box, the packaging is very nice! If you like the way that Apple packages their products to be just right, Anker has done a fantastic job of making the unboxing experience great as well. It's nice that you can plug your phone into this speaker to keep it charged but obviously this will reduce the run time of the speaker. Charging: Micro USB (A short cable is included but no brick. Just use your phone brick) Output: Bluetooth and the device also has an option to use the 3.5MM headphone port to receive input from your device of choice. Audio Quality/Volume: The sound is very clear, If you like music with Bass you'll want to use it with the UP button activated, the speaker gets loud enough to really get into the music! Neutral No removable battery or user serviceable battery, no screws or panels that can be removed. Negative With the UP button off, the sound is clear and loud but flat as can be. Conclusion I wish the UP (Bass boost button) was by default in the on position and the button would be used to reduce the bass if needed. Turn the UP button on and it sounds great and not a cheap boomy bass. The speaker does use passive drivers but not an issue. I would put this thing up against a Bose SoundLink Mini II any day and for the price you really can't beat it. The warranty is great for this. I did have an issue with charging and got the device replaced twice. Here's the scenario: The first one came, charged it up and it worked properly. I used it and drained the battery after many hours of listening, the problem came with charging it. The device took a charge, no issues there however I found that if you do not take it off the charger and leave it for several days and disconnect the charging cable (Micro USB) the battery would be dead. The charger I used was an Anker charger and was plugged in the entire time. I did some testing and found that if you charge it up and take it off the charger within several hours of it reaching full capacity it was fine. Anker sent me a second one and had the same problem. They determined that there must have been an issue with a batch of devices. I haven't used the 3rd one yet but will see if the issue continues. Before they sent out the third one they checked to make sure I got a new one out of a different batch. Hopefully this one is good to go. This is a very minor annoyance and not something I would say is an issue enough not to buy it. The sound quality outweighs the annoyance of needing to remember to take it off the charger within a couple of hours of it completing the charge. Be sure to keep the order number, it'll stay in your amazon purchase list but Anker will need it to do an RMA if necessary. Also they may say look on the bottom for the serial number, it's in the battery compartment.

I am only 1 day in on this speaker, but love it so far. It replaces another SoundCore, an A3102, that I have had since 2017. It still works fine, but it was recently promoted to be my under-the-monitor speaker for my Mac Studio, and when programs like 'Stranger Things', it was struggling to keep up. The A3102 is only 6 watts!. The soundtrack was too broad, and the dialogue was particularly hard to hear. This unit fixed all of that. The music soundtrack is perfect, the dialog crisp, and the sound profile is very flat (how I prefer it: It has a 'Bass Up' feature I have not tried, but I am not really interested in that for use under my monitor for things like Apple TV and Netflix.) I did have to keep turning it down during particularly loud scenes in the last two episodes of Season 5 (S5-3 and S5-4) that have dropped so far. It has a broad volume range to be sure. It helps I am sitting right here facing it. The A3102 is still good and will move on to its next purpose .... probably tossed in the luggage for trips, etc.

Firstly, this is a review is specifically aimed at the use of two speakers in stereo mode. This is the reason I bought these speakers. So if that's your interest, I've provided detail below. The overall sound quality goes up SIGNIFICANTLY when using two of these speakers in Stereo mode, in comparison with a single speaker. If you can afford two, then I'd say buy two, because two of them sound about 5x better than one. That said, as a standalone speaker it's a great speaker for the money, Anker proves itself over and over to be a cutting edge company that cares about making good products. I've purchased their goods for many years and I've never been disappointed. The sound quality of this speaker is excellent given it's price tag (for me $49.99 USD). I can't imagine anyone not being happy with it given the build quality and price and sound. For fun I compared the sound quality against my single $299 Bose Mini-SoundLink II speaker, and of course the Bose is much richer and cleaner, but considering the Soundcore Boost is 1/6th the price of the Bose, it performed absolutely outstanding!! So again, I would recommend the Soundcore highly. Battery life so far (owned them for a month), is very impressive. Nice work Anker!!! STEREO MODE FUNCTION: Key Points - Quite a few people in the reviews complain that the stereo mode function is unreliable, and some seem to think its terrible and claim it's very difficult to use. I'd agree that it *was* ... until I figured out how to use it properly, and then it's been pretty easy, ... so, more on this below for those that care. On the issue of stereo connectivity, one should first consider that it's a $100 set of speakers and this is relatively new technology, so perhaps expectations shouldn't be so high? One also needs to understand that the speakers will perform differently depending on the hardware they are interacting with, and various other factors, such as speaker placement. THEY WILL NOT PERFORM AS SUCCESSFULLY IN STEREO MODE WITH ALL INPUT DEVICES. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS. Here are my detailed findings: - In my case, the speakers operate in stereo mode *almost* perfectly with my iPhone XR and my girlfriend's IMac Pro, but do not do so well with my Hewlett Packard PC running Windows 10, so I've given up trying to use the speakers with my PC. It's a bit disappointing, but again, what can I expect for $100 bucks?! - Note that the sound WILL drop out occasionally even on the Apple devices for maybe 0.2-0.5 seconds, which can be annoying, but it doesn't happen very often, and sometimes I can play music for many hours without a single issue. So for the price, I can easily deal with these minor disturbances. The problem seems to be worse when streaming online movies. They perform great with streaming Apple music. - Getting the speakers synced up with each other and connected in stereo mode with my device for the first time could be tricky and frustrating. On top of that Anker's instructions to set them up are PATHETICALLY bad (Come on Anker ... REALLY?), so it takes a bit of messing around to figure it out. It seems best to follow a specific sequence of events each time, if they are to connect reliably in stereo mode. It seems that the device connects to one of the speakers first, and then the second speaker connects to the first speaker to create stereo mode, so this creates a linear connection rather than a network type connection. One doesn't want to attempt to connect the device to both speakers if the intent is to use Stereo Mode. Therefore here's what I've found successful: 1. (see photos provided) Label one of your speakers with a number 1 (using a sticker that you can see in the dark). Label the other number 2 (Or label them A & B, whatever, just some what that you can easily tell them apart). It's good to make the stickers in the shape of an arrow so it's easy to see which direction the sound comes out. Why Anker made these into homogeneous rectangular prisms is beyond me ... one shouldn't have to carefully examine a portable speaker every time they put it down to make sure it's facing the right way, and, it would be nice to be able to see the buttons in a dimly lit room, but they are very flat with very little texture (see photo). 2. MAKE IT A POLICY TO CONNECT YOUR DEVICE ONLY TO SPEAKER 1. Do not allow your device to pair to Speaker 2 ever, and if you do create a pairing with Speaker 2 by accident, delete that connection from your device. 3. Once labeled, power on ONLY Speaker 1 and pair it to your device. 4. Once the device is paired to Speaker 1, then turn on Speaker 2. Then use some combination of the TWS buttons under the rubber connection protectors and the power buttons, to pair the speakers together in Stereo Mode. This can be tricky, and Anker's instructions don't make it very clear what order to do this so it works easily. I just kept pressing them in various ways until the two speakers paired. When they pair, a sound is emitted from both speakers. Then you're ready to go and if your lucky, you won't have to do this again! 5. When you're done listening just touch either power button and both speakers will shut down, COOL! 6. IMPORTANT: When you return to use your speakers another day, turn on Speaker 1 first and wait for the goofy sound. Then power on Speaker 2, and it will make the same goofy sound, then after a moment, both speakers should repeat the goofy sound together indicating they've auto-paired. You are then ready to play music from your paired device in stereo! 7. To add another device, shut down Speaker 2, pair the 2nd device to Speaker 1, and it should work just like your first device. Since getting this process down, they've worked great. Why Anker didn't explain all this more clearly is nuts. They only provide a tiny leaflet with silly, difficult to interpret diagrams on them. Kitschy and cute maybe, but stupid. My only serious complaint. These speakers are great for the money and I recommend them highly ... just understand they have limitations.

I had bought the Anker Soundcore 2 and found that they weren’t loud enough. The Soundcore boost is much louder with good sound. They could still be louder, but these will meet my needs. I bought 2 to pair with an outdoor Roku. Pairing to each other and pairing to the Roku was pretty easy. For normal use, I get best sync results when I power the main Soundcore boost, then the second Soundcore and make sure the connecting tones are all there. Last I power the Roku. This allows me to control the two Soundcore Boost volumes from the Roku remote. Clean process with a clean sound. Battery drain has been pretty good, but still early to know for sure. I overall recommend these, but still wish they were louder.

Seriously, this is incredible! It sounds so good, I'm absolutely hooked. I've been listening on repeat and it just keeps getting better. I can't get enough of this sound,

Edit 10/15) Anker responded to BOTH my email and my review within 24 hours. The replacement arrived yesterday, all I had to prove was my purchase and history. That’s right, they sent me a brand new expensive speaker without even forcing me to send the defective one in and waiting the extra weeks it might take. I’ve said it before and say it again, these guys nail it on the head 90% of the time, and the customer service more than makes up for any shortcomings. If Ankerdirect brand has an accessory or electronic I want, I will NEVER use another brand for that item. It really doesn’t make any sense financially to use any brand other than Anker. Edit 10/9)Everything before this edit is true — I love this speaker to death and will buy a new one if I have to, but yesterday, the speaker suddenly became scratchy and horrible on the bass. It’s been absolutely perfect for 10 months straight, only to suddenly become weirdly metal and unnerving sounding when bass is playing, like you’re vibrating a very metal heavy sheet pan or something. The included video shows the problem VERY clearly. It’s not as easy to hear with lyrics so I chose an opening with heavy bass. I now can’t not notice it in every song I play, especially since the speaker is so bassy overall, which was my favorite aspect of it. I use it absolutely every day, no doubt. It’s well within the 18 month warranty so I hope Anker will rectify this... This speaker completely blows me away. I believe I paid 80$ originally, and I don’t regret a penny of it. This thing is insane. It is absolutely perfect for pretty much any application indoors short of a huge party or a rave, it’s 20 watts, it is not going to shake the floor. The QUALITY of the sound, especially the bass, is worth the money on its own. Not only does it get more than loud enough in closed spaces (kitchen, shower) to feel like you have a stereo system installed, it’s just phenomenal. Even if you’re alone in bed, sit this thing on your chest on near your head, and at medium volume, it will sound better than ANY pair of headphones I’ve ever tried, regardless of brand or price. The ONLY way you’ll be disappointed in any way whatsoever is if you try to use it in unintended ways. No, it is not louder and more bassy in a car than the car’s speakers turned up to full. No, it will not be sufficient to power a party with 100 people. And if you work in a loud environment ( i tried it at work as a dishwasher at school) it is not going to be very loud and clear over the roar of dishwashing, spraying, ect. You’d need something louder. Battery is exactly as described, charges fully in just a few hours, used as intended there is simply no question. I buy ONLY anker electronic products after years of trying all brands big and small. Anker is the one. And if there’s ANYTHING wrong, you can probably tell by all the comments that anker will bend over backwards trying to correct it. Final words, no competition under 100$ I personally guarantee.

Not as loud as I'd hoped but the bass is pretty good. I think if you buybine of these for office you won't have a problem. If you buy this for factory work with background noise you will be disappointed and feel the need for a second one if you are more than 15ft away. If you are outside in the quite gardening 1 is fine and sounds great all over a large garden. Also works great for a bike or scooter speaker where you are close and want music. Not ideal for medium to loud background noise like factory if you are more than 15ft away. Buy a bigger speaker for that. Definitely use an equalizer for best quality. A podcast at 1/2-2/3 volume will last well over 8hrs probably closet to 10+hrs. Listening to rock music at 2/3 volume will probably be closer to ~7hrs. I typically listen to rock, edm, metal for 5 hrs then as the battery gets low i switch to a podcast or chill step beat that uses much less juice and will make it through an 8hr shift no problem.

I'm sold on Soundcore. I have a pair of ear buds, a pair of headphones, and the Boost speaker. My wife has a Soundcore 3. The sound quality in all of them is fantastic for the price. Battery life is phenomenal, especially if you're not cranking it all the time. The Boost is especially impressive for the price. Full rich sound with quite a bit of base if that's your thing. Sounds great with rock, metal, and equally as good with Jazz, vocalists, etc. Once paired it immediately connects to my phone the instant I turn it on. Feels solid and quality made. I had another pair of headphones from another brand that had good reviews, and battery life started significantly declining after six months. I've been burned with other brands before, so sticking with Anker/Soundcore.