Description
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Build Quality
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Performance
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Battery Life
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Sound Quality
Summary
The sound performance on this speaker is really good – the sound feels rich and crystal clear, and has plenty of texture and details that are reproduced with accuracy. Apart from the sound quality, you can feel that the speaker is very solid and well-constructed. It also features a nice IPX-5 water-resistance rating and a 24-hour battery life which means that you can take this speaker with you virtually anywhere and never have to worry about it running out of power.
User Review
( votes)Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Superior Stereo Sound, Exclusive BassUp, 12-Watts, IPX5 Water-Resistant, 24-Hour Playtime
While your phone’s speaker may be good enough to play your music on the go, they’re far from the ideal solution. Their sound doesn’t carry far and as far as frequency range is concerned, phones typically fail to impress. Thankfully, Bluetooth speakers are cheap and rugged enough now that anyone can afford to upgrade their sound without breaking the bank. Take, for example, the Anker SoundCore 2, an affordable, durable Bluetooth speaker that proves you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get robust-sounding audio.
The SoundCore 2 gives you a staggering 24 hours of battery life, a ruggedized and water-resistant body, and much better sound than your phone’s speaker. While it doesn’t quite hold against other speakers in the category in terms of audio performance, the Anker SoundCore 2 is still an incredible value for the price. Anker won’t win any accolades for the SoundCore 2’s design; it’s a generic-looking black bar with power, playback, pairing and volume controls on the top.
On the front of the speaker, you’ll find a black metal grille which obscures two 6-watt drivers. On the side, you’ll find a water resistant flap that protects the micro USB charging port and a 3.5mm aux port for use with older devices. The body of the Anker SoundCore 2 is coated in a grippy matte black rubber, which is nice to the touch but quickly shows fingerprints. Build quality is excellent and it’s nice to know that its rugged body and water-resistant design can withstand the abuse of being outdoors. Just be sure to keep in mind that the SoundCore 2 is only IPX5 water resistant, which means it’ll survive splashes but can’t be dropped into a pool.
In terms of size, the Anker SoundCore 2 measures in at 165mm x 54mm x 45mm, which makes it small enough to toss into a bag without fear of it breaking and not too large that it takes up a ton of space. Its bar-shape makes it easy to transport and it’s light enough that you won’t mind taking it with you.
The sound quality of the Anker SoundCore 2 is somewhat just above average, though miles better than playing music from your smartphone speaker. While the sound quality is nicely balanced, bass sounds anaemic at times with electronic dance music and hip-hop. Highs are good but exhibit distortion when the volume is pushed.
Speaking of volume, the Anker SoundCore 2 doesn’t get quite loud enough for our tastes. The speaker sounds plenty loud listening in a quiet room but once it has to compete with ambient noises, you’ll quickly find the SoundCore 2’s volume limit. In isolation, the SoundCore 2 sounds quite good but bass lovers will be wanting more.
Battery life is an incredible 24 hours, which is much longer than much of the competition. The Anker SoundCore 2 also has the ability to take calls and be used with voice assistants like Siri and Google. Simply press and hold the play/pause button to activate your phone’s assistant. Calls came through loud and clear while using the SoundCore 2, with the other party reporting good voice quality.
In its price range, the Anker SoundCore 2 is an excellent entry-level Bluetooth speaker. We loved it for its 24-hour battery life, rugged build quality, and water resistance.
While its sound quality leaves something to be desired in the power and clarity departments, it will please most people. It’s loud enough to fill a small room but will struggle to be heard on a noisy beach or street. This is to be expected from such a compact speaker with stellar battery life but it’s a trade-off nonetheless.
