Anker Soundcore Mini Portable Bluetooth Speaker

The quality of this product is great, Small but has a big presence. Noise and volume is fabulous, not tinny at all, good base, Bluetooth connectivity very easy and set up is simple. Charging is good and get a good range of tunes around the house. Not tried if waterproof yet but does look very stylish and will fit anywhere in the house.

This is a VERY well made small full range speaker…not sure what Voodoo they imparted into it but it sounds Really Nice.

Although you can’t really tell by it’s appearance due to it’s paint job, the external housing is an aluminum shell with an aluminum grill covering the top of the speaker. The build quality is awesome & it feels like a premium device. Not very heavy or bulky but putting it in a pocket it WILL make a big bulge. It doesn’t come with a carabiner, there isn’t a place to put a carabiner (no hoop or loop to put one.) It is also NOT weatherized, meaning do NOT get it wet. That would be bad.

The bottom is plastic. The bottom underside of the device has a rubber “foot” ring so it doesn’t slip on or off of surfaces but it can & will dance around a lil bit if you crank it up playing really bass heavy music.

The over-all sound is VERY BALANCED, RICH & FULL sounding as if it has 2 speakers instead of one…I tried using an EQ & I really can’t “enhance” the over-all tone of the speaker much better than it already is. I have added more treble for personal preferences but it’s not needed as they shine without a need for an EQ. Mids are solid, straight forward, punchy & clear. I added 500m,1K,2K & 4K to try & get it “louder” but it just didn’t sound “better”…it honestly sounds fine the way it is PLUS it’s got PLENTY of bass as well so adding any more only makes it distort, that said I have the bass on the EQ turned down which really doesn’t do much to the over all tone. With Most bluetooth speakers I’ve had/have of this size; I’ve needed to use an EQ to tweak the sound/tone to get it to sound better/louder/more balanced etc… but this speaker just doesn’t seem to need that kind of attention.

With the several bluetooth speakers I own in this size & price range I compared it with my Sony SRS-X11 & my TDK 08 TREK Mini to which sound the most like it. All 3 sound quite nice for their size only having a single speaker/driver. The Sony costs considerably more. I also wanna say (at least to me) it doesn’t’ sound as good but it all depends on the genre of music which I can attest too can make a big difference on how these small speakers sound. (EX: rock might sound great but a techno or dance track which have more bass will sound terrible.) With this speaker I have played several genre & it preforms really well with all so far…I would like it to be a lil bit louder but I can’t expect to much more from it considering how small it is.

The FM radio feature doesn’t pick up stations very well IF at all, even IF I have the cord plugged in. Not that it matters to me as I do not listen to the radio much anymore anyways. so no big deal to me but that might be a big deal to someone else. The SD card reader sounds fantastic.

The battery life is AWESOME! I turned it on & used it on my way to work, at work & on the way home after a 10hr work day & it was used THE WHOLE TIME…the 15hr battery life claim seems on point…at least so far…

Pairing is simple, easy & straight forward. works with all my bluetooth devices. At least so far. It also reconnects to the last device pair immediately when turned on & bluetooth is turned on, on the device.

The ONLY 2 “issues” I have with this device are subjective:
it doesn’t have an option/place to hook a carabiner to it
it isn’t weather (water resistant)

With those two things aside & you don’t care about clipping/hanging it off something &/or you’re not worried about it getting close to pool side, not taking it to a beach/lake/river etc…or bring it being out in the elements…THIS SPEAKER IS WORTH EVERY PENNY OF IT’S PRICE if not a bit more…

Ever since listening to music on a friend’s Bose SoundLink Mini, I’ve wanted to get a similar Bluetooth speaker for myself. However, being on a tight budget, I’ve had to look at much more affordable options. The Anker SoundCore looked like it would be a worthy competitor for a fraction of the price. However, I ultimately settled on the SoundCore Mini, due to the smaller form factor and slightly cheaper price.

I’ve owned this device for a week and a half now and have been blown away by the product that I got for the money. This is the first Bluetooth speaker that I’ve owned, but I’ve found myself using this for several hours every day since purchasing it. My wife has also been using this frequently, to the point that I’m considering picking up a second one for her to use.

First thing to mention is the design of the device. This is a solid little speaker with a good amount of weight to it. Most of the exterior is a nice quality metal, with a thin ring of plastic around the bottom and a nonslip rubber base. This thing definitely feels solid, and I wouldn’t worry about dropping it a few times (although I have no intention of trying to do so). This is about the same size as a beer or soda can, and about half the height. It will easily fit into a car’s cupholder.

The sound quality of this speaker is more than acceptable for the price. I volunteer as a sound engineer at my church, so my ear is probably more trained than most, although I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile by any means. The music, podcasts, and audiobooks that I listen to are all extremely clear. You’re not going to get super strong bass from this, but that’s not something that I care about. The volume on this is also surprisingly strong. I can put this in the middle of our 2 story, 1700 square foot house and hear it clearly from just about any room on the same floor. Works great for listening to podcasts and audiobooks in the car as well. I have no problems hearing it above the noise of the car and the road when set to about 2/3 volume.

The Bluetooth range of this should not be understated as well. It’s amazing to be able to plug my phone into the charger in the living room, and carry the speaker with me from room to room and still get quality, uninterrupted audio, even after my fitness tracker loses Bluetooth connection to the same phone.

So far, I’ve used this device almost exclusively for its Bluetooth capabilities. I have not tried the line in input, nor the MicroSD slot. I’ve tried the FM radio (using the MicroUSB cable to act as an antenna), and this speaker does pick up a fair number of stations, but the lack of a display means that it’s difficult to determine exactly which station you’re listening to. I certainly wouldn’t pick this up with the intention of using it primarily as a radio.

Overall, I really couldn’t be happier with the value that I got for my money. Anker has a winner on their hands here, and I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to purchase this, or any other SoundCore product from them in the future.