We’ve heard loads of middle-of-the-road Bluetooth audio system that attempt to juice your tunes with brassy, boomy sound. The Anker Soundcore Motion+ isn’t certainly one of them, however this compact, $100 speaker may do with a little bit extra high-end element. Its consideration to mid-range frequencies, then again, pays dividends on the subject of delivering wealthy, sturdy sound, with a powerful (however not overbearing, supplied a sure characteristic is turned off) basis of bass response . The Motion+’s weatherized design, app-based EQ settings, and aptX help sweeten the deal.
Design
Measuring a little bit shy of a foot broad, about three inches excessive and thick, the two.3-pound Soundcore Motion+ feels heavy given its dimension. Encased in a nearly waterproof shell (Anker claims an ingress safety score of IPX7, which means the speaker can withsetand being immersed in as much as a meter of water for 30 minutes), the Motion+ incorporates a black aluminum grille that reveals its twin tweeters and woofers flanking a big passive radiator. The wedge-like design of the Motion+’s enclosure goals its drivers at a couple of 15-degree angle relative to the floor on which the speaker is sitting, so the music is directed at your ears and never your chest. The rubberized sides and again of the speaker really feel reassuringly rugged, though additionally they accumulate oily fingerprints.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe rubberized shell of the Anker Soundcore Motion+ (seen right here with its embedded playback controls) feels reassuringly rugged, but it surely additionally attracts oily fingerprints.
The Motion+’s energy button is on the proper aspect of the speaker, whereas the USB-C charging port and a 3.5mm analog audio enter sit simply beneath, securely hidden by a water-tight rubber flap. (A USB-C charging cable and an audio cable are each included.) You’ll discover buttons alongside the highest of the audio system for quantity, Bluetooth pairing, and the speaker’s bass-boosting “BassUp” options (which I’ll get to in a second).
A button within the middle of the speaker–between the volume-down and volume-up buttons– performs a wide range of features relying on whether or not you press it as soon as, press it a number of instances, or hoild it down for a couple of seconds. Press the button as soon as, for instance, to play and pause your music or to reply a name in your Bluetooth-connected cellphone (in impact, turning the Motion+ right into a speakerphone). Hold the button down for a few seconds and you will summon Siri or Google Assistant in your iPhone or Android telephone respectively. Hold the button for greater than three seconds, and you may sync the Motion+ to a second Motion+ to create a left/proper stereo pair.
Ben Patterson/IDGA rubber flap with a watertight seal hides a USB-C charging port and a 3.5mm analog audio enter.
Features and performance
Besides its Bluetooth 5.0 help, the Soundcore Motion+ additionally options the aptX audio codec, which might ship near-CD-quality sound–provided you are the system you are streaming music from additionally helps aptX. Support for that codec is comparatively frequent on Android telephones, however you will not discover help for it on any iOS system (though Macbooks do help it). That’s unlucky, as we like aptX (and we like aptX HD much more).
Ben Patterson/IDGYou can fiddle with the Anker Soundcore Motion+’s EQ settings utilizing the Soundcore cell app.
If you need to tinker with the Motion+’s EQ, you are able to do so utilizing the Soundcore cell app. Once the app connects to the speaker, you’ll be able to swap between six EQ presets or fiddle with the app’s 9 equalizer sliders.
One of the EQ presets is named “BassUp,” which is the title of Anker’s bass-boosting audio know-how. We’ll cowl the Motion+’s BassUp efficiency in a second; for now, simply know that you would be able to toggle the BassUp mode utilizing both the Soundcore app or by urgent the BassUp button on the highest of the speaker.
The Soundcore app additionally allows you to regulate the Motion+’s computerized power-off characteristic, which you’ll be able to set for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour. That’s a pleasant characteristic, however these are the solely settings out there. There’s no sleep timer, both.
Performance
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ did a great job of filling my lounge with sound given its dimension, notably once I positioned it on the ground; certainly, linked to my iPhone XS, the Motion+ received fairly loud once I cranked the quantity all the best way. Since it’s not an omnidirectional speaker, the Motion+’s sound turned a bit muffled once I moved behind the speaker, so it is best to you should definitely level it towards any listeners quite than plunking it in the course of a crowd.
Switching the speaker to the customized EQ mode and sticking with a flat frequency response, the Motion+ sounded fairly spectacular given its $100 price ticket, though I wouldn’t have minded extra high-end element from the speaker’s twin tweeters. I did appreciated the Motion+’s comparatively highly effective bass, even when the boomy BassUp characteristic was overkill for a lot of the tracks I attempted. Crucially, the Motion+’s sturdy mid-range saved the sound from feeling too skinny.
Dialing up Vlado Perlemuter’s rendition of Maurice Ravel’s solo piano works on the Nimbus Records label (granted, in all probability not the album the makers of the Motion+ had in thoughts once they designed thios speaker), the sound was full and comparatively wealthy, if (once more) a tad missing in high-end element. Skipping over to the title observe of Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad, I preferred the sound of the plucking acoustic guitar scenes, whereas the rising synth sounded appropriately heat with out being overbearing (that’s with the BassUp characteristic turned off, thoughts you).
While I want the Motion+ delivered finer high-end element, I choose its sound to cheaper Bluetooth audio system that sacrifice mid-range sound for a shrill but thumpy combination of thunderous bass and a overly brassy excessive finish. Indeed, due to its stable mid-range sound, the Motion+ truly sounds higher the extra you crank the quantity, making it ideally suited for outside playback.
Anker guarantees 12 hours of battery life from the Motion+’s rechargeable battery, and after a number of hours of playback, I’d solely put a modest dent within the speaker’s battery meter.
Bottom line
You can’t anticipate excellent sound from a $100 Bluetooth speaker, however Anker properly selected a stable center floor when it got here to the Soundcore Motion+, a compact, waterproof speaker that eschews goosed, flashy sound (the too-boomy BassUp mode however) for sturdy mid-range efficiency. Sure, a little bit extra high-end element would have been good, however in the event you’re hoping to take your transportable sound to the following stage, be ready to shell out a a lot larger chunk of change.