If you assume you want to dig deep into your checking account to get good bass from a pair of actually wi-fi earbuds, the Anker Soundcore Spirit Dot 2 will rock your world—and about as successfully as they’ll assist you to rock to your favourite songs. These fitness-leaning buds additionally match properly and might deal with as a lot sweat and raindrops as you’ll be able to throw at them, all whereas costing significantly lower than 100 bucks. Such a nice value doesn’t come with out sacrifices, however they’re comparatively minor. The Spirit Dot 2 normally ship when it counts.
The case is a compact little factor that simply slips in a pocket (though Anker may have made it smaller), and there’s a admirable novelty to how its lid slides again fairly than flipping open. This design could also be a little bit too nifty for its personal good, although, as a mere week of fixed use discovered the lid threatening to slip open with out prompting. Fortunately, the magnetic strips that cost the buds within the case cling to the earpieces like a vice, so there’s likelihood the buds will keep put.
A sliding lid is attention-grabbing, however has its personal shortcomings.
The case additionally permits for round 15 further hours of playtime, which makes up for the disappointing 5 hours of playtime from the buds themselves. The case doesn’t help wi-fi charging, however it does include a cable for plugging into the sealed USB-C port on the again, and the three lights throughout the entrance let you know the way a lot juice is left. Pairing is straightforward if a tad unintuitive: Once you’ve opened your cellphone or pc’s Bluetooth menu, you want to pull each buds out of the case earlier than the pairing immediate pops up.
The slim and subtly trendy buds themselves match virtually as comfortably in my ears as they match of their case. They’re comparatively small, too. If you take a look at an individual who’s carrying them head-on, you’ll barely discover them in any respect, and I like that I can pull off my shirt with out the material getting caught on them. The Spirit Dot 2 won’t have energetic noise canceling, however they seal the ears and muffle exterior sounds so properly that it could be good if they’d the more and more widespread “ambient” mode that makes use of the mic to drag in sounds out of your environs.
If you don’t get such an incredible match proper out of the field, there’s a great opportunity you’ll be able to treatment that with the 5 totally different ear ideas and three hole fins that include the Spirit Dot 2. These are made with what Anker calls “SweatGuard” expertise, which assist enhance the seal and prevents your private grime from corroding the tech.
Leif Johnson / IDGThe array of ear ideas and fins that include the Spirit Dot 2.
The SweatGuard tech is sweet, however thankfully the Spirit Dot 2 boast an iPX7 score, which suggests they’re not in a lot hazard out of your perspiration within the first place. While it is not advisable, it’s best to be capable of dunk these in a meter of water for half an hour they usually’ll come out high quality. This makes them ideally suited companions for the gymnasium, particularly since that glorious match stored them from coming out of my ears even on a prolonged jog.
But it’s the constraints of the contact controls that go away me hesitant to carry them alongside as companions for a lot else. There aren’t any one-tap gestures: Instead, you faucet twice on the correct earbud to play or pause the music and also you additionally use two faucets to reply or finish calls. Unfortunately, there’s no solution to hope again to the earlier tune on a playlist, however you’ll be able to skip ahead by tapping twice on the left bud. Activating Siri or Google Assistant is straightforward sufficient, as you simply want to carry down your finger on both bud for roughly two seconds—however that is additionally what you do to reject a name or switch between calls. It’s not very intuitive.
And that’s about it, actually, other than one potential annoyance: Unlike many different buds, the Spirit Dot 2 don’t flip off robotically whenever you take them out of your ears. In principle, at the very least, they’ll disconnect whenever you lay them again on the charging strips within the case. In follow, one of many SweatGuard fins would usually slip a little bit and canopy the charging floor once I pulled the buds out of my ear. That meant that, unknown to me, the stowed bud stored taking part in music and draining its battery contained in the case for hours, and I’d solely discover out when attempting to determine why sound wasn’t coming from my cellphone (as a result of the buds have been nonetheless related). Switching to one of many different fins appears to have fastened the issue—and I additionally discovered to look out for the white lights on the buds that signify that they’re charging—however it’s one thing to remember. Alternatively, you’ll be able to flip off every bud by urgent down on the perimeters for eight seconds—which additionally means you’ll be able to simply hear to at least one bud at a time—however they nonetheless received’t cost if you happen to don’t line them up correctly.
So how good is that bass? The field claims it’s “epic,” and whereas I wouldn’t go that far, it’s fairly damned good. When I fired up Eminem’s bass-heavy “Without You” and cranked up the amount, I really winced.
As you may anticipate from such a pair of reasonably priced bass-focused earbuds, the lows come by means of stronger than the highs in nearly all tracks, however the highs aren’t horrible, and tracks like Jazz Cartier’s “Tempted” nonetheless play a lot because the artist supposed. These are particularly ideally suited buds for lovers of genres like hip-hop and home, however they have been additionally high quality for a large assortment of tracks like The Rolling Stones’ “Sweet Virginia,” Sufjan’s Stevens’ “Casimir Pulaski Day,” and even the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
Just ensure you’re able to commit your self to that bass: It’s all the time there. You’re caught with the EQ settings Anker provides you, because the Spirit Dot 2 buds don’t work with Anker’s app.
These are habitable limitations for such a low value. These are an incredible possibility for true wi-fi earbuds if you happen to’re on a price range, after all, however it additionally means they make an incredible backup pair if in case you have the money to throw round. With earbuds like these, you received’t be out of a lot if you happen to lose them on the gymnasium or on journeys as you’ll with buds with fancier options like energetic noise cancellation and higher contact controls.
Bottom line
The Spirit Dot 2 might solely price $80, with that value you’re getting deeply resonant bass, a water-proof construct, and a stylishly understated design. That’s a uncommon mixture to search out in so reasonably priced a package deal, and the worth makes it simpler to miss shortcomings like their middling battery life, considerably fiddly controls, and a charging case of questionable sturdiness.