Verdict
The Soundcore Boom 2 is a portable speaker that packs a serious punch. It has a pleasant bass-forward sound, nice lighting effects and it’s rugged enough to handle the great outdoors. If you’re shopping for a speaker of this size, in this price range, it’s easy to recommend.
Pros
- Powerful bassy sound
- Fun lighting effects
- Rugged waterproof construction
Cons
- Styling is on the basic side
- Not rated for dust resistance
- No NFC or AUX in
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Powerful sound with thumping bassThis speaker kicks out a sound that seems as if it should be coming from a speaker twice the size. -
Fun music-reactive lighting effectsThe diffused LED lighting on the passive radiators pulsates and flashes along with the beat, adding to the party atmosphere. -
It’s waterproof and it floatsThe Soundcore Boom 2 is completely waterproof, and it’ll even float if you drop it in the pool.
Introduction
Following in the footsteps of the brand’s popular Motion Boom speaker, the Anker Soundcore Boom 2 arrives on the scene with a floating waterproof construction, a convenient grab handle and a big bassy sound.
The new model retails for $129.99 / £119.99, so it’s a touch more expensive than its predecessor, but it comes with plenty of improvements, too. The overall sound output is louder, it can sync with multiple other speakers and it has funky music-reactive RGB lighting on its passive radiators.
With a big battery, a retro-inspired boombox design and great portability, it could prove to be the right choice for a lot of people. I couldn’t wait to find out how it performs, and after blasting tunes for the past couple of weeks, here’s what I found out.
Design
- Rugged plastic construction
- IPX7-rated floatable design
- Reactive RGB lighting on radiators
The Soundcore Boom 2 ditches the sweeping curves of the Motion Boom, and instead has a very boxy construction. The large grab handle remains, though, and has become even larger on this model, running the entire length of the speaker. Anker is clearly going for the retro boombox look, but it also reminds me of a toolbox, probably due to the rugged black plastic construction.
The speaker is available in three colours: Phantom Black, Adventure Green and Explorer Blue. I have the black version in for testing, which is a little plain-looking, but it does have metallic matte grey accents on the speaker grille and handle to give it a bit of flair.
On each side of the speaker, there are large passive bass radiators made from a translucent rubbery material, with a diagonal striped design. When the speaker is turned on, these radiators light up blue by default and pulsate along with the beat, but you can choose other colours in the companion app.
Around the back, there’s a USB-C port for charging and a USB-A port that can be used to charge other devices. These ports are covered by a thick rubber bung to keep the device watertight. I was disappointed by the lack of an auxiliary input, as most competing speakers have this option, and this configuration means you’re limited to sources that support Bluetooth connectivity.
On the base, there are four small rubber feet to keep the speaker in place. They don’t look up to much but they’re surprisingly grippy, and combined with the 1.7kg weight of the speaker, they ensure that it stays planted on your desk.
There are four rubberised buttons on the top panel, most of which are backlit to show you when they’re active. There’s a power button, Bluetooth pairing button, PartyCast button and Bass Up switch. You also get a play/pause button and volume controls, but these aren’t backlit. That said, they’re easy enough to find in the dark.
The Soundcore Boom 2 has an IPX7 rating, which means it’s completely waterproof but isn’t rated for protection against dust ingress. The speaker also floats, so if you drop it in a swimming pool, you can easily fish it back out – or you can listen to it as it floats around, if that’s your kind of thing.
Overall, the speaker feels rugged and confidence-inspiring, and I was never worried about it taking the occasional knock. The downside to this hardy plastic construction is that it doesn’t feel especially premium, either. That’s not to say it feels cheap, the metallic speaker grille is a nice touch, for example, but it’s not going to wow you.
Features
- Soundcore companion app
- Wireless sync with PartyCast 2.0
- Works as a power bank
The Soundcore Boom 2 has a companion app that works on both iOS and Android. When connected, it allows you to tweak the sound signature and control the lighting on the sides of the speaker. There’s a full nine-band equaliser, so you can dial in the sound to your preference, as well as some preset options to emphasise vocals, treble or give a flatter more balanced sound.
Bass Up mode and PartyCast can be activated from within the app, but there are physical buttons for both of these features, so you don’t need to use the app if you don’t want to. The app has other benefits, though, including controls for the button backlight brightness and an automatic power-off timer, which is nice to see.
The app gives you seven lighting effects to choose between, and you can also change the colours of each one. The effects aren’t super varied, they mostly just flash and pulsate along with the music, but some display colour gradients or flash more than one colour at a time, which makes them look a bit more exciting.
The lighting definitely adds to the vibe in dimly lit situations, and the LEDs are bright enough to be noticed in the daytime, too. It’s not quite as flashy as something like the JBL Pulse 4, but it’s enough to make this speaker stand out from its direct competition.
The Soundcore Boom 2 can wirelessly sync up with up to 100 compatible Soundcore speakers using a technology called PartyCast 2.0. Once connected, the speakers will even sync up their lighting effects to create a whole-house party atmosphere. Unfortunately, I only had the single speaker in for testing, so I couldn’t try this for myself, but it definitely offers an advantage over the Motion Boom, which only supports stereo pairing functionality.
Finally, the Boom 2 can be used as a power bank, and you can use the USB-A port on the rear to juice up your phone or other devices. Anker’s spec sheet doesn’t list the exact capacity of the battery, but considering it boasts up to 24 hours of playback on a charge, it must be fairly sizable.
On the topic of battery life, this thing lasts for absolutely ages. I charged it up when it arrived and have been listening to it most days for an hour or two, for about two weeks, and it still has over 20% remaining, it’s impressive stuff.
In the box, you get a USB-A to USB-C cable, but you’ll need your own wall adapter and it takes around 5 and a half hours to fully charge from flat.
Sound Quality
- Warm bassy sound signature
- High volume output
- BassUp 2.0 technology
As the product name suggests, the Boom 2 is all about the bass. It’s a warm and thunderous sound but it doesn’t come at the expense of clarity. The twin 15W tweeters are able to deliver great vocals and solid clarity in the high end, while the 50W woofer and twin radiators kick out bass that you can feel in your chest.
It’s not audiophile-grade clarity, but it offers a very pleasing sound that most users are sure to get along with. It’s lively and loud, perfect for parties. Using the speaker at home, I rarely exceed 50% volume, so it has more than enough power to rock a garden party when summer rolls around.
For most of my listening, I used the default Soundcore EQ and kept the Bass Up function enabled. The speaker sounds ok with it turned off, but the Bass Up mode makes music sound full-bodied and dynamic, and everything is slightly duller without it. This mode comes at the expense of battery life, but since this device offers such a long battery life, that’s of little concern.
There’s not much in the way of a stereo effect, presumably, you’ll need two of them if that’s what you’re looking for. The signature left-right sweep on Otis McDonald’s Scarlet Fire has little to no effect when played on this speaker alone. This speaker isn’t designed to provide great staging, though, it’s supposed to fill the room at a gathering, and it does that well.
While the speaker is bass-heavy, it doesn’t extend deep into the sub-bass frequencies, bottoming out at 48Hz. I always test sub-bass response with DJ Shadow’s Three Ralphs and on this speaker, the bassline is essentially silent, whereas with an actual subwoofer, it’ll shake your windows. That’s an extreme example, though, most music doesn’t utilise such frequencies.
With more common bass frequencies, the Boom 2 packs an almighty punch. Bronski Beat’s 80s hit Smalltown Boy sounds absolutely wonderful on this speaker, for example, and the same is true for pretty much all of the Hip Hop, Funk and Jazz that I played through it.
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Should you buy it?
You want a powerful and portable boombox
The Soundcore Boom 2 is extremely powerful and able to deliver thumping bass, but it remains fairly lightweight and easy to carry, thanks to its built-in grab handle.
You want to connect to wired sources
The Soundcore Boom 2 lacks a 3.5mm aux input, so you’ll have to stick to Bluetooth-enabled devices with this one.
Final Thoughts
The Soundcore Boom 2 is an extremely powerful speaker in a relatively compact form factor. The built-in grab handle makes it easy to move about and adds a touch of retro charm to the design. It produces a very pleasing bassy sound that’s perfect for parties and the rugged construction and waterproofing means that you don’t have to worry too much about spilt drinks and other mishaps.
It’s one of the most powerful speakers in its price bracket, and the sound quality definitely gives other speakers from big-name players a run for their money. It’s not perfect, though. I would have loved to see an auxiliary input for connecting wired devices, and NFC pairing would be nice to have, too. I also can’t help but feel that the hardy plastic exterior looks a little less premium than some of the competition.
Other notable speakers around this price are the JBL Flip 6 and UE Boom 3, both of which are more portable, and deliver amazing sound for their size. However, I reckon the Soundcore Boom 2 has advantages over both of these options. It’s slightly cheaper, significantly louder, has a longer-lasting battery and comes with a built-in light show. It’s a great option that’s easy to recommend.
How we test
We test every wireless speaker we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
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Tested with real world use
FAQs
Yes, you have two parking options with this speaker. You can either use TWS mode to create a stereo pair of two matching speakers or use PartyCast to connect to up to 100 Soundcore speakers wirelessly.
The Soundcore Boom 2 is IPX7-rated, which means it’s fully waterproof (it even floats) but it’s not rated for resistance against dust.
