Soundcore 3 Speaker Review

So I purchased this off after I recently attended a party and my friend had purchased one specifically for it. She had no TV or speaker to play music through, and had opted for one that Amazon recommended. Now I’ve used a lot of Anker products in the past and you’ll know I’m a long time fan. I had used some of their cheaper Bluetooth earbuds before and hadn’t been blown away. But I loved the quality at the party so decided to get one for myself. I was also now working from home a lot more so I was in the market for a speaker. As comfortable as my Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones are, I prefer not to use headphones in my own.

I actually went for a more recent model, and got the Soundcore 3. There was a sale on at the time and the price difference between models wasn’t worth arguing over. For the sake of a tenner I’d rather get the new and improved version.

I like the look, it’s simple and subtle. You can put it just about anywhere and it will basically be unnoticed. That may be because I’ve got mine in black. If you went for one of the other colours it would certainly pop a bit more. The red in particular will certainly stand out. But the buttons are subtle and easy to locate. With just five at the top which are easy to find and use when you need it but it blends in when you don’t.

I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite looking speaker, but it’s still a decent design. The materials are a lot more practical, but within seconds of taking it out of the box my fingerprints had left marks. Still it does fit in just about everywhere, and with its plastic build I’d be pretty confident it can take a few knocks on my travels. 

Setting up is really easy as it connects by bluetooth. There’s no Home Wifi option and it will only connect to one device. However, considering I review gadgets for travel purposes, and given the price of the speaker, I wouldn’t say it’s an issue. However Soundcore do claim you can connect multiple Soundcore 3’s together through PartyCast. So if you and a friend are travelling together you can party in your AirBnB.

So it’ll be obvious from the design that the sound is gonna be directional. If you’re close to the speaker the best quality is going to be right in front. But I really enjoy it. I mostly use it to listen to podcasts or audiobooks around the house when I’m working or playing on my playstation.  

But I’ve occasionally used it for music at parties and when getting changed in hotel rooms. The Anker Soundcore 3 fills the room nicely with great quality sound. I’ve never had an issue with tinniness. I don’t usually listen to anything too loud, I tend to use the speakers to improve sound quality rather than volume. 

The Soundcore 3’s battery life is quoted at 24 hours. I can safely say it’s held up. In fact out of the box and testing it over the last month or so, I cannot remember charging it once. It powered up straight out of the box, connected quickly and was raring to go. Now to be fair I have not held many parties. We used it at one party to provide some background music, and I forgot to charge it beforehand. But it still lasted me the night and has been going strong since. Most of my testing has been playing in the background whilst I played playstation, edited photos or wrote up other articles for Brad’s Backpack. 

The Anker Soundcore 3 is rated for IPX7. This means it can be submerged up to 1 metre for a maximum of 30 minutes. So it’s not designed for prolonged submersion but would be more than fine with being splashed whilst playing tunes around at the pool. I think that’s more than fine for around the house or when travelling. Unless you’re on a boat it’s unlikely you need anything more advanced than that.

I think the Anker Soundcore 3 is a nice size. There are gonna be smaller and lighter speakers, but they aren’t going to be able to produce the same sound quality. Of course on the reverse you are gonna get better quality speakers, but it’s likely these will be significantly more expensive, bigger, or both. If you want a good quality, powerful speaker, then I don’t think it’s a bad size or weight. It’s still portable and easy to carry. Anker even provides a carry strap that can be attached.

I think the Anker Soundcore 3 is a fantastic speaker. If they did a smaller version that would be the perfect speaker for travel. But the Soundcore 3 manages to give what I think is amazing sound quality at affordable prices. There’s been a lot of buzz around the Soundcore range and how they are taking on titans like Sony, so I can’t wait to see what comes next.