The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a small and lightweight speaker that's easily portable. It's well-suited for outdoor use thanks to its over 15-hour battery life and IPX7 rating for water resistance, although we don't currently test for this. Although it can get fairly loud, there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. Like many small speakers, it struggles to produce low-bass, although its mid-range is well balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present. There's also a graphic EQ in its companion app that lets you customize its sound profile.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is reasonable for music. It has a well-balanced mid-range, so vocals and lead instruments are reproduced clearly. However, like many small speakers, it lacks some low-bass, so you may not feel the deep thump and rumble of bass-heavy genres like EDM. Also, its treble range is a bit underemphasized, so higher frequencies may sound a bit dark. Fortunately, its companion app comes with a graphic EQ that lets you customize the sound to your liking.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is passable for watching videos/movies. Its latency with iOS and Android devices is quite low, although some apps compensate differently for this. It can also get quite loud, although there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. Its soundstage is quite narrow, so it may not feel very immersive when watching movies. Also, it lacks low-bass, so you may not feel the deep thump in action-packed scenes. Fortunately, it can clearly reproduce vocals thanks to its well-balanced mid-range.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is good for podcasts. It has a well-balanced mid-range, so it can clearly reproduce vocals. However, sibilants like S and T sounds may sound a bit veiled due to the speaker's underemphasized treble range. It can also get quite loud, and its small, lightweight design makes it easy to bring with you on-the-go.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is bad for voice assistant. It uses the voice assistant from your smartphone over Bluetooth since it doesn't have voice assistant capabilities built-in. As part of our methodology, we use prerecorded voice commands to test the speaker. This speaker didn't respond to these commands, even at a close distance and without much background noise. While it responds to commands in a normal speaking voice, this isn't part of our testing process.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is good for outdoor use. It has an IPX7 rating for water resistance, although we don't test for this currently. It's remarkably portable and it has an amazing battery life, lasting over 15 hours on a single charge. It can also get quite loud, which makes it well-suited to playing music for lots of people. However, there are some compression artifacts present at max volume, and it lacks some low-bass.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is outstandingly portable. It's small and lightweight, so you can easily carry it in one hand. Also, it's battery-powered, so you can bring it out and about without having to find an outlet.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has decent build quality. It feels solid, and there's a metal grille covering the two drivers. Most of the speaker's exterior is made of silicone, and the buttons on top are texturized, making them easy to find by touch. It also has an IPX7 rating for water resistance, though we don't currently test for this. Though it lacks a rating for impact resistance, the manual suggests you should be careful not to drop it.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has very good controls. On top, there's a multifunction button to play/pause your audio, which you can also press twice to skip ahead and three times to backtrack. You can also use it to accept and end a call. At the top left, there's a BassUp button advertised to increase the bass in your audio. On top, there are also three separate buttons for adjusting the volume and pairing a device over Bluetooth. The power button is located on the side. There's also a light that turns solid blue when the speaker is connected to Bluetooth, solid white when it's connected to True Wireless Stereo, and solid red when it's charging. The light flashes red when the battery is low and flashes blue when it's searching for a Bluetooth pairing or when there's an incoming call.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has an adequate frequency response accuracy. With the BassUp feature turned on, it still struggles to reproduce low-bass. Because of this, you may not feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy genres like hip-hop or EDM. It has a fairly well-balanced midrange, so vocals and lead instruments are reproduced clearly. However, its treble is a bit underemphasized, so higher frequencies are perceived as a bit dark. Fortunately, its companion app includes a graphic EQ that lets you customize sound to your liking.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has amazing battery life. The manufacturer advertises a battery life of 12 hours, but in our tests, the speaker lasted over 15 hours. Battery life can vary depending on usage, so user experience may vary. There's also a power-saving feature that you can adjust through the app. You can set it to automatically shut off after 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes without audio.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has terrible voice assistant capabilities. It uses the voice assistant from your smartphone when it's paired via Bluetooth. As part of our methodology, we use recorded voice messages to test the speaker's response. It wasn't able to register any of these commands, even while close by and without any background noise. It can register questions from a normal speaking voice, but this isn't part of our testing process.
The Soundcore companion app is okay. It's compatible with iOS and Android and it comes with some preset EQ settings like 'Bass Up', 'Bass Off', 'Voice', 'Heavy', 'Classic', and 'Original'. There's also a full graphic EQ that lets you customize the sound to your liking. While you can pair two speakers together to create a stereo pair, this can only be done using Bluetooth, not through the app. Also, the app doesn't include features like Party Mode or Multi-Room, which allow you to connect multiple speakers for a louder sound or between rooms.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has an AUX port that you can use to connect your smartphone to the speaker to play audio.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus has excellent Bluetooth connectivity. It has an incredible range, staying connected to your smartphone even from a distance. Its latency with iOS and Android devices is also quite low, making it suitable for watching movies or videos. That said, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary. You can also pair it with two devices at a time, which is really convenient when you're frequently switching your audio source between your phone and laptop.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus comes in 'Black', 'Red', and 'Blue' color variants. We tested the 'Black' variant, and you can see the label for the model we tested here. We expect all three variants to perform comparably in our tests.
If you come across a version not listed, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Plus is a fairly small speaker that's well-suited for outdoor use. It has a very long battery life, and it's rated IPX7 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for this. It can also get quite loud, though there are some compression artifacts at max volume. Like many small speakers, it struggles to produce low-bass, but its companion app has a graphic EQ that lets you adjust its sound profile. See also our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best cheap speakers, and the best home speakers.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a better speaker than the JBL FLIP 5. Unlike the Anker, the JBL has to downmix stereo content to mono, which doesn't sound as immersive. The Anker also has a longer battery life, and its sound profile can be adjusted using the graphic EQ in its companion app. It also supports voice assistants, although it may have some trouble understanding you.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a slightly better speaker than the Anker Soundcore Flare 2. The Motion+ is better suited to outdoor use since its battery lasts longer and it can get louder than the Flare. While the Flare has a more open soundstage thanks to its 360-design, it has more latency with iOS and Android devices, although some apps compensate differently for this.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ and the Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 2 are two portable speakers with different strengths. The Anker comes with a graphic EQ to customize its sound profile, and it can get louder. However, the Ultimate Ears has fewer compression artifacts at max volume. The Ultimate Ears also has a more open soundstage, although it struggles more to produce low-bass.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a better speaker than the Amazon Echo Gen 4 for most uses. The Anker is far more portable than the Amazon since the Amazon needs to be plugged into an outlet to be used. While the Amazon has bass and treble adjustments through its companion app, the Anker has a graphic EQ, which gives you greater control over the speaker's sound profile. However, the Amazon performs far better as a voice assistant, as it has Alexa built-in.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a better speaker than the JBL Clip 4. The Anker has a more balanced sound profile, and it's more customizable thanks to the graphic EQ in its companion app. Also, it has a longer battery life than the JBL and it can get louder. However, the JBL's soundstage is perceived as more open, though its bass can sound a bit muddy. Although both speakers are outstandingly portable, the JBL has a clip that lets you attach it to your bag.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is a better overall speaker than the Limitless Innovations TikiTunes. The Anker can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono, and it has a more balanced sound profile out-of-the-box. Thanks to its graphic EQ and presets, it offers more sound customization features, and it also supports voice assistants from your paired smartphone. It gets louder, too, albeit with more compression at max volume. That said, some users may prefer the TikiTunes' unique torch light design, which can blend in more easily with your outdoor decor.
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