anker Soundcore – Boom 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for Bass

anker Soundcore – Boom 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for Bass

Design: Pool-Ready and Easy to Carry:

Available in Adventure Green, Explorer Blue, or Phantom Black (the version I tested), the Soundcore Boom 2 measures roughly 7.3 by 11.7 by 4.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.7 pounds. It features two striped LED panels on either end that double as passive bass radiators. A built-in handle stretches across the top for easy portability. The main enclosure has a plastic exterior that looks and feels slightly underwhelming. Many competing outdoor speakers, including the Flip 6, have a more refined matte silicon material instead. For reference, the Flip 6 is also considerably smaller and lighter (7.0 by 2.6 by 2.8 inches, 1.2 pounds). The Sony SRS-XG300, meanwhile, is twice the size and weight at 12.5 by 5.4 by 5.4 inches and 6.6 pounds.

A perforated plastic grille on the front protects the 2.1 speaker system. Two 15-watt (W) tweeters and a central 50W woofer deliver a combined output of 80W. Although the latter component is not large or capable enough to be a true subwoofer, this is still an impressive setup for a portable speaker. Just note that if you disable the Bass Up mode, the total output drops to 60W. In either case, the passive radiators on the ends vibrate enthusiastically to match tracks with deep bass. The three drivers cover a frequency range of 45Hz to 20kHz.

The control panel houses an array of physical buttons, including power, Bluetooth, minus (volume down), play/pause, plus (volume up), TWS (to connect another Boom 2 speaker to form a stereo pair or up to 100 other Soundcore PartyCast-enabled speakers), and Bass Up. The play/pause button also answers or ends calls, navigates tracks (press twice for forward, three times for backward), and summons your device’s voice assistant (press and hold). The controls are intuitive and responsive, though I wish there was a button to toggle or otherwise control the LED lights.

On the back, a snap-shut cover protects a USB-C port for the included USB-C-to-USB-C charging cable and a USB-A port for charging other devices. Feet on the bottom help with grip and prevent deep vibrations from moving the speaker around on hard surfaces.

App Experience:

The Soundcore app is available for Android and iOS. It shows a battery life readout for the speaker at the top of its main page, along with a volume slider and a playback button further down. You can also toggle the Bass Up feature from this main page.