Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsFirst impressions: extremely good!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2019
I think the most important thing to any Bluetooth speaker is that it's very easy to set-up, and is extremely intuitive to use. That's definitely the case for the Soundcore mini; I was able to set it up without needing the instruction manual. It was literally as simple as switching on a switch and pressing a few buttons on your Bluetooth-compatible phone - within seconds I was connected!
The form factor is surprisingly small (even with the mini name), and it comes in a well designed box that, for the renewed version, comes only with the things you need: the speaker, and the instruction manual. I didn't get a microUSB cable with mine (which is used to connect and charge the speaker), but you have to be living in the stone ages to not have any lying around your house. Despite its price and form factor, it's extremely well built with an aluminium shell and matte rubber feet which secures the speaker onto the desk and prevents accidental movement of the speaker. This is another example of Anker's excellent history of intelligent design choices. Even though I only spent £20, I definitely would be happy with the build quality had I paid thrice the amount.
The sound is equally as impressive; speakers at this price usually get distorted at high volumes, or just have a really weird reverb effect that ruins any song you play through it. That, as you may have guessed, isn't an issue with the Soundcore mini; it can get quite loud, and at max volume there is zero distortion and full clarity. The treble isn't ear piercing as many speakers at this price seem to deal with, the mids (including the vocals) and pronounced and clear, and there's definitely a healthy amount of bass. Will it satisfy bassheads? Possibly not, but you can definitely hear its presence! At this price point, you're basically robbing Anker with what you're getting.
As far as first impressions go, I'm, as always, extremely impressed with what Anker has produced. For the price it is unbeatable; the only gripe I have with it is its lack of IPX rating (meaning that it isn't at least water resistant), but given the small form factor I think it'll be hard to not find a place away from the water that you can safely place it on. For me personally, the closest it'll get to water is in the bathroom while I take a shower - and I'm definitely not short of places of where I can safely put it that still allows me to hear the music, especially considering it's small form factor!
I can't make a judgement on battery life as I haven't used it long enough, however based on many, many reviews, the stated 15-hour battery life is true, give or take a few hours (expect at least half a day (12 hours), which is still extremely impressive for the pricepoint). There is zero reason to get any other speaker at this price, unless the lack IPX water resistance rating is an absolute deal-breaker for you. But unless you're bringing it with you while you're diving into a pool of water (for whatever reason - I'm not judging), the compromise of not having an IPX rating for what you get instead is absolutely worth it.