A capable and well-rounded waterproof speaker for less than $200
I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
The portable Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus speaker delivers powerful audio in an outdoor-friendly design for less money than most competitors.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus ($179.99), along with the Tribit StormBox Blast ($199.99), seem to be part of a new category: large, powerful, and portable Bluetooth speakers that cost far less than those from market giants such as JBL and Sony. In its favor, the Soundcore Motion Boom Plus delivers serious bass thump, sports a waterproof build, and supports a customizable in-app EQ. And, compared with the StormBox Blast, it outputs more bass depth at high volumes, offers speakerphone functionality (something the StomBox Blast lacks), and supports a better range of Bluetooth codecs. Considering these advantages, the Soundcore Motion Boom Plus earns our Editors’ Choice award for outdoor speakers.
The Soundcore Motion Boom Plus measures 7.7 by 15.3 by 5.5 inches (HWD), weighs 5.3 pounds, and comes in black. Much of the exterior features a hard plastic material rather than the ruggedized, rubber-like one we often see on outdoor-friendly speakers. Its bulky frame sports a built-in handle, as well as a canvas strap that latches onto a loop on either end.
Behind the grille, two 10W and two 30W woofers deliver a combined 80W of stereo output. Dual side-firing passive radiators enhance bass response. Anker lists the frequency range as “up to 40kHz,” which tells only half the story—we have no idea how low these drivers go, but whatever the number, they project plenty of bass. The Motion Boom Plus is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3, and supports the AAC and SBC codecs, but not AptX.
An array of controls sits across the top front edge: Bass mode and Bluetooth pairing buttons are on the far left; power and PartyCast (for pairing a second speaker) buttons reside on the far right; and a multifunction button (for playback, track navigation, and call management) sits in the center, along with individual volume controls to either side.
On the rear panel, a snap-shut cover protects a USB-C port, a USB-A port (for charging external devices via the speaker's battery), and a 3.5mm aux input. You get only one cable in the box, a USB-C-to-USB-C charging cable. If that doesn't work with your charging setup, you might need to buy an adapter.
The speaker's IP67 rating means it is both dust-tight and fully waterproof. You can technically submerge it at a depth of up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) for 30 minutes without issue, even though Bluetooth signals don’t work well underwater (nor does sound). You can wash the speaker off in a sink or tub without issue, and the dust-proof exterior should protect the internals when you go on a hike or bring the speaker to the beach. Just make sure to shut the port cover fully before you expose it to the elements.
Anker estimates the Motion Boom Plus can last roughly 20 hours on a single charge, but your battery life results will vary based on your typical listening volume.
The Soundcore app (available for Android and iOS) lets you install firmware updates and adjust basic control operations; for example, you can turn off voice prompts or activate the Auto Power Off function. The app also includes an equalizer; here, you can create a custom eight-band EQ or select (and adjust) one of several EQ presets.
As mentioned, the Motion Boom Plus includes a Bass mode and, in most testing scenarios, we enjoyed the speaker's output more with it on than off. It sounds good with the mode off, but the best sound (without tinkering with the EQ) came from a combination of the default Soundcore Signature EQ mode with the Bass mode also activated. This is what we used for testing.
On tracks with intense sub-bass content like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the Motion Boom Plus delivers serious bass rumble. The speaker is powerful enough to vibrate desktops and tabletops, which can sometimes produce a sound you could mistake for distortion (but the Boom Plus doesn't distort, even at top volumes), so you might have to experiment with placement—a wooden desk might vibrate more than, say, a concrete countertop. It doesn’t get quite as loud as the Tribit StormBox Blast, but digital signal processing takes its toll more so on that model at high volumes. Regardless, at reasonable volume levels, both speakers deliver some serious low-end bass.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, better reveals the speaker's sound signature. The drums on this track get some additional body and heft via the Bass mode, but never veer into unnatural territories. Callahan’s baritone vocals get plenty of low-mid richness, but the high-mids come across crisply, too; the result is a balanced, highly sculpted sound signature that delivers bright attacks from the acoustic strums and higher-register percussion just as clearly as the rich lows. And, of course, the eight-band EQ lets you make further adjustments.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives an ideal amount of high-mid presence, thus allowing its attack to retain its punch. Meanwhile, the speaker pumps up the lows enough that the loop’s sustain gets some extra weight. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are slightly below the woofer’s capabilities—we hear the thump, but nothing in terms of the subwoofer-like rumble you get from larger systems. Still, the Motion Boom Plus more than makes up for this common shortcoming with plenty of robust lows and low-mids. The vocals on this track sound clear, but with a hint of additional sibilance.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound bright and clear. When low-frequency content appears in the mix, the drivers deliver it with body. Things never sound overly bass-heavy, even with bass mode on; the lower-register instruments anchor everything else in the mix as we expect.
The onboard mic works fine. We could understand every word from a test recording on an iPhone, but some minor Bluetooth artifacts fuzzed up the audio quality. Over a strong signal, you shouldn't have any call issues, however, and we're glad to have a speakerphone option at all; plenty of portable Bluetooth speakers in this segment are starting to abandon this feature.
The Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus stands out for its value, robust audio performance, and durable design. It costs much less than the JBL Xtreme 3 ($349.95) and offers similar power, along with a better app and speakerphone. It has no trouble competing with similarly priced (but far less powerful) models from well-established brands such as the JBL Charge 5 ($179.95) and the Sony SRS-XB33 ($149.99) either, even if those speakers might have an aesthetic edge. And, finally, the aforementioned Tribit StormBox Blasts gets louder (at the expense of heavier DSP involvement), but doesn’t offer speakerphone functionality. Any of these models is likely to please, but the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus does enough right to warrant an Editors’ Choice award in the crowded outdoor speaker category.
The portable Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus speaker delivers powerful audio in an outdoor-friendly design for less money than most competitors.
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I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
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