Anker Soundcore Motion 300 review

Editor’s note: this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.

What’s it like to use the Anker Soundcore Motion 300?

The Motion 300 is wrapped in a durable, rubberized silicon. It sports a metal speaker grill and a detachable strap and is built like a tank. The power button is recessed and easy to find. It quickly connected to my phone, and once the speaker is powered up, the control strip is nicely backlit. The USB-C charging port has a hefty waterproof cover tab, showing you don’t have to baby this one. It’s ready to be strapped to a paddle board, tossed in a gear bin, or hung from the nearest tree branch around a campfire, thanks to the handy button strap.

Along with the detachable strap, you’ll also notice two sets of rubber feet — one set on the bottom of the speaker and the other on the back. The Soundcore Motion 300 is designed to perform in three positions: standing, lying, and hanging. It uses Anker’s SmartTune technology to adjust playback frequencies depending on the speaker’s orientation.

Soundcore names these modes “Immersive” when standing, “360 Degree” when laying, and “Dynamic” when hanging. While perhaps fancier than it sounds, what’s happening is a slight modification to the EQ to compensate for the speaker’s position. The frequencies change depending on which EQ setting you have selected, but generally, by adjusting the speaker from a standing position to a laying position, you’ll get a boost in the treble frequencies. You’ll notice a slight reduction in lows and highs when moving the speaker from laying to hanging.

Unfortunately, the app EQ doesn’t tell you exactly which frequencies are being changed, but as you move the speaker from one position to another, you can see these minor adjustments being made in real-time with the EQ open in the app. You also have the option to turn off this Adaptive Direction feature at any time through the app if you’d prefer your settings to stay consistent, no matter what position the speaker is in.

How do you control the Anker Soundcore Motion 300?

The waterproof control strip of the Motion 300 is located along the top of the speaker. Once you have power, all buttons are backlit and easy to find. You can also control various features through the Soundcore app, including play/pause, volume, EQ settings, firmware updates, and the brightness of the backlit controls, which is a nice touch. Most of the buttons on the speakers are single-function; below is a breakdown of how they operate:

Should you use the app for the Anker Soundcore Motion 300?

Downloading the Soundcore app is recommended. It allows you to toggle Adaptive Direction on and off, change the EQ preset, or customize your own with the provided graphic EQ. In the custom EQ section, selecting ‘Full-Band EQ’ put my phone in horizontal mode and offered -6db to +6dB of cut or boost at frequencies from 48Hz to 20kHz — plenty to work with while fine-tuning your own preset.

A portion of the app also allows you to create your own background noises for studying or sleeping. You can choose up to three background sound effects: a campfire, ocean waves, raindrops, bird chirps, and more. The quality of these recordings is quite good, and you can also independently adjust the volume of each one for your perfect background mix.

What Bluetooth codecs does the Anker Soundcore Motion 300 support?

The Soundcore Motion 300 Plus uses Bluetooth 5.3, which supports low-latency audio streams with LDAC and AAC codecs for high-quality audio. It also helps the speaker connect quickly to your device with greater security and less interference and gives you an approximate connection range of 328ft.

How long does the Anker Soundcore Motion 300’s battery last?

The manufacturer quotes a 13-hour battery life for the Anker Soundcore Motion 300. Our testing showed that under our standard conditions, it exceeded this, and the battery provided 16 hours and 15 minutes of continuous music playback, calibrated to peak at 75dBSPL at 1m (bass-up mode not engaged).

How does the Anker Soundcore Motion 300 sound?

You do have to have realistic expectations when it comes to the sound quality of smaller portable speakers. The Soundcore Motion 300 is powerful enough to keep a small gathering going and has good clarity, but thanks to Hoffman’s Iron Law, you won’t get any bone-rattling low end out of a compact speaker of this size.

While listening in standing mode, the stock Soundcore Signature EQ preset provides a low-end boost and increases selected higher frequencies. With this setting engaged, the high-end detail of the keys on Tears for Fears Head over Heels /Broken can clearly be heard. The BassUP EQ shortcut button is as tempting as ever and once engaged, it enhanced the low-end groove of the bass guitar on Khruangbin’s Mr. White nicely. It’s worth noting that you lose some of the desirable high-end the Signature EQ offers. Suppose you turn up the volume and find the BassUP preset overpowering. In that case, there is also a more neutral-sounding Balanced preset that worked well with the electronic layers on Boards of Canada’s 84 Pontiac Dream. Of course, there is always the option to make your own EQ preset if these presets aren’t tuned to your liking.

The 30 watts of stereo sound this little speaker puts out is plenty for smaller-sized social gatherings or use at home, but if you’re looking to pump up the jams and want some window-shaking low-end, you’ll need something larger like the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus.

Can you use the Anker Soundcore Motion 300 for phone calls?

With a simple press of the Play/Pause button, you can take and end a phone call thanks to the speaker’s built-in microphone. Catching up with a friend over FaceTime, I connected the Soundcore Motion via Bluetooth to my laptop for better audio, and it was a welcomed addition to our time online.

Should you buy the Anker Soundcore Motion 300?

The Anker Soundcore Motion 300 is an excellent buy if you’re looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker. You have multiple placement options and can tweak the EQ settings to your liking. It’s not the lightest portable speaker out there, but it’s built like a tank and is waterproof, so you know it will survive a weekend camping trip.

What should you get instead of the Anker Soundcore Motion 300?

If your budget is flexible, or maybe you spend most of your outdoor time at the beach, you can always check out the popular JBL Flip 6 $99 at Amazon It’s lighter in weight and has an IP67 protection rating which means it can handle dust as well as being waterproof. You’ll get that great JBL sound and a companion app, but your EQ options are limited to just a three-band equalizer if you like to tweak.

The Bose Soundlink Micro $99 at Amazon is also worth a look if you’re into portability. It’s incredibly lightweight, has a rubberized, durable finish similar to the Soundcore Motion 300, an IPX7 protection rating, and a handy strap to help with placement. Although once again small in size, it can only produce so much low-end, so you will experience some sound degradation if you plan on cranking this one up.

Frequently asked questions