The Anker Soundcore Mini is perhaps the smallest speaker I’ve used that can be classed as genuinely enjoyable to listen to. It sounds radically larger than it looks, and puts out serious volume for its size.

The speaker's mic offers solid intelligibility. I tested it with the Voice Memos app on an iPhone and could understand every word I recorded. The speaker is capable of maintaining a strong Bluetooth signal and keeps audio artifacts to a minimum, so with a sufficient cell signal, callers should have no issue understanding you. A Small Speaker With Some Punch Constructed with durability in mind, the Anker SoundCore Mini is made from high-quality materials that ensure long-lasting use. The cradle is designed to securely hold your device in place, preventing accidental slips or falls. Additionally, it features a non-slip base that keeps the cradle stable on any surface.This amplifies the bass of the main driver, to help avoid the thin, scratchy sound many older speakers this size have. FM may be headed for the switch-off in the UK, but we still should have a few years of FM radio ahead. The battery lasts for up to 15 hours, which is great for a small unit. Another thing to note is that the Anker comes with FM radio built-in. This is a nice extra connectivity touch. You plug the MicroUSB cable into the device so it can act as an antenna, then you press the play button until you start scanning for stations. The active driver and passive radiator included in this product help to amplify the bass of the main driver, avoid the scratchy sound of older speakers, and deliver some serious volume.

I was flat-out surprised when comparing the Soundcore Mini to the much larger UE Roll 2. The Anker may have a smaller sound field and lower max volume, but tonally it doesn’t sound too far off. Bluetooth signal is one of the Mini’s few little weak spots. The signal is not ultra-reliable, and occasionally you’ll hear cut-outs, and then what almost sounds like a sped-up portion of audio as the speaker makes up for lost time. The Bluetooth connectivity in the Anker SoundCore mini isn’t the best. It’s the thing that let us down most when we were conducting this review.You can play your own music via Bluetooth, aux cable, or an SD card, and there’s a microphone, so you can take hands-free calls too.

There are plenty of true wireless earbuds out there these days, flooding every price point, from budget buds to high-end portable audio – as established players and newcomers alike try to make a name for themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The most positive praise that can be given here is that the Soundcore Life P2 buds are no worse than a typical phone speaker for calls. In some situations the sound was muffled on the receiving end of a call, but in general they work well for talking on the go, and should be subsequently better for conference calls in a quiet room. The mids are the other surprise. You tend to expect a speaker with a radiator and tiny driver to have bass and treble, and not much in between. But Anker has really tried to add some bulk to the mids. Just like many Anker products, the metal outer reminds you that you haven’t just bought another piece of plastic junk.

Why is Anker SoundCore 2 better than Anker SoundCore Mini?

Finding a connection and keeping it is notoriously difficult, to the point where we gave up and used the aux input a few times. The sound comes out of the top, so you can put the Anker Soundcore Mini wherever you like, and access great volume. There’s even rubber feet on the bottom to keep it stable. On the plus side, you do get the option to play music from an SD card too – which is something you don’t find with many Bluetooth speakers of a similar price. Anker Soundcore Mini review: Performance At its heart, the Anker Soundcore Mini is the definition of a pleasant surprise. Despite a ridiculously low price tag, it comes with access to both Bluetooth connectivity and aux input, as well as the option to play your music via MicroSD. The sound comes out of the top, so you can put the Anker Soundcore Mini more or less anywhere. And there’s a rubber foot on the bottom to stop excessive vibration wobbling anything nearby too much.