Author: Jennifer Allen / Source: reviewgeek.com
Bluetooth speakers are a pretty great concept but you have to pay a lot for the best sound experience, right? Well, not exactly. Anker has swooped in with its Soundcore Flare demonstrating that a mid-range speaker can meet your needs without hurting your wallet.
Styled in a fashion highly reminiscent of the newer fabric-clad Amazon Echo speakers, it’s a pretty neat looking speaker. With the promise of good sound quality, a rugged waterproof design, and even a beat-driven light show, it packs in a lot for a mere $60. Does it deliver on that promise for such a great price though? Here’s a breakdown of our experience with the Flare.
Setup: A Total Breeze
Bluetooth speaker setup is either a strong hit or a strong miss—either pairing is a snap or you spend twenty minutes mashing the pairing button and fiddling with your phone. Thankfully setup with the Flare was as easy as you’d expect from an established company like Anker.
My review unit came with a partial charge so I simply took it out of the box, hit the Bluetooth button, dived into the Bluetooth section of my iPhone, and music was able to start playing. I did this while my mother watched and appreciated that she’d have no problems doing so either—a huge plus for any setup process. It was the perfect introduction for Bluetooth speakers for her. The only “downside” during the setup process was the default volume was pretty high and the start of Foo Fighters’ Monkey Wrench came on, and subsequently freaked out my cat. Of course, I was too busy revelling in the sound quality to be too bothered.
If you want additional control over the speaker—and if you’re buying this speaker that’s what you’re interested in, naturally—you need to download the Soundcore Flare app (iOS/Android).
What do you get with the app interface? You can tweak the equalizer settings, set up a light show (the base of the speaker is a full RGB light array), update the speaker’s firmware, and even pair it with another Flare for stereo/multi-room playback. More on all that in a moment.
Impressions: How Did I Live Without It?
I’ve used various smaller Bluetooth speakers around my home before, but they’ve never really stuck with me. It’s often because they hardly look the part. It’s a shallow thing but we all want our homes to look good, right? That’s where the cylindrical manner of the Soundcore Flare really does the job well. It looks pretty cool and just the thing to park on your desk or the coffee table in your living room.
In the past, I’ve used the Creative Halo for a similar light and sound show, but it always looked a little bit too juvenile for my liking. It was garish and the kind of thing that would be great for kids but not in sync with my urge for a more subtle, chilled ambiance. The Soundcore Flare does light better than that with the halo…
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