Anker
Anker Soundcore Sport XL: a robust and powerful portable speaker
Aprox. 82€
See specificationsRather known for its portable batteries, Anker also markets several portable speakers, including the Sport XL, the largest in the Soundcore series. The manufacturer promises us an ultra-robust speaker, water resistant and which would offer a powerful sound, all this for almost 15 hours of autonomy. The opportunity to highlight our stopwatch and our most beautiful swimsuit for this test.
Positive points
Power and sound sound correct.
Construction.
Resistant to impact, dust and water.
Pretty low Bluetooth latency.
Handsfree.
Bad points
Bass that sounds a little too cardboard.
Pretty directive.
No NFC chip.
No carrying case.
Our review
Ergonomics
With its visible screws and its slightly adventurous style, the Anker Soundcore Sport XL sports the same codes as the speakers of the manufacturer Braven. This well-constructed speaker has a metal grille on the front, while the rest is made of rubbery, sturdy plastic. It is also IP67 certified, and therefore resistant to dust and diving underwater up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes.
The connection consists of a USB port for charging a mobile device, a micro-USB port for charging the speaker and a 3.65 mm mini-jack for using wired. Bluetooth (version 4.1) allows you to pair the speaker with a mobile wireless device up to 20 m away. A microphone is also integrated, allowing the Soundcore Sport XL to be used as a hands-free kit.
If no application is present to control the speaker, it is always possible to do it via the buttons on the smartphone, but also via the physical buttons on the speaker (On / Off, volume control, skipping a song to the other, play / pause mode or Bluetooth pairing, indicated by a blue LED). Right next to it, 3 LEDs indicate the battery charge (see photo below).
We measured the autonomy of this speaker at around 7 hours at maximum volume.
On the accessory side, Anker did the minimum by providing only a simple USB to micro-USB cable and a wrist strap; no cover or jack cable.
Audio
The Anker Soundcore Sport XL benefits from a stereo rendering thanks to two transducers of 8 watts each. The whole is coupled to two passive radiators, one on the front, the other on the back.
As can be seen from the curves above, the response curve is relatively linear from 150 Hz to 10 kHz. Regarding the low end of the spectrum, it is necessary to approach the enclosure of a wall so that it can emit a semblance of bass. The latter also sound really too cardboard when you push the volume. As for the rest of the spectrum, the voices are fairly well transmitted, faithful and intelligible. The scene is rather well detailed and clear. The sibilance is well controlled, but begins to be felt at high volume. The treble is also there, making the listening quite brilliant.
If the sound is direct enough, the stereo is present.
The distortion is controlled over the entire audible spectrum and has an average well below the maximum tolerated threshold (1%). The power is also very good.
Finally, the communication latency in Bluetooth is relatively low (150 ms). There is almost no lag between sound and image.
Conclusion
The Anker Soundcore Sport XL convinced us with its robustness, its resistance to water and a relatively good and powerful sound for a speaker of this type. Only the bass sins a little, especially at high volume.
Specifications