Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Soundcore gives its floating boombox more power and beach-ready dust resistance

By

Need some sound to power your summer getaways? Anker Soundcore’s $180 Motion Boom Plus might be just the ticket. It’s the upgraded (and more expensive) version of the and the portable Bluetooth speaker now has more power and can withstand dust and dirt. You’ll be able to buy it starting on May 30, 2022, on Amazon, soundcore.com or other retailers.

Soundcore Motion Boom Plus seen sitting in a river.
Anker Soundcore

For the extra $70, the Motion Boom Plus sports an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance, which means that, in addition to being fully immersible in water for up to 30 minutes, it should have no problem dealing with sand, something the Motion Boom wasn’t designed to handle. Despite it beefy size and power, it will float on the water’s surface. The oversized handle and included shoulder strap make it one of the most portable speakers in its class and an auxiliary-in connection lets you work with audio sources that can’t do Bluetooth.

Recommended Videos

For sound, the Motion Boom Plus is equipped with two 3.5-inch woofers, with a combined 60 watts of power, while a set of 1-inch tweeters pump out the high frequencies with an additional 20 watts, for a total of 80 watts of power — twice as much as its predecessor. To channel that power to your liking, you can use the Soundcore app to adjust the speaker’s EQ, and it is equipped with a Bass Up bass-booster button to hear even more low-end thump. If you want to expand the party further, it’s also compatible with Soundcore’s PartyCast feature: Users can pair up to 100 compatible Soundcore PartyCast speakers together, including the Soundcore Flare 2, Rave PartyCast, Soundcore 3, or Trance Go.

Despite possessing a larger battery than its predecessor, the Motion Boom Plus actually has a slightly shorter battery life at just 20 hours, as compared to 24 hours for the Motion Boom. Still, that should be enough for a full day of tunes, or even a full weekend as long as you’re not running the speaker continuously. If you want, you can leverage the speaker’s 13,400mAh internal battery to charge your other devices.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Motion Boom Plus does not charge other devices.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…
UE’s Epicboom is a powerful, portable, pool-proof speaker
Ultimate Ears Epicboom in two color options.

Ultimate Ears (UE) has added another Bluetooth speaker to its portable family of Boom products: the $350 Epicboom, which hits ultimateears.com on September 6, and then additional retailers on September 22. Available in two color choices, The new speaker fills the size and power gap between the Megaboom 3 and the giant Hyperboom, while boasting impressive ruggedness.

Like the rest of the Boom family, the Epicboom is designed to offer 360-degree sound and the company says the speaker's oval shape helps by offering a larger internal acoustic volume than the cylindrical design of the Boom 3 and Megaboom 3. It has two 1.5-inch active mid-high frequency transducers and a 4.6-inch woofer, which UE claims will deliver loud, bassy sound.

Read more
B&O’s picnic basket speaker pumps out 280 watts of power while it charges your phone
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 in natural aluminum/light oak.

No, the iconic Danish audio company Bang & Olufsen (B&O) does not refer to its new Beosound A5 portable speaker as a picnic basket, but one look at the photos and the comparison becomes unavoidable. Still, picnic basket looks or not, the A5 packs an impressive array of design and technology, which given its starting price of $1,049, you'd hope would be the case. You can buy the Beosound A5 starting April 27 in stores and online at bang-olufsen.com.

B&O says the A5, which comes in two colors (natural aluminum/light oak and black aluminum/dark oak), is the result of a collaboration with the Danish-Italian design team, GamFratesi. It's got an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, and most of the parts -- including the exterior grilles and the handle -- can be easily replaced or swapped out. As part of B&O's Mozart family of products, even the A5's communication module can be upgraded over time.

Read more
This tiny Ikea waterproof Bluetooth speaker is just $15
Ikea Vappeby Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker in black.

Ikea is well known for selling attractively designed products at reasonable prices, but its latest Bluetooth speaker is priced so low that even Amazon might not be able to compete. The Vappeby waterproof portable Bluetooth speaker, as its name suggests, is tiny, waterproof, and surprisingly cheap at $15.

The tiny, silicone-wrapped speaker measures only three inches square and is just two inches thick. For reference, that's about as wide as an iPhone 14 in portrait mode. It comes with its own lanyard cord, which you could use to hang the Vappeby in a shower as Ikea shows in its photos, or you could simply use it as a wrist strap. It's available in three colors: yellow, black, or red, and if you buy two of them, they can be used as a stereo pair.

Read more