Review on 🔊 Anker Soundcore Mini 3 Bluetooth Speaker: Enhanced Bass, PartyCast Technology, USB-C & Waterproof IPX7 - a Customizable EQ Speaker by Raymond Iglesias

I bought this speaker to listen inconspicuously at home and to take with me on the road on my next trip. I'm by no means a music lover, my only other Bluetooth speaker is the Bose Soundlink Mini II, which isn't a fair comparison - the Bose has a lot deeper bass and gets a lot louder, but it's also a lot bigger. In general I am satisfied with the majority. product aspects. Bass is decent for its size and gets pretty loud for indoor use. I haven't seen it out in the open yet but given its indoor performance, I think it will be good outdoors as well. Waterproofing is comfortable, build quality is good, and USB-C charging is a must-have in 2021. The dedicated app also offers some nice options for tweaking the equalizer and connecting multiple speakers, although I don't have a second one to test. Battery life seems good too; I didn't test it thoroughly but the device arrived half charged and I played for hours without plugging it in. The only thing that bothers me is that I've encountered some issues with the Bluetooth connection: 1) When I'm connected to my iPhone, it sometimes turns the volume up too high. It's quite annoying because the music suddenly explodes when I press the play button. This doesn't happen with any other Bluetooth speakers or headphones I have, so I'm assuming it's not a phone issue. I haven't reproduced this consistently, so I'm not 100% sure when it will happen. 2) There is a noticeable audio lag. It doesn't matter if I'm just streaming music, but it's very annoying when I'm watching videos and it doesn't match the audio output from the speaker. It doesn't seem limited to a single device as I can play it on my Macbook Pro, M1 Macbook Air and iPhone. The lag on the iPhone is a little less noticeable compared to the MacBooks, but it's still there. This lag makes it unsuitable for watching videos. If these problems were not I would give this speaker 5 stars. I haven't seen this in any of the other reviews so I'm not sure it applies to my device. I hope that both problems can be fixed with a simple firmware update. The Soundcore app says I have firmware version 01.26 which appears to be the latest version. Pros: - Waterproof, could be rinsed with water and still worked fine - Small, compact form factor, handy and portable - Good build quality, doesn't feel cheap - The app lets you adjust the EQ and connect multiple speakers - Bass is decent Speaker sounds pretty loud for its size - USB-C charging Cons - Bluetooth issues mentioned above - No 3, 5mm audio jack input - Lanyard built into the speaker so it cannot be replaced if it wears out. I would prefer a lanyard hole which would allow me to replace it when it wears out. doesn't feel cheap - The app lets you tweak the equalizer and connect multiple speakers - Bass is decent for the size, speaker sounds pretty loud - USB-C charging Cons - Bluetooth issues mentioned above - No 3.5 -mm jack input - Lanyard built into the speaker so it cannot be replaced if it wears out. I would have preferred a lanyard opening that would allow me to replace it when worn. doesn't feel cheap - The app lets you tweak the equalizer and connect multiple speakers - Bass is decent for the size, speaker sounds pretty loud - USB-C charging Cons - Bluetooth issues mentioned above - No 3.5 -mm jack input - wrist strap built into the speaker, so when it wears out it's impossible to replace it. I would have preferred a lanyard opening that would allow me to replace it when worn.