SoundCore 2 Issues with Bluetooth Pairing/Switching devices

#1

I’m having a lot of problems with the SoundCore 2 speaker bluetooth device switching. Anyone have an issue where you cannot change what device is connected to the soundcore2?

I can bluetooth pair it to all of my devices fine, but if I ever want to switch which device the speaker is connected to, the speaker will not connect to that other device even if I’ve previously paired the speaker to it.

I have tried many times, including turning off bluetooth on the device I’m “leaving” before trying to connect to the new device.

The only way I can ever switch which device the soundcore is connected with is to either do a “fresh pair” (1st time Pair) or to go into bluetooth settings on that device and tell it to “forget” the soundcore 2 , then re-do a fresh pairing to the speaker.

I’ve searched on amazon and this forum but don’t see anyone else describing a similar problem… any ideas?

[Dis-regarding this issue… I like the sound quality a lot and the fact that its waterproof, attractive design, etc. This issue kind of makes the speaker way more trouble than its worth though!]

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Problems with bluetooth of Soundcore 2
#2

If I read you correctly, that is normal behavior.

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#3

You may have a problem if I am reading this correct with multiple devices hooked via Bluetooth. I just did a test with the Anker soundbuds slim. I have it paired to both my laptop and my Android phone and if they both have the Bluetooth turned on it will only register and play from the last paired device. If I turn the Bluetooth off on the device that is playing or power the device off it will work fine. But here is were it gets interesting

Lets say that I have multiple Bluetooth devices paired on my phone and when I try to switch from my laptop to my phone and the phone is still paired to my truck on the driveway or my soundcore or my clock radio It will not work until I turn all those device off or forget them from my phone.

I have been able to change the priority of which device(speaker) turns on simply by it being the last one that I set up the pairing code on for either my phone or my laptop so you may want to give that a try.

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#4

Hi @zach1,
Sorry to hear this is giving you trouble. I just want to confirm that you’re placing the speaker back into “pairing mode” when switching devices? This is done by pressing the Bluetooth button for 2 seconds.

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#5

Sometimes clearing the cache inside your Bluetooth settings helps when having Bluetooth issues.

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#6

Hi @TechnicallyWell, I’m having the same issue, even when I press the Bluetooth button for 2 seconds.

Here’s exactly what I’m doing:

  1. Playing music from my phone, sounds great.
  2. I turn off Bluetooth on my phone.
  3. I press and hold the Bluetooth button on my Soundcore 2 for 2 seconds.
  4. I turn Bluetooth on on another device that has previously been paired with my Soundcore 2 (my wife’s phone, for example.)
  5. It looks like the phone is trying to connect and then I receive a “unsuccessful” message.

If I then turn off Bluetooth on my wife’s phone and try to again play music from my phone by turning Bluetooth on, I get the same unsuccessful message. For either device to work now, I have first “forget” the device and then re-pair with the Soundcore 2.

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#7

Hi @Thomas_Grimes,
Thanks for the details! Instead of turning Bluetooth off on your phones, would you please try skipping step 2 (leave your Bluetooth on) to see if it helps? If the Bluetooth connection ends abruptly before holding down the Bluetooth button, the speaker might be trying to reconnect to the first phone.
If it still gives you trouble, feel free to reach out to support@anker.com and one of the techs can look into this for you.

#8

Thanks for the quick response, @TechnicallyWell. I did as you requested, and here’s how it went:

  1. On both iPhones, I “forgot” the Soundcore 2 in the Bluetooth settings, then left Bluetooth turned on on both phones.
  2. On iPhone #1 I successfully paired with the Soundcore 2 and started playing some music.
  3. I pressed and held the Bluetooth button on the Soundcore 2 for 2 seconds, then successfully paired iPhone #2 with the Soundcore 2. Music then began playing from iPhone #2. So far, so good.
  4. Without having turned Bluetooth off on either phone, I then tried to switch the music back to iPhone #1 by simply selecting the Soundcore 2 from my Bluetooth devices in the settings. No luck. I receive the same “Connection unsuccessful. Make sure “Soundcore 2” is turned on and in range.” message. In addition to this, as soon as I pressed the Bluetooth button on the Soundcore 2, iPhone #2 became disconnected and the music stopped playing. I was then no longer able to connect either iPhone to the Soundcore 2.

I can reach out to the support address you provided, but wanted to also follow up on your instructions.

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#9

Thanks for the information, @Thomas_Grimes! Ah, the world of Bluetooth is finicky! :confounded:
For step 4, I don’t believe the SoundCore will allow another device to connect while the speaker is currently connected to another phone (hence, the failure on iPhone #1).
In step 4, before attempting to reconnect iPhone #1, would you mind holding the Bluetooth button on the speaker so it enters pairing mode first and then try to have iPhone #1 reconnect? In my experience, once the iPhone fails to connect to a Bluetooth device, it will sometimes keep failing until you exit and restart the Settings app (or “forget” the device, as you found). I believe this may have prevented you from reconnecting iPhone #1 once it failed. Let me know how it goes!

#10

No luck, @TechnicallyWell. I had the same results. I can switch from device #1 to device #2, but then cannot go back to device #1 or device #2.

#11

I bet Apple Bluetooth speakers would work perfectly. I think it’s time to abandon the sinking ship that is Apple.

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#12

Sorry about that @Thomas_Grimes, I’ll need to test this out some more. I could have sworn my friend paired their phone to my SoundCore the other day and I switched it back without an issue, but I’ll try it again this evening.

#13

Try a reboot
Just like restarting a computer often fixes problems, restarting your iPhone sometimes works wonders:
•Press and hold the sleep/wake button. …
Slide the red slider to turn off the iPhone, and then wait a few seconds.
•Press and hold the sleep/wake button again until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

#14

Hi @TechnicallyWell , thank you for your help in suggesting some things… I have tried all the steps you shared Just like @Thomas_Grimes I have not gotten this to work properly.

Further, I called Anker Support, they didnt give me any steps to try they just told me they were going to send me a brand new speaker. I got the new speaker a few days ago and still no luck with this issue. I’m trying all of the same steps with the new speaker they sent me and the problem persists. Its impossible to switch the speaker back and forth from devices unless you tell your devices to “forget” the speaker then re-pair it.

I am really curious to hear if anyone at all can switch the speaker to different devices without this issue, especially since I got a brand new speaker from Anker and its still not working, it seems like this could be a more serious product flaw?

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#15

HI @nigelhealy I don’t think this is normal behavior? Every other bluetooth speaker/headphones etc from many other manufacturers I’ve used has allowed me to switch which device I’m connected to. Depending on the device sometimes its finicky how you can switch bluetooth connections, but it works at least. (E.g. sometimes you must turn off bluetooth on the device you’re currently connected to before you can connect to another device… etc).

As example I have the Jaybird X3 bluetooth headphones, and I can switch between devices seamlessly without even turning off bluetooth on the devices I’m switching away from.

The issue with this Anker speaker is that the only way to switch between devices you’ve connected it to it is to manually tell your device to “forget” the speaker, then do a fresh re-pair.

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#16

Works fine on my Android devices.

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#17

@zach1 and @TechnicallyWell, I actually reached out to the Anker support team via email. Here is their response:

We are sorry to know you have connection issues for switching the speaker between different devices.

Please be advised that the speaker will auto connected to the last
paired device. If we want to pair the device with a second device, we
need to forget the speaker from the last paired device first. However,
sometimes we cannot switch the speaker smoothly due to the different
Bluetooth versions. In this case, you can try resetting the speaker by
holding the power button for 8s to solve the problem. Could you please
try again to see if it works?

Thank you and we are looking forward to hearing from you.

I did reset the speaker, as instructed, but this did not resolve the issue. According to the support representative, it seems that we are indeed required to “forget” other devices in order to switch. I agree with @zach1 that all of the other Bluetooth speakers I’ve owned allowed you to pair numerous devices (only pairing on the first occasion for a given device) and you could then switch freely between devices from then on. This appears to be a feature flaw on an otherwise good product.

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#18

@TechnicallyWell, were you able to try it out on your Soundcore. And are you using a older Soundcore or the Soundcore 2?

#19

Hi there!
I have the same problem with my Soundcore 2. I can pair it with my PC and then with my android phone. But if I try to reconnect to PC, which was the first device, I just can’t do this. The only way to reconnect to the previous device is to fully delete the pairing history, so to do this, I need to hold longer the bluetooth button on the speaker. It’s annoying, because my previous bluetooth speaker from Philips was working OK, so I was able to change the devices without issues while sitting on the couch :confused: Philips has got even a standby mode when plugged in to the charger, so I don’t even turned it off and the speaker connected to my devices automaticaly after I were back from work. In this point is Soundcore 2 really annoying and I’m considering a return. :frowning:

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#20

@Thomas_Grimes, sorry for my delayed response as I had some unexpected travel come up.
I tested this out on the SoundCore 2 and it does seem that the first phone was not able to reconnect without first “forgetting” the speaker in the iPhone’s Bluetooth settings.
I know this feature is important to you and I know Anker wants you to be completely satisfied with your purchase, so feel free to either reply to your email with Anker support or visit the refund information page to discuss your options. Thank you for your patience!

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