Soundcore Rave first impressions

[Hawkigrad]

I picked up a SoundCore Rave last week at Walmart and wanted to post my first impressions as I’m interested to see what others who have this speaker think of it. I haven’t found any reviews of it online nor in these community forums. I had been looking for a larger sized speaker to use outdoors that could really put out great sound and felt the Rave got it right on several fronts. First is size. It’s big but at around 20lbs it’s not so heavy you can’t easily carry it a short distance or strap it to a cart or wagon to take where you need it. From a price perspective $200 is cheap compared to the competition which is over $400 for the JBL versions. Given that I was excited to try it out.

Once the speaker was unboxed it immediately connected to my iPhone and has nice confirmation tones when you turn it on and when it connects so you know it’s ready to go. The speaker looks great and has nice rubber footings so you can set it upright or horizontal as desired. The lights are a nice touch and have several options through the Anker app to adjust them. The app is great and immediately updated the firmware on my speaker. The one thing I did notice is there are no settings to adjust the sound on the app but maybe that will come in the future.

So I have quite a few Anker products and really like the brand for quality and price and this speaker is no exception however I have not owned any Anker speakers prior to this but I’ve owned lots of other Bluetooth speakers going back many years. Currently I have a JBL Charge 3 and an Ion Audio party speaker along with my house having Sonos and Echo speakers scattered around. I really like loud music so with dual 5.25 speakers I had high hopes for this speaker. After turning it on and starting to play music I felt something was lacking. When the Bass boost button turned off the speaker sounds anemic to the point I can’t imagine not having it on. With it on there is more bass but it’s not what I would call low end bass nor punchy bass. It sounds like it adds more mid tone base. When you play a song with good bass you are left waiting for the speaker to really start pumping. In short, the speaker just doesn’t sound good in my opinion. While it has bass and treble it’s not punchy, not warm, and really just doesn’t sound good. The other thing I noticed is there is no sound stage at all. Standing back 10-15 feet I can close my eyes and point directly at the speaker. They put the two tweeters right next to each other in the middle so there is no separation at all and you can tell when you listen to it. Hopefully they can work on the sound signature with future firmware updates but as it stands right now it’s nowhere close enough to sounding good for a speaker in 2019. Speakers have improved so much over the last five years I can honestly say I have never had a speaker before I didn’t like the sound of and that is going back many years to having some Logitech Bluetooth speakers which sounded great many years ago. If Anker can get their speakers sounding like JBL, Klipsch, Sony or really any of them this would be a fantastic speaker as everything else about the speaker is excellent for the price point.

[Shenoy]

Please post some pictures when possible… review for rave without pics looks dry

[Nhi]

As @Shenoy said, please add some pics. I find that a lot of times, people tend to skim thru a review if there is no pictures.

[Chiquinho]

You might wait a few days.
The loudspeakers always need some time to “get free” (swinging membrane)
And you could do some corrections via equalizer.
I tell you this, because my first impression when testing the MOTION+ was the same. Too harsh trebles first, no better after a while listening.
And could you add some photos. Best would be in company with a speaker we all already know.
Thank you.

[Hawkigrad]

Sorry I returned it today. I did run it for several days to break it in but it’s just too far away from what I’m looking for to warrant keeping it. As far as photos, that’s why I called it first impression instead of review as it was not my intent to review the speaker. I just don’t have the time and given my personal impression of the unit I felt it would be better to have someone who is keeping the speaker go through it in detail. I don’t plan on posting my impressions on Walmart.com or any other website in fairness to Anker as it’s a new product and my hope is they will update it over time as needed. JBL did the same with many of it’s speakers which made them a much better sounding speaker.

[sandylarlajohnson]

I’m not a professional or anything but I love love love this speaker! I have had small speakers from Altec Lansing, Sony and JBL ranging in price from $100 to $179 with what I thought was adequate sound in quality and volume-then I decided to spend a little more when I saw this in Walmart for $199 and I was not dissapointed-it is very portable with the handle on the back and the lights are so cool but most of all I love the clarity and bass and it is definitely loud enough to damage my hearing! I’ve had it a week and it never shuts off. I played it for two days and still had some battery left on one charge. I’m buying another one this week and all of my kids are getting one for XMAS.

[Tank]

Thanks for your review, can I be your kid and you can send me one for Christmas Haha. Glad you like it

[Austin_Liles]

I agree with your review completely. A guy in my shop has one of these and it’s an excellent example of the limits of these portable speakers. It’s distorted, loud, and cuts through anything in a straight line like a laser. Off axis it is still distorted but is also flat and anemic. Its loudness is about the only thing it does well for being portable and battery powered but it’s not worth it, oh God how it is not worth it.

[Steven_Gabriel]

I love this speaker. It sounds awesome. I don’t know what some of these reviewers were expecting but for what this speaker is, it sounds great. Not distorted at all, and clear sounding.