This is the review of the comparison between two portable speakers from two popular brands in the market. The comparison here is between the Anker Soundcore 2 and the JBL Flip 5. To know which one is good for you to buy, go to the detailed review.

Anker Soundcore 2	JBL Flip 5
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Supports stereo content. Super affordable. Solid sound quality.	Simple design, Excellent sound,11 color options, Able to pair multiple JBL speakers. Good sound quality, waterproof, long battery life, and water-resistant.
CONS	CONS
Doesn’t get very loud. Slightly quieter than expected. No flashy extra features. No sound customization features.	Need compatible models to use PartyBoost, Checking battery life requires you to press the top buttons, No speakerphone or voice assistant functionality.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Anker Soundcore 2

The Anker Soundcore 2 portable Bluetooth speaker improves upon the popular Soundcore line of wireless audio products from Anker. This is one of the budget-friendly portable speakers available in the market, retailing for around forty dollars currently on Amazon.

JBL Flip 5

The JBL Flip 5 is an updated version speaker of the Flip line-up speakers from the JBL. This speaker is one of the popular speakers from JBL. This speaker is retailing for around a hundred and twenty dollars currently on Amazon.

DESIGN:

Anker Soundcore 2

Compared with Soundcore 1, the Soundcore 2 is just slightly longer. On the side, having ports in this you have a cover on the Soundcore 2, and under it, you’ve got your aux-in and your USB, other than that not a lot of differences. The main difference is that the corners are rounded a little bit, I just think this is a more refined look a little bit more ergonomic. The buttons on the top are easy to press and have a nice audible click to them. There are two LEDs one here for power status and the other here for Bluetooth pairing status, when in pairing mode this flashes, and then once it’s paired it’s solid.

The one negative thing I would say is that the black matte finish is a bit of a fingerprint magnet. If you have anything on your hands even the oil from your hands and you touch this, it will probably leave a mark. You can wash it off or wipe it off and get it back to say 90% of out of the package but it seems to be a finish that will just lead a little bit there. Personally, it’s not a big thing but something to note especially in this black color.

JBL Flip 5

In terms of build quality, it’s similar to the JBL Flip 4 except it’s like an inch bigger. The speaker feels tough, it’s rugged, I wouldn’t be afraid of an accident get dent by drops and it’s also covered with the same fabric-like material that’s covering the 20-watt drivers which sounds better than the Flip 4. This is small and compact, so it becomes easy for you to carry around. Also, as this is IPX7 rated so you can take this to the pool or beach or shower, it is designed in that manner.

On the front of the speaker, you have got the JBL logo, and on the backside, you have the power button, Bluetooth pairing button, battery indicator, and USB Type-C port. On the top of the speaker, you have got your media controls such as the play-pause buttons which also skips a track on the double press, volume up button, and volume down button. Then you have got a new button for a new feature that is the party boost button, and all of these buttons are raised enough so that you can find the buttons easily. On the sides, you have the passive radiators as its predecessors.

FEATURES:

Anker Soundcore 2

As usual, Anker has a white and blue box theme, it’s a very classy design box nothing too fancy, nothing too plain. Inside you get the owner’s manual which is nicely translated into English in several other languages, it’s full of pictures so you probably don’t even need to read any of the words. Then we’ve got Anker’s famous card which inside it tells you what to do, if you’re happy they ask for feedback or if you’re not happy to ask you to contact their customer service and they’ll take care of you. Then you get a charging cable that’s micro USB this is not one of Anker’s kevlar wrapped cables but it is a nice quality cable you could use for other purposes.

Anker tells the improved sound quality from its two six-watt drivers located there on the outside, and then at the right angle, you can kind of see a rectangular bass reflector in the middle. This improves the bass versus the older Soundcore but it’s not an amazing change. For its size, it’s decent and better than other Bluetooth speakers I own that are similar in size and price range. The Soundcore 2 is IPX5 water-resistant, which means you can squirt it with a stream of water and it’d be okay. It’s actually rated for full water immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes in the updated version. They also offer a microphone, so you can take calls over this but that’s not really a feature I ever use, so I didn’t test it.

The range is great and I can easily leave my tablet or phone in the house and take the speaker with me out to the deck. Using the Soundcore 2 speaker all I can say it’s been going very strong and the battery life has been fantastic. Most of this has been under the maximum volume which helps with battery life. The other thing that I like is the Soundcore 2 has an auto-off mode it detects no sound, for about 20 minutes it will shut itself off to preserve battery power, I really like this option. While we’re on the topic of batteries, this is listed as an input of 5 volts with a 2 Amp rating which means it charges quickly.

I like the original Soundcore Bluetooth speaker and I use it almost every day and the Soundcore 2 here in black takes all the things that I like about the Soundcore 1 and improves upon them. The small price difference between the Soundcore 1 and 2 and at the current time about five dollars is well worth it to me to spend to get the Soundcore 2 for the improved sound quality and the battery life, the 18-month warranty just sweetens the deal.

JBL Flip 5

This speaker comes in a nice box and the box also says its features and specs. Inside the box, you have got the speaker itself, some documentations including warning, quick start guide, etc, and then you get the USB Type-C charging cable. The JBL Flip 5 is available in a lot of different colors, it’s available in blue, red, gray, teal, white, black, yellow, camo, black, and the teal colorway. The speaker is pretty tiny, it is 7.1 inches wide or in length, however, you want to see that and it’s a tiny little speaker and it just weighs 1.19 pounds.

It’s pretty much the same size as a plastic water bottle, so if you’re going to be carrying this around you can literally just put it on the side of your backpack where you would put a water bottle and listen to your music as you’re hiking. Just like the Flip 4, the Flip 5 is also waterproof, it is IPX7 certified. So you can take it 3 feet under the water for up to 30 minutes and also, the speaker floats.

As far as the battery life, JBL says it’s going to last around 12 hours which might be true if you’re playing music at around 20 to 30 percent volume. I tested the JBL Flip 5 at 50% volume and they lasted around 8 hours. It uses USB Type-C to charge the speaker which really nice to have as it supports fast charging. It comes with a 4800 mAh lithium-ion battery, so it lasts long, at average volume.

In terms of connectivity, this speaker has Bluetooth 4.2, and it also does not have JBL connect but it does have a party boost feature. with the help of this feature, you can connect up to 100 Flip 5 speakers or any JBL speaker with the same party boost protocol and have a party-like atmosphere by playing the same music from all the speakers at a time. The only disappointment is that you can connect this with the older Flip series speakers that have different protocols.

SOUND QUALITY:

Anker Soundcore 2

The sound is very loud and very clear with no clipping or distortion. I’d call the sound signature of this Bluetooth speaker clear and bright overall. If you are going to use this in an outdoor setting that’s totally fine, and it’s going to sound a lot louder than the speakers on your laptop or your smartphone. But if you are using it several meters away in an outdoor setting, you may notice the volume to be a little bit on the lower side, and that’s because it’s a 12 Watt speaker, so obviously it is limited in terms of its overall output. But all in all, I think this is definitely loud enough for enough people to hear it within a 10-meter range at the very least.

JBL Flip 5

I found the JBL Flip 5 to sound better than the Flip 4, and the bass just got a little louder than the Flip 4. So sound quality on this has improved, it sounds good, it sounds great for how small it is, for how compact it is, it actually gets really loud, it can fill up my basement really easily. This JBL Flip 5 sounds good, the only con about is when I’m playing music at 100% volume the bass dramatically drops, and it does not sound as good but it definitely does get loud. At 50 percent volume, everything sounds balanced and the speaker sounds great, there’s bass, there’s everything.

WHICH TO BUY?

If you need a Bluetooth speaker but don’t have a huge amount of money to spend on a speaker then you should buy the Anker Soundcore 2 because it does sounds good for its price and also, quite good features, really can’t go wrong with this. If you can afford more than a hundred dollars then you can buy the JBL Flip 5 but if you already own a Flip 4 then it’s not necessary to buy the Flip 5 in my opinion because there are not many upgrades. But if this is your first Bluetooth speaker and you can afford that price range then you can buy the JBL Flip 5.

Expert Reviews of Anker Soundcore 2:

By Rtings
The Anker Soundcore 2 is disappointing for music. This speaker struggles to reproduce low-bass, so you don’t feel the thump in bass-heavy genres. Vocals and…

By Life Wire
The Anker Soundcore 2 is hands down, one of the best Bluetooth speaker options in its price range.

By cnet
While Anker’s SoundCore 2 doesn’t sound as good as some people think, it’s a likable, relatively inexpensive mini Bluetooth speaker with strong battery life.

By TD Cat
At forty pounds this is a great buy. At thirty pounds, this is a steal. It’s easily worth double that, particularly with the IP rating. I have no hesitation in recommending this. It’s not perfect in every way, but…

Expert Reviews of JBL Flip 5:

By Tech Radar
The JBL Flip 5 is a simple soul – perhaps too simple for some in this world – but that minimalist approach has allowed JBL to…

By What Hi-Fi?
JBL’s latest offering sounds great for the price. If you don’t mind the lack of in-app EQ settings, aux-in port, battery life, inbuilt…

By Pocket-lint
If you’re looking for a small, portable, and waterproof Bluetooth speaker then your options are many. The JBL Flip 5 delivers…

By TheStreamingBlog
JBL is a company known for producing affordable yet durable audio devices that deliver excellent sounds, and the JBL Flip 5…

By techgearlab.com
Finding a reasonable balance between sound quality/volume and portability/ruggedness, the JBL Flip 5 is quintessential…