Anker Soundcore Motion 100

At $59.99, the practically pocketable Anker Soundcore Motion 100 sounds impressive for its size and price. It’s also waterproof and works with a slick app that allows you to make EQ adjustments. That said, deep bass tracks can cause distortion and the on-device controls can be finicky. For $20 more, Anker's $79.99 Soundcore Motion 300 remains our Editors' Choice winner for affordable Bluetooth speakers thanks to a more consistent audio experience.

Small and Durable

At roughly 2.5 by 7.3 by 2.2 inches (HWD), the 1.2-pound Soundcore Motion 100 is a bit smaller and lighter than the Motion 300 (2.2 by 7.9 by 3.9 inches, 1.7 pounds) and has a gray, speckled silicone finish. A metallic grille on the front protects dual 10W drivers, while a passive radiator fires through the rear. Anker doesn't specify the driver size or frequency range.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

The speaker is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and supports the LDAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. You can pair it with a second, nearby Soundcore Motion 100 by holding down the Bluetooth button on both for two seconds.

A built-in lanyard strap attaches to the left side, while a covered USB-C port for the included USB-C-to-USB-C charging cable is on the right. Four feet on the bottom provide stabilization on flat surfaces.

Tactile controls are on the top of the speaker. The left side includes a recessed power button and a Bluetooth pairing button. A circular control panel with a play/pause button, dedicated volume buttons, and a Bass Up (on by default) button sits on the right. The indented central area of this circular control array looks like a button, but isn't. For track control, tapping the play/pause button twice skips forward a track, while tapping three times takes you to the previous track. I found the buttons somewhat difficult to operate—you need to press them forcefully to get a response.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

Thanks to its IPX7 waterproof rating, you can submerge the Soundcore Motion 100 to depths of up to one meter for 30 minutes. The Bluetooth signal won’t work reliably underwater, but this level of sealing means the speaker can withstand heavy rain, poolside splashes, and faucet pressure. Just note that the rating applies only if you seal the rubber cover for the USB-C port. For comparison, the Sony SRS-XB100 ($59.99) has a higher-grade IP67 rating, offering official protection against dust and dirt ingress.

Anker estimates that the Soundcore Motion 100 can last roughly 12 hours per charge, but your results will vary depending on your typical listening volume level. The speaker takes roughly 5 hours to fully charge. If you want longer battery life, consider the Tribit StormBox Flow ($79.99), which gets up to 30 hours per charge.

Unlike the Motion 300, the Tribit StormBox Flow, and the Sony SRS-XB100, the Motion 100 lacks speakerphone functionality.

Anker Soundcore Motion 100 App Experience

The Soundcore app (available for Android and iOS) is somewhat light on features, but the ones it does provide are useful. It's also easy to navigate and works reliably.

On the main screen, the app shows a battery life readout for the speaker and a power button, while a volume slider and play/pause button sit further down.

(Credit: Anker)

An Equalizer tile takes up the bottom half of the main screen. Here, you can select between four non-adjustable presets: Balanced, Soundcore Signature, Voice, and Xtra Bass (the default). This section also lets you create named custom presets with nine bands ranging from 50Hz to 13kHz. Interestingly, you can also scan a QR code from another person's Soundcore app to use their audio settings.

Rounding out the app is a Settings menu, from which you can download firmware updates, access a user manual, adjust the brightness of the speaker's LED buttons, and customize the auto-power-off behavior.

Fairly Balanced Sound With Some Distortion

I tested the Motion 100 in a variety of EQ presets, as well as with the Bass Up feature on and off. I can attest that the EQ is effective at tweaking the sound signature, but keep in mind that you won't be able to change the tone as much as you would with a larger speaker. For my official evaluation, I left the speaker at its default settings—Bass Up on and the Xtra Bass EQ preset active. It's easy to see why Anker went with this combination, as the speaker can otherwise sound a bit thin.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the speaker delivers a decent low-frequency response at moderate volumes. However, the drivers increasingly flirt with distortion as you increase the volume. At top settings, the digital signal processing (DSP) does its best to keep things tidy, but some distortion is present. If you enjoy a particularly deep bass response, look for a larger speaker.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

The Soundcore Motion 100 can’t quite reproduce the sub-bass at the 34-second mark of Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty.” I don't expect a speaker this small to be able to reach those super-deep subwoofer frequencies, however, and the bass frequencies it can cover sound full enough—the drum loop gets a decent sense of oomph, for instance. The various vocals have sufficient detail and don't ever get lost in the mix, but some listeners might still prefer a bit more emphasis in the lows.

Drums on Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass, exhibit a good amount of depth, while Callahan's baritone vocals have a full-bodied richness. The higher-register percussive hits and acoustic strums are bright enough to provide balance.

On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the speaker achieves a relatively balanced sound signature. The lower-register instrumentation steps forward slightly on occasion, but the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals mostly retain the spotlight.

Capable and Affordable

The $59.99 Anker Soundcore Motion 100 provides decent bang for your buck. That said, it's prone to distort slightly on deep bass and simply doesn't do much to stand out from the many other small speakers in this price range. Ultimately, we recommend spending $20 more for the Anker Soundcore Motion 300, which produces more robust audio and offers speakerphone functionality. But if you want something smaller and cheaper, the Soundcore Motion 100 is a perfectly fine alternative as long as you keep expectations in check.