The Soundcore Motion 300 is the kind of product that makes you question why everything else is so expensive. It’s not audiophile (though it has LDAC support), but it sounds very good, has lots of volume, comes with a robust EQ that adapts depending on its positioning, and does all this for a ridiculous price.
Don’t be surprised if you find it on ourbest portable Bluetooth speakersguide — it’s that good. Most of the problems I’ve had with it are minimal or just quality-of-life things that I would appreciate, but are far from dealbreakers. The biggest miss is the lack of an auxiliary input. But, most people looking at this will be pairing it with a Bluetooth-enabled source such as a smartphone. And, anything else like the lack of voice assistant support is the kind of thing you wouldn’t really expect in a portable Bluetooth speaker this cheap.
Anker Soundcore Motion 300
The Soundcore Motion 300 is a hard portable Bluetooth speaker to not recommend. It’s very inexpensive while offering quality audio with a very customizable EQ available through the Soundcore app that can automatically adjust depending on positioning. The only real issue is the lack of an auxiliary input. Anything else missing is minor, especially considering the sub-$100 price tag.
Price and availability
Have you ever been disturbed by a product’s low price? The Soundcore Motion 300 is somehow $79.99. While it doesn’t have the spatial audio of its bigger brother, the Motion X600, the quality of this speaker is still much higher than its price. The pricing here continues Soundcore’s trend of offering quality comparable to products twice the price.
Design and hardware
The Soundcore Motion 300 is an attractive if muted-looking portable speaker available in three colors – Mirage Black (reviewed here), Fern Green, and Frost Blue. It’s rectangular with a matte black rubberized plastic covering and silver metal grill. There’s venting on the back, which is probably where the two passive radiators are hiding. Rubber feet sit on both the bottom and the back of the unit to indicate that you can use this in multiple orientations.
There’s a removable strap on one end to hang the speaker (one of the orientations along with standing and laying) while the USB-C port for charging, covered by a sealed rubber stopper, is located on the other end. Speaking of ports, the omission of an auxiliary port for more old shool sources is unfortunately missing.
With an IPX7 rating, it is essentially if not technically waterproof, so you won’t have to worry about using it poolside if you so desire. It makes sense then that the individual buttons arranged along the top of the speaker sit beneath a layer of rubber. While that makes for good design, the buttons do require a little extra pressure to register a press.
Features and app
The only on-unit feature here is the bass boost. But, the app does open up the functionality a little bit. While there’s not a whole lot, namely the ability to power the unit off in-app, a volume slider, and a section for EQ, it’s that robust EQ section that is really the star.
There are a few presets, of course, including a “Soundcore Signature” one, but what makes the EQ section worthwhile is the fact that it offers a nine-band EQ with the ability to boost or cut by up to 6 dB as well as adjust which frequency each of those bands affects. This is quite powerful compared to a lot of EQs that don’t offer as many bands to finetune or the ability to change which frequency you want to boost or cut.
On top of that, you’re able to create different presets for each position and the speaker can automatically adjust between them, so that you hear something different when it’s standing versus when it’s lying on its back or hanging.
I would be remiss though if I didn’t mention the fact that, unlike a lot of portable speakers these days, there’s no voice assistant support here.
Performance and audio quality
Make no mistake about it. The Soundcore Motion 300 sounds good. Not only is its 30 watts very room-filling, which is surprising considering its small stature, but there’s a decent amount of bass. While I didn’t experience anything close to subwoofer-levels of bass, it’s still very present so that you end up with full sounding audio.
The high-end is quite good for the price. It’s not audiophile level, and if you’re comparing it to something from Bose or Band & Olufsen, you’ll notice a difference. But, it’s still detailed enough and doesn’t suffer from being too veiled or too bright as you would find with cheaper portable speakers.
As this speaker seems to use the smile frequency response (big bass and treble, not so much in the mids) to get the most out of the smaller drivers, it’s no surprise that the mid-range is a bit weak. It’s not hollow or missing, but it’s not incredibly rich sounding either. Luckily, you’re able to bump up the mid-range a bit with EQ, but it’s certainly the weakest link here (and to be expected with a speaker this size).
Still, the frequency range goes from 65Hz to 40kHz so you’ll be able to get a little more out of any Hi-Res audio you have than a typical portable speaker. It also helps that there is support for LDAC as well as the SBC and MPEG 2 AAC LC codecs. Also worth noting, unlike a lot of smaller portable speakers, it’s in stereo.
Battery and charging
Having used the Soundcore Motion 300 for multiple days without charging, I can attest that it’s able to reach 13 hours on a single charge. That’s pretty good considering its somewhat petite size, though it’s not doing some of the legwork other portable speakers equipped with smart features are doing. It’s good then but not necessarily impressive.
Unfortunately, there’s no fast charging despite using a USB-C port. Of course, that exclusion may, along with some of the omissions , help keep costs down.
The competition
Considering the performance of the Soundcore Motion 300, it’s not really fair to compare it to something like the Sony SRS-XB13, which is a mighty fine portable speaker in its own right. However, the Sony, a somewhat more rugged portable speaker, doesn’t do stereo and is meant more for on-the-go listening.
Despite the price differential, I think comparing it to the Bose SoundLink Flex is fair. The Soundcore Motion 300 has a lot going for it, especially in the performance department, that saving some money and getting it instead of the Bose, which retails for $149, makes a lot of sense if you don’t care about the extras that the Bose offers, such as voice assistant support or the ability to use it to make calls.
Should you buy it?
There are some creature comforts that you’ll have to skip like an auxiliary input or voice assistant support with the Soundcore Motion 300. But, on the whole, it’s an incredibly impressive portable speaker that I still can’t believe is around $80. It sounds good, is durable, and allows quite a bit of fine-tuning with its EQ section — and there’s not mch more to ask for at this price point.
