Anker Soundcore Flare vs Flare Mini: Which to Buy?

Anker Soundcore Flare vs Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

This is the review of the comparison between two speakers from the same brand and from the same series. The comparison here is between the Anker Soundcore Flare and the Anker Soundcore Flare Mini. There is around twenty dollars difference in their price range which brings the difference in their features too. To know which one has the features that you need and to know which one is good for you to buy, go to the detailed review.

Anker Soundcore FlareAnker Soundcore Flare Mini
Anker Soundcore FlareAnker Soundcore Flare Mini
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PROSPROS
Punchy sound for such a compact speaker.
Affordable.
Lights well executed.
Waterproof.
Lightweight and portable.
360 degree sound.
Stereo integration.
IPX7 waterproof.
Built-in microphone.
CONSCONS
Clunky voice control compared to smart speakers.
Various EQ modes don’t really alter audio that much.
Highs can be harsh.
This speaker is not compatible with the Soundcore app.
There is no aux port in this speaker.

SPECIFICATIONS:

HEADERANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
BrandAnkerAnker
ModelSoundcore FlareSoundcore Flare Mini
GENERALANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
ManufacturerAnkerAnker
Design Features
SPEAKER SYSYTEMANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Amplification Typeactiveactive
Crossover Channel Qty
Frequency Response
Output Features
Output Level (SPL)
Audio Amplifierintegratedintegrated
Connectivity TechnologyWirelessWireless
BATTERYANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Rechargeable Batteryrechargeablerechargeable
Run Time (Up To)12 hour(s)12 hour(s)
POWER DEVICEANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Power SourceBatteryBattery
OptionsUSB ChargingUSB charging
NETWORK AND INTERNET MULTIMEDIAANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Connectivity InterfacesBluetooth 4.2Bluetooth 4.2
Internet Streaming Services
SPEAKER SYSTEM DETAILSANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Speaker TypeSpeakerSpeaker
Speaker Channel Qty
Speaker Channel Type
DRIVER DETAILSANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Driver Typefull-range driverfull-range driver
Driver Qty
Driver Diameter
CONNECTIONSANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Type
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
Width6 in5.55 in
Depth3.6 in2.83 in
Height3.6 in3.39 in
Weight18.72 oz16.96 oz
FEATURESANKER SOUNCORE FLAREANKER SOUNCORE FLARE MINI
FeaturesGive everyone in the room stage-side passes; Flare powers intense 360° sound via back-to-back full-range drivers and thumping bass radiators.

A customized digital signal processor first analyzes, then enhances your music’s bass frequencies in real time. This audio signal is then turned into intensified sound via state-of-the-art neodymium drivers. Just press the BassUp button and prepare yourself for power.

Watch a halo of LEDs phase, pulse, and shine with the rhythm of your music for a completely immersive audiovisual experience. 5 customizable modes elevate the atmosphere of any event or setting.

Flare is the first speaker to utilize the all-new Soundcore app; simple-but-powerful software that allows complete customization of Flare’s sound and lights via smartphone or tablet.

No matter where the music needs to be, Flare is suited up and ready. Super-safe IPX7 protection effortlessly withstands spills, rain, and even complete submersion in water. *We do not recommend partying underwater without breathing apparatus.

Soundcore’s Anker heritage offers world-renowned power management technology. Enjoy almost 250 songs from a single charge and make sure the party never ends early—if you can keep dancing Flare can keep playing.
Intense 360° sound drops from back-to-back 5W (10W total) neodymium drivers for stunning sound in every direction—all powered by BassUp technology, multi-band DRC, and dual IIR passive radiators.

Watch a halo of LEDs phase, pulse, and glow with the rhythm of your music for a next-level listening experience. Fill your house or yard with a personalized party atmosphere; 8 individual LEDs and 5 lighting modes offer customization.

No matter where the times go, Flare Mini is an outdoor Bluetooth speaker that is suited up and ready. Super-safe IPX7 waterproof protection effortlessly withstands spills, rain, and even complete submersion (for 30 minutes) in water.

A high-efficiency Li-ion battery ensures you get 12 hours of thumping sound and pulsing light from a single charge—longer than ordinary outdoor Bluetooth speakers. Start the party early, and go to bed late!

Connect 2 Flare Mini outdoor Bluetooth speakers via a single bluetooth device for souped-up stereo sound. Designed to work with any device, including iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Smartphones, Tablets, Laptops, Computers, Chromebooks, TV, PD.

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Anker Soundcore Flare

The Anker Soundcore Flare is the larger version speaker of the Soundcore Mini. This speaker is great speaker retailing for budget-friendly price range. Actually, this speaker is retailing for around sixty-four dollars currently on Amazon. At this price range this speaker is offering great features such as the water-proof, 120 hours of battery life, etc.

Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

The Anker Soundcore Flare Mini is a portable Bluetooth speaker. This is speaker is really a good portable speaker because of its size and weight that it has. This speaker also claims quite a great battery life for its size that is for around 12 hours. This speaker is retailing for around forty-three dollars currently on Amazon.

Anker Soundcore Flare

DESIGN: 

Anker Soundcore Flare

The speaker actually is a little heavier than I thought it was gonna be. It’s definitely not like their Mini speaker. It looks really awesome, so on the top of the speaker, you’ve got a bass button, a light button, a play and pause button, a plus and minus button to increase and decrease your volume. Then on the back, you’ve got your power button, your Bluetooth button, and then a flap. When you open up the flap, so you have got the audio in and your USB port to charge your speaker. On the bottom of the speaker is where you have got the lighting on this speaker, and you are able to turn that on or off.

Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

As far as the design, structure, and its size, it is a very small speaker. If you compare it to a soda can it’s just barely bigger than a soda can. So, when you’re holding in your hand, it’s really easy to hold, and it’s really easy to transport. It has a fabric outer layer around the speaker and on the top, it has rubber with the buttons. On the bottom, it has some rubbers too so that it can grip the table or any surface that you have it on. So, you didn’t really ever worry about it sliding off or vibrating off any tables.

On the bottom, right down there, there’s an LED ring that actually has eight LEDs inside there, that produce the colors when the sound is playing. On the back of the speaker is where you’ll find the plug for the micro USB charging port and it covers it up, when you’re not charging. I also want you to note one thing that it does not come with a charging block or a charging brick, so you need to get one of those on your own.

anker soundcore flare mini

FEATURES:

Anker Soundcore Flare

This speaker has 360 sound and just sounds too good. It’s fully waterproof too that is IPX7 rated, so you can go ahead and take it swimming and go to the pool, you can do whatever you want to do with it. This speaker comes in a nice box, and inside the box, we’ve got a pretty hefty instruction manual in different languages as well we’ve got a USB charging cable and your speaker itself. To pair this with your mobile, you need to turn this speaker on and then turn on the Bluetooth in your mobile and search for the Flare and select it, that’s it you are done.

The Soundcore Flare is the first speaker Anker has made with an LED light show. The lights cover just a small portion of the bottom of the speaker. Unlike the JBL Pulse series which are mostly lights, you can toggle through various light modes by hitting the physical button on the top of the speaker or by scrolling through the Soundcore app too. There is one complaint I have about the lights, I wish you could just pick one color and have it displayed if you wanted but that isn’t even an option, so if there is an area for improvement that would be my recommendation.

In addition to the various EQ modes which are controllable only through the app, there is an option to boost the bass with what Sound core calls their bass up function. You can do this through the app and by a button directly on the top of the speaker as well. However, it doesn’t provide fully customizable controls, for that, you’ll need to download another app. 

Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

It has two five watt drivers, that face opposite of each other to give you a 360-degree sound, so what that means is no matter where you’re at in the room anywhere around the speaker, you’re gonna be able to get good quality sound from the speaker. Another really good feature about this speaker is it has an integrated microphone, so that means you can make and take calls on it. I was able to make a call and it went through clear enough that they could understand everything I was saying to them. So, it becomes very useful because you can make those hands-free calls walking around your room or sitting at your desk without having to hold a cell phone to your head by using this speaker. 

As for the weight, even though it’s just over a pound, it still feels very substantial in your hand. So, when you put it down on things you don’t feel like it’s going to fall over or anything like that. With those eight LEDs in the bottom, they do produce colors, they produce up to eight different colors, and it produces five different lighting modes. Within the five different lighting modes, you have one that is associated with the sound coming out of the speaker. So, as the sound is playing, it will flash to the beat. It is a pretty cool feature because it’s like a light show with your music. The other light modes will switch between different colors but to me they were very similar, they were just switching between colors depending on the speed. They switch between those colors and then you can turn it off too, if you don’t want to have any lighting, you can always turn it off.

As far as the controls, we have the buttons, so you can use these to control your music, you have a power button, you have a button for the light, then you have the volume control button to decrease and increase the volume, and then you have the play/pause button. With the play/pause button, you can actually use those to skip forward or go back in songs, so if you click it twice it’ll go forward, and if you click it three times it’ll go back in songs, so this gives you the ability to control all of your music settings from the speaker and you don’t have to be by your device.

The pairing button is also on the top, I don’t really use it because as soon as you power it up, it goes into pairing mode it makes it really easy to pair to your device. If for some reason, it doesn’t go into the pairing mode you can press this Bluetooth button and then pair it with your device. That Bluetooth button is also used to connect multiple Flare speaker together. This is the Soundcore Flare Mini but it can connect to the Flare or the Flare Plus. To do so, you just need to have them together and hold down their Bluetooth buttons together. Then they’ll connect and you can get stereo sound.

As far as the Bluetooth, it does use Bluetooth 4.2, so it’s not on Bluetooth 5.0 but I honestly, didn’t notice a difference. It connected quickly enough that I wasn’t concerned about it. So, I tested it out with obstructions, you can get about 45 feet away, so if it’s inside your house you probably can’t go upstairs into the back corner of your house but if you’re in a room no problem at all, and if it’s line-of-sight you get about 60 feet. I tested out the lag latency on this by watching YOutube videos and actually, the lag is very minimal on YouTube. It’s to the point where you really wouldn’t notice unless you’re trying to find that line, so you can comfortably enjoy videos from YouTube with this speaker. 

As far as the battery life, it will give you up to 12 hours battery life. To be honest, I got more than eight hours without needing to charge it. It does have a feature where we’ll turn it off when it’s idle, if you’re not playing any songs and you walk away or you just leave it there for a little while. It’ll actually power down to save energy but if you do manage to run the battery out, it takes about three and a half hours to charge it.

Anker Soundcore Flare

SOUND QUALITY:

Anker Soundcore Flare

It’s really loud, it sounds really good, and there’s no way to turn it and get the sound to come out better because it’s all coming out evenly and it’s freaking awesome. It doesn’t matter which way it’s facing, it’s gonna fill the whole room up evenly, so put it in the middle of the room. Although I’m not an audiophile, I can say this sounds just about as good as put the Soundcore Boost and Sport XL even though they are more expensive, and for fewer bonus features.

Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

For me, it sounds great especially, for a very small sized portable speaker. Definitely, they’ve made upgrades from its predecessor speakers to this, there’s definitely better sound quality, definitely 25% more volume, and increased bass. With their bass up technology, it adds bass to this little thing. Even though you wouldn’t think it would produce any bass, it actually does, and the bass actually sounds pretty good. It’s not like top end $200.00 portable speaker bass but it’s definitely a good bass that you can feel and hear.

Anker Soundcore Flare Mini

WHICH TO BUY?

In my opinion, both of these speaker are great choice to buy for you. It just depends on you what you prefer the most like the features you get with or the price on which you want to buy a portable Bluetooth speaker. If you can afford more than sixty dollars and you want the features that are in the Anker Soundcore Flare then you can go for it. If you can’t afford that price tag and if you are okay with the features that are in the Anker Soundcore Flare Mini, then you can go for it.

Expert Reviews of Anker Soundcore Flare:

By kit.honestjohn.co.uk
Anker’s Soundcore Flare is a portable waterproof speaker — fully submergible in water, no less, so you’re safe if some idiot kicks it into your swimming pool at…

By PCMag
The Soundcore Flare from Anker is a powerful portable speaker that puts on a cool LED light show.

By TechRadar
The Anker Soundcore Flare combines the best features of its competitors into an affordable package that’s tough to beat. For the price, the Flare offers good…

By Sound Guys
The Anker Soundcore Flare might be the speaker to beat this summer. It’s waterproof, inexpensive, and has a much better design than any of the previous Soundcore speakers.

Expert Reviews of Anker Soundcore Flare Mini:

By medium.com
The Soundcore Flare Mini comes really close to its competitors. The Flare Mini delivers a sound quality comparable to Beats and JBL in the same category…

By the-gadgeteer.com
Full stop, at this price point you are just not going to find a better built, better performing, or better sounding speaker than the Soundcore Flare Mini.

By outeraudio.com
While the Flare Mini might not sound as good as the JBLs and Sonys, it’s certainly better than much of the competition under $50.

By techwalls.com
Overall, this is an amazing product and it has totally changed my opinion about the Anker brand. Now, you can own a high-quality portable Bluetooth speaker at a very affordable price.