I’ve been wanting to pick up a little Bluetooth speaker for a while, mostly for when we’re sitting in the driveway next to the fire. Some of the original renditions of speakers were pretty bad, with lacking lows and metallic highs. My friend Michael recently picked up a portable Bose that he uses with our bike group, however, I didn’t want to spend quite that much. After a bit of internet sleuthing I decided to try the Anker Premium Stereo Bluetooth Speaker. It has been getting decent reviews on Amazon, and the YouTube comparisons I watched between it and it’s slightly cheaper cousin sounded pretty good.

It arrived earlier this week and I finally had a chance to sit in my driveway this afternoon and give it a shot. The first thing I noticed about it when I fired it up is that it’s loud. It more than meets any expectation I have for volume, and when I first fired it up I had to quickly press the volume buttons to avoid shocking the neighbors.

The second thing came to my attention was how nice the low end was. If there’s one area where this speaker excels it’s in the bass. It’s rich and luxurious (for a portable Bluetooth speaker), and it really helps add depth to every track I played. It didn’t sound overly thump-y or distorted, but was very smooth and clean.

For as much as I love the bass, the high end was only adequate. There was a slight hollow tone to it that wasn’t as sharp and defined as it could be. I wish the mid to high range notes could be crisper and less muddled, especially compared to the nice lows. However, having said that, I wouldn’t consider the sound unacceptable at all. I realize that Bluetooth, and the size of the speaker, mean that there will always be some compromises. For what this speaker is trying to be, I’m thoroughly  impressed. There’s obviously some in-speaker sound enhancement going on to give a bit more life to the dull sound that usually defines Bluetooth audio.

Setup of the speaker was a breeze, and I’ve paired it with multiple devices with ease. My only issue is that I can’t lock it to a single device, putting me at the mercy of my friend Michael and whatever playlist he decides to hijack the speaker with (he mostly makes good choices). I’ve also tried multiple genres of music with the Akner, and every one of them has come out sounding really well. Everything from classical to hip-hop is very solid.

Finally, the real winner with this speaker is the price. It’s currently just over $50 on Amazon, and compared to some of the more expensive competition out there, I can’t find a reason to complain. It’s got some great sound, at a great price, meaning it does exactly what I needed, and it’s battery life is close to 8 hours. If you have need of a small Bluetooth speaker solution I’d highly recommend the Anker Premium Stereo system. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.