Can you believe that it’s been 30 years since the heyday of the boombox? Since that time, the concept has changed thanks to Bluetooth giving the boombox a new lease of life. Now, if you want a big sound for a party, there are plenty of boomboxes to choose from including big brands like JBL and Sony.
Now Anker Innovations has announced the launch of its biggest boombox so far with the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus. This is the latest mega speaker from Anker’s Soundcore sub-brand. As well as Bluetooth connectivity, the Boom 2 Plus includes BassUp 2.0 technology with the ability to pump out a maximum of 140W of earth-moving bass without any rattle or hum.
The new speaker also has a customized active crossover to separate the high and low-frequency signals, sending them to the woofers and tweeters for a clearer and more detailed sound.
The previous boombox from Soundcore—the Motion Boom Plus—had just 80W of output but this latest model has a base rating of 100W which can be further boosted to 140W by switching to BassUp 2. Inside the speaker’s casing are two 4.5-inch woofers, with an output of 50W each. A couple of tweeters can push out another 20W each whenever the BassUp 2 is turned on. To shore up the lower frequencies, Soundcore has also added a pair of passive radiators to push out more bass.
Like its predecessor, the Boom 2 Plus also has an RGB light show that can sync in time to the music being played. There are also eight preset lightshow effects plus the user can customize the colors to suit the party mood. Thankfully, the light show can also be completely disabled for those of us who aren’t in a disco mood.
Powering the Boom 2 Plus is a massive rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can play music for up to 20 hours with the volume level set at 50% and the BassUp 2 and the RGB lights turned off. If you pump up the volume, turn on the lights and crank up the bass, you can realistically expect around a dozen hours of sounds, still long enough to swing a decent party.
If you’re streaming music from your smartphone, you can keep your device topped up by plugging it into the USB-C power port on the speaker which delivers 10W to a phone. The speaker can handle up to 30W fast charging, enabling the Boom 2 Plus to be fully charged from empty in around three hours.
Of course, no pool party is ever complete without a few people jumping in the water and splashing everyone. To cope with this rowdy behavior, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus has an IPX7 waterproof rating for resisting splashes. Soundcore says the speaker will even float on water so you can have your speaker play music next to you while sipping cocktails on your airbed in the middle of the pool.
The standout feature of the Boom 2 Plus is its lightweight and ergonomic design. Unlike a lot of boomboxes, this speaker is light enough to be carried around without a struggle. It even has a handle and detachable carrying strap. And despite its relatively low weight, the Boom 2 Plus feels exceptionally solid and displays no sign of rattles or buzzes. It’s quite a piece of engineering, especially when you hear how loud it can sound and how deep the bass goes.
The Boom 2 Plus can be customized using Soundcore’s smartphone app which is available for Android and Apple iOS. There are four EQ presets built into the speaker plus the sound can be tailored with an eight-band equalizer. Each of the frequency bands can be adjusted to create the ideal tone.
If one speaker is not enough, then the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus can be paired with other speakers that support PartyCast 2.0. In theory, up to 100 speakers can be joined together to have their own sonic party. For the less ambitious, two Boom 2 Plus speakers can be electronically lashed together to create a stereo pair using the TWS button.
The design of the Boom 2 Plus echoes the controls on the rest of Soundcore’s wireless speaker range. There is a row of eight buttons for accessing most of the speaker’s features and controls. As well as the usual music transport buttons, there is a power switch, Bluetooth pairing button, volume adjustment, there are buttons for toggling through the EQ presets, turning on the BassUp 2 and setting the light show effects and turning it off altogether.
So how does the Boom 2 Plus sound? The answer is big. There is lots of audio muscle on offer and no matter how much you pump up the volume, the sound doesn’t easily break up or distort. If you don’t want to stream wirelessly, then there’s a 3.5mm stereo jack input for attaching a legacy device with all its analog goodness. The difference with the BassUp 2 turned on and off is considerable and this is a speaker that can get a party started. The Boom 2 Plus can shift a lot of air and certainly sounds louder than its size might have you believe.
Verdict: The Boom 2 Plus is a solid and capable party speaker/boombox from Soundcore. The light show and enhanced bass will please all the party animals. There’s plenty of power to spare and the EQ presets are good to have depending on the room or setting for the party. If you are planning a pool party soon, make sure you invite the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus.
Pricing & Availability: The Soundcore Boom 2 Plus goes on at Amazon from today and is priced at $249.99/ £199.99 / €199.99. The speaker is available in Phantom Black, Adventure Green and Explorer Blue via Amazon, Soundcore and other retailers. From today, customers can sign up on Soundcore.com for an exclusive early bird offer.
