In one look
Expert rating
Benefits
- great sound
- Loud and deaf when you want it to be
- IPX7 weather protection with rugged metal construction
- Supports Hi-Res LDAC codec (on Android)
The inconvenients
- Does not support AAC codec
- A little bulky for its size
Our opinion
Given its high-fidelity renditions, the loud, loud, rugged and fully weatherproof (IPX7) Soundcore Motion X600 is more than reasonable. Some competitors charge significantly more for this class of performance.
Best Prices Today: Soundcore Motion X600
$199.99
The Soundcore Motion X600 is the best performing Bluetooth speaker I’ve received from Anker Innovations, it’s right up there with the Marshall Middleton for the coveted ‘Best Sonics in Bluetooth’ award.
OK, this prize is widely awarded in my head. But you have understood: this speaker has an excellent sound. And more importantly in this economy, it looks excellent for $100/£100 less than its rival!
You can get it for just $199 / £199 from Amazon US, Newegg, Amazon UK and the official store.
The Soundcore Motion X600 sounds great. It’s easily one of the best performing single-cabinet Bluetooth speakers I’ve heard.
Design and specifications
Anker isn’t Apple, but the folks in its Soundcore division have their own design aesthetic; one that I’ve become rather fond of. In the case of the Motion X600. I’m particularly enamored with the copious amounts of real metal used in the crafting of its case.
See more options in our chart of the best Bluetooth speakers.
Jon L. Jacobi
There’s a lot of metal in the rounded rectangle that surrounds the device, as well as in the very sturdy permanently attached handle. This material makes the device a bit heavier than some, but you’ll never be without an easy way to transport it. I also like his appearance.
The Motion X600 is available in three attractive metal-tinted colors: Polar Grey, Lunar Blue and Aurora Green. Our test unit was gray, but I’d opt for blue if I had the choice.
The top and bottom of the Motion X600 are made from a hard plastic/rubber material, but these elements do not affect the overall extreme sturdiness. The speaker measures just over 12 inches wide, a hair over 3 inches deep, and about 7 inches tall. If you’re looking for delicacy, this isn’t it, but the sturdy handle makes it easy to transport the roughly 2-pound unit.
As for the internals, there are five speakers driven by a five-channel 50-watt amplifier. Four of the speakers face forward and one is located in the angled top panel to fire up and help with spatial audio.
Speaker controls are also on the forward-slanted top of the device: power, Bluetooth pair/status, spatial sound, bass on/off, and transport buttons (volume up/next track, play/pause and volume down A microphone is built in to facilitate phone calls, which are handled by the multi-function transport controls.
The Motion X600 carries an IPX7 weatherproof rating, which means it’s protected enough to withstand submersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes, but only if the captive rubberized plug covering the auxiliary input 3.5mm and the USB-C charging port on the back of the speaker is firmly in place. But he’s a very good speaker – hold back your inner Harry Potter and give up the adventures of Gillyweed.
As with most speakers these days, an app offers more in-depth control (shown in the screenshots below). Anker would really like you to sign up with them, but you don’t have to. The best reason to use the app is to adjust the speaker equalization settings. And unlike some cheaper speakers, the frequency response is wide enough for all bands to have a significant effect. I pretty much left it in storage, but I did.
Soundcore Motion X600 App
Jon L. Jacobi
Sound quality and battery life
The Motion X600 sounds great; in fact, it’s easily one of the best single-cabinet Bluetooth speakers I’ve heard. It’s certainly on par with the aforementioned Marshall Middleton. This feature is all the more impressive considering its IPX7 rating. It’s just not easy to get a speaker wrapped in waterproof materials to sound good.
If you’re looking for bass, you’ll love the Motion X600: it beats big for its size. It also more than adequately rendered the sub-bass of my tiny collection of hip hop and other cringe-inducing modern genres. It’s not big enough to function as a full party speaker – check out the huge Soundboks Go or Sony’s new SRS-XV800 if you’re also looking for an entertaining light show. But for small social affairs of around five people, you’ll be happy with the Motion X600.
I’m generally brighter and tighter (with bass, of course), and it’s the Motion X600 to a T. Toto’s “Africa” was delivered to a nicely spacious soundstage (with spatial audio engaged) , and the loudspeaker is excellent the medium definition made it particularly easy to discern the percussion instruments in the background.
There’s a lot of sparkle at the top end of the frequency range), and as you might guess, 50 watts of amplifier power means it can get quite loud.
Note that if you play the Motion X600 at any volume, you won’t get the 12 hours listed as the maximum runtime. Battery life estimates for just about any battery-powered speaker assume easy listening volume, and specs for this one are 12 hours at 50% volume. I got about 8 hours at a reasonable volume with about an hour of louder testing. I agree with that.
Should you buy the Soundcore Motion X600?
Anker’s Soundcore division has a history of delivering superior sound for less moola, and the brand won me over. The Soundcore Motion X600 has clear, well-defined sound with enough bass even for diehards. I like it very much, and I’m sure you will too.
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