Soundcore Flare Mini Review

Background Information

Soundcore is a daughter company to the main firm Anker Innovations Ltd. Soundcore specializes in developing high quality headphones and speakers with creative-standout designs.

Soundcore originally released the Flare wireless speakers in May 2018. It was a big hit because of its creative design; delivering 360-degree music along with the party LED lights at the bottom. In August 2018, Soundcore released a bigger model Flare . The Flare offers more battery life (up to 20 hr) to keep the party going along with Soundcore app compatibility giving you control over the ambient lights and the speaker’s equalizer. There’s another Flare model called S , the smart speaker, expected to be released soon, offering Alexa Functionality.

In May 2019, Soundcore decided to expand the Flare family by introducing the smallest member called Flare Mini.

General Information

Bluetooth Wireless 360 degree Speaker

Price on Amazon $49.99

Dimensions: 141 x 86 x 72 m / 5.5 x 3.4 x 2.8 in

Weight: 480 g / 16.9 oz

What’s included in the box

Soundcore Flare Mini speaker

Micro USB to USB-A charging cable

User Manuel

Warranty Card

Design & Built

As previously mentioned, the Flare Mini is the smaller version of the Flare. It has the same dark-grey mesh surrounding the speaker all-around. At the top, there’s the control buttons. I like how Soundcore infused three buttons (the power, Bluetooth and light control buttons) with backlight (unlike the Flare model).

It would have been a nice touch from Soundcore to make the remaining 3 buttons have backlights. On the bottom, it has the Soundcore logo along with the Ambient LED lights. You can see the Soundcore written infront of the speaker and at the back there is the Micro-USB port for charging the Flare Mini. The port has a rubber coverage to protect it against any water leak.

I really appreciate how Soundcore managed to make a smaller version of the Flare without compromising the sound quality. I tend to travel a lot, hence having smaller products is the first thing I look for. The Flare Mini makes the cut for me. The Flare Mini maintains the same great quality of music as the Flare with similar battery life (up to 12 hour of playtime). However, manufacturing smaller products always comes at a price. The Flare Mini doesn’t have an AUX port. If you’re an iPhone user like myself, that means we gave up on AUX cables a long time ago; ever since Apple released iPhone 7. As a result, I don’t really miss it. That being said, it’s definitely a plus to have an AUX port in any speaker which is available in both the Flare and Flare models.

In addition, the Flare Mini is IPX7 waterproof/dust-proof. This means the speakers can withstand full water-splash without malfunctioning. Moreover, it can survive submersion up to 1 meter (3 feet). This makes it the perfect pool/beaches companion. You don’t have to worry about someone splashing water on it and you can use it even if your hands aren’t completely dry.

Pros

360 degree sound

Portability

IPX7 Waterproof

12 Hours of Battery Life

Integrated Microphone

Strong Connectivity up to 20 mm (~66 feet)

Stereo Sound Through pairing to another speaker

“Audio Fireworks”

Cons

No AUX port

Not Compatible with Soundcore App

Connectivity

The Flare Mini connects to any Bluetooth devices with its built-in chip Bluetooth 4.2. I tried it with both my iPhone 8 and Windows laptop. It has a range of 20 meter (66 feet) connectivity distance. To actually test this distance and give you an idea what is 66 feet is equivalent to in real life, I made a small experiment. I connected my phone to the speaker and left the phone in my room. I took the Flare Mini and walked out of my room to the living room to exit the apartment (the apartment is on the first floor). I closed the door behind me, took the stairs to the ground level and exited the building. I still had solid connection and the music wasn’t cutting off. I took a right into an alley next to our building on the opposite side of my room and halfway through the alley that’s when I started to lose connection. I can easily say that’s a very strong connection. You can always plug your phone to charge indoors and not worry about the music streaming cutting off because the Flare Mini is out of range.

Another cool feature in the Flare Mini is the “Stereo Audio”. Meaning you can pair another Bluetooth speaker to the flare Mini while being connected to a single device. It allows you to increase your music range if you are in a big room for example. You do this my pressing on the Bluetooth button on the Flare Mini for 3 secs till the color changes to a flashing white light. The flashing light indicates that the Flare Mini is searching to pair with another Bluetooth speaker. Put the other speaker in pairing mode and that’s when both speakers will be connected. You can stream to both speakers the same music at the same time from a single device.

Audio

What makes the Flare speakers so unique is the 360 degree sound design. This ensures the delivery of same quality of music wherever you are sitting in the room. The optimal position for those speakers is putting them in the middle of any room to ensure equal distribution of sound allover. It has dual Audio Drivers Delivering 5W with full range of surround music.

The Flare Mini has the BassUp Mode on default, which is something you can control on the Flare model. For me, it doesn’t really make a big difference, I like having it on as default since I listen more to Hip-Hop and R&B music.

The key feature that is missing from the Mini model, is the app compatibility. The Soundcore app works with both the Flare and Flare models but not with the Mini. The app gives you more control over the equalizer allowing you to adjust it to your preference. The Mini could be Soundcore’s minimalist wireless speakers version, providing you with the essentials while delivering a high quality audio in a smaller encasement.

Conclusion

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 with an elegant design that has a waterproof finish. Furthermore, the Mini model offers the same important specs as the Flare model but in a more compact and portable speaker.