Anker Soundcore has added yet another model to its Motion family of portable Bluetooth speakers — the Motion X500. It’s a scaled-down version of the Motion X600 and includes that speaker’s integrated carry handle and spatial audio sound. Anker plans to sell the Motion X500 for $170 when it hits regular retail channels on November 9, but it’s also knocking that price down to $130 for those who preorder the speaker before that date.
Just like its bigger brother, the Motion X500 comes in three colors: black, blue, and pink. But unlike the X600, the X500 includes a subtle Soundcore “d” logo embedded in the paint scheme on the speaker’s metal grille.
Anker claims the Motion X500, which weighs 3.59 pounds, can produce 40 watts of power from its three full-frequency drivers (two for stereo channels and a third, up-firing “Sky Channel” unit for spatial effects). Its internal rechargeable battery is reportedly capable of keeping your tunes playing for up to 12 hours, though if you ever run it completely dry, you’ll need six hours to bring it back to full.
Despite its metal grille and carry handle, the Motion X500 is fully waterproof with an IPX7 rating, and it can stay afloat if it happens to end up in the pool. Like the rest of the new metallic Motion speakers, including the X600, Motion 300, and Motion 100, the X500 is compatible with Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codec, giving it the ability to reproduce hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz — which is something of an anomaly for smaller Bluetooth speakers.
We were pleasantly surprised at just how effective spatial audio proved to be on the Soundcore Motion X600. When activated, it drastically increased the height and width of the soundstage for a much more immersive experience that regular stereo.
The X500 promises to achieve something similar, but in its own unique way: The the Sky Channel top-mounted driver is equipped with LED lights that can create a mini light show, with variations based on the EQ mode you pick.
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