soundcore Motion 300 Wireless Hi-Res Portable Speaker with BassUp, Bluetooth Speaker with SmartTune Technology, 30W Stereo Sound, IPX7 Waterproof, Detachable Strap, for Backyard, Camping and Hiking

So, after hours, days, weeks, of scrolling through reviews on Amazon and Reddit, looking for info on good Bluetooth LDAC speakers with close to hi-res playback, I ended up buying one of these.Initial impression was actually quite good from the one speaker, obviously my expectations are within the realms of being realistic. Small speakers = small sound detail/bass production BUT these are definitely better than expected.I have a hifi setup with decent quality kit at home so the TWS interested me so much that I bought another. Well.... Just wow, definitely an immersive experience and definitely stereo. Again, better than expected. Battery life is great, build quality is great and feels premium.Solid app, plenty of options to mess around with EQ but I leave em on balanced and use Tidal for quality audio stream.If you're looking for Bluetooth speakers with LDAC, good price to quality ratio with solid audio quality for a portable speaker, buy two of these, don't mess around, you won't get better from this price point.I do wonder what the x600 pair would provide over these. Hmm

I purchased the Soundcore Motion X600 4 months ago and was amazed how good the speaker sounded. The build quality was just as good. The best sounding speaker I've ever owned, especially for its size.Being so impressed with the X600 made me want to also purchase the Motion 300, and I'm glad that I did.The Motion 300 sounds great, to be honest, even better than I expected. Don't be fooled by its size it sounds great. It's loud and will fill a room, no problem. Crystal clear highs, mids, and deep lows.My main attraction to own this speaker was the 3 ways of positioning. Those being standing, laying, and hanging. My favourite is the laying position, which gives you a 360-degree sound all around when placed in the middle of the room, like on the coffee table. I liked the previous echo generations 1st, 2nd, and 3rd because of the 360-degree sound scape, but the sound from the Motion 300 wins hands down.If you're looking for a small bluetooth speaker with excellent sound and build quality, I would strongly recommend this speaker. As I said, don't be fooled by its size. It sounds awesome, great build quality, and fills a room no problem even with the volume at 50%.The quality and sound of these newer range Bluetooth speakers by soundcore are mind-blowing! Especially for the lower price range. This new Motion series is just as good as or even better than the big expensive brands out there. We'll done Soundcore. 👍.*9 month update*X600, X500, Motion 300.I purchased the Motion X600 last November for the full price and was blown away by how good it sounded.4 months later, I purchased a Motion 300 and was again blown away by how good this little speaker sounded. I was so impressed I went to purchase another Motion 300 but in green as I liked the colour and i was prepared to pay the full price of £90, but there was the Motion X500 on sale for £90 so I got this instead, ofcourse a no brainer! Especially at that price.I originally wrote a long review on the Motion x600 and these two other speakers, but... I kept changing my mind as to which was the best speaker rated from 1st to 3rd. I ended up deleting the review because I could not make my mind up. 🙃. This review was the top rated review for the x600.All 3 speakers sound fantastic! And have their own unique sound scape due to the different driver set ups. The build quality is top class, I've watched YouTube tear downs of all 3 speakers, and the build, quality, and components used are high quality, and the speakers are well made.It's surprising how soundcore can sell these at these prices? All 3 speakers are worth their full asking price, in my opinion, and are just as good as or even better than the big speaker brands out there, and for half the price.The sound quality is fantastic! The clarity is exceptional, Crystal clear vocals, highs, and mids with deep lows. The spacial, high-resolution sound is an experience when listening. The speakers sound open and much larger than their actual size and will fill a room with high-quality sound, and this is soundcores' first attempt at spacial audio! Well done! I haven't even tried the LDAC option because the sound quality already sounds high definition.Honestly, I can't listen to any of my previous speakers after listening to these soundcore speakers. I have tried... Trust me, I have a couple of large Sony bluetooth speakers, an Echo Studio, and a few others. They now sound like they have no clarity and sound muddy compared to the Soundcore speakers. I used to casually enjoy listening to my echo 4th gen speaker, but not anymore. It sounds awful compared to these soundcore series.Soundcore has done an amazing job with these speakers. The algorithms and magic they've used to create the spacial listening experience is an experience in itself. I wouldn't call it 3D where you can hear music all around you like some have stated? It's an immersive open sound rather than a directional sound like a normal Bluetooth speaker.For example, if I was blindfolded and played any of my previous Bluetooth speakers, I could point out exactly where the sound was coming from because the sound is directional. With the soundcore speakers, it would be harder to point exactly where the sound was coming from because the sound is much wider and more open and not directional if that makes sense.I now own a Motion x600, x2 Motion x500s, and a motion 300. I just love these speakers and have to give them the credit they deserve. I was lucky with the x500 as I purchased them when they were on sale for £90 & £80.The x600 is the better speaker. A wide open sound and the best spacial sound scape due to having 5 different drivers. Clearer instrument separation and more detailed.The X500 is more 'V' shaped sounding with a narrower sound scape compared to the x600 but has a higher sound scape and better vocals, in my opinion. I use the x500 most of the time. This is my go-to speaker.The Motion 300 is an amazing speaker for its size. It almost sounds as good as the others, less the power. Although it has no spacial speaker on top, it still sounds open and spacial, much larger than its actual size. Don't be fooled by its small size!The 9 band graphic equaliser in the app is great. I originally used the built-in soundcore signature equaliser but eventually created my own for a more personal listening experience.Whatever speaker you choose, you won't be disappointed. They are all 10/10 in my personal opinion and worth every penny, even at their full price.I would have liked to have seen the option of a power supply lead and also a removable battery compartment to replace the battery in the future. When the battery finally drains, will I still be able to power the speakers via the USBC lead? Just a thought.*Update* Dec 2024I finally purchased my 2nd Motion 300 for £60 on black Friday, in green. At such a low price, the temptation was too great! I paired this to my other Motion 300 via 'TWS' True Wireless Stereo and 'Wow!' As usual with these speakers, i was blown away by the sound quality. These speakers sound fantastic on their own but pair two of the same speakers together and 'Wow!' You're on another level. 2 Motion 300s in the standing position sounded better than a single X500 or X600, in my opinion. I even paired my two X500s for the first time but preferred the sound of the two Motion 300s.Pairing the speakers is a breeze. Turn on your 1st speaker and connect to your phone as normal, then turn on your 2nd speaker. Push and hold down the Bluetooth button on your 2nd speaker for 2-3 seconds until it flashes white. Then, on your 1st speaker do the same, hold down the Bluetooth button for 2-3 seconds, and the speakers instantly connect! You will hear this.The speaker with the 'Blue' Bluetooth light is the 'Left Channel', and the speaker with the 'White' Bluetooth light is the 'Right Channel'. It's that simple. Anytime in the future, when you have 1 speaker playing and turn on the 2nd speaker, they automatically connect. If you want to unpair both speakers, just hold down the Bluetooth button on either one of the speakers for 2-3 seconds, and they disconnect from each other.If you can afford to purchase two of the same speakers, i would highly recommend especially two motion 300s 👌 but, anyone of these speakers sounds great on its own. The Bluetooth connection on these speakers, whether pairing together or a device, is flawless.

**EDIT- Have increased the rating to 5 stars. It's gotten even better with use, the bass response has improved (it was already good) and I've found a nice custom EQ that I like from playing around with the app. See original review below 👇***The fast version-4.5 stars out of 5. Amazing sound quality up to 60% then starts to limit bass. Must be in LDAC mode, read below how to get that to work. *Review based on paying 75 pounds*. At full price they drop down to 4 out of 5 stars.The long version-Straight out of the box you immediately appreciate the build quality. Apart from the logo on the front which I can see as being a bone of contention for some (kind of reminds me of the tiktok logo 🤔) it's built like a tank. Great feeling in the hand, metal front grill and rounded edges make this really backpack friendly. It does weigh 750 grams so it's alot heavier than the speaker it's emulating, but it's got 2x the speaker magnets and the battery is 3 times bigger. All adds up.After fully charging the speaker out of the box (recommend doing that even if it comes with charge it's better for the battery in the long run) you should immediately connect it to your phone and the Soundcore App, as it will prompt you to upgrade the firmware straight away. Nice. But, here's the important part- if you have a android phone and want to use the LDAC codec for the best sound quality you have to go through the app and turn it on. This will prompt you to upgrade your firmware again 🤣 (so twice before you even listen to music). THEN, after that update and LDAC is turned on in the Soundcore App, you have to make sure your phone is actually sending information to it via LDAC. To do this you need to go into your Bluetooth settings on your connected device (the speaker) and turn on LDAC mode. I've attached screenshots of how it looks on a Samsung phone, it will be the same or very similar on any other android.If you have an iPhone or can't be bothered to do the above to get the best out of it just know it will default to AAC codec, which is a great codec for iPhones but can cause some connection issues with android phones.The sound quality for me is frankly stunning, really dynamic and full sounding when in "standing mode" facing you. Up to 60-70% volume it's very balanced, after that it starts to lose bass and boost highs and mids. That's all speakers this size, it's just physics. There is a bass up mode, but be warned this does tend to cause a bit of distortion after 60% on certain tracks.. I'm hoping a firmware update sorts that out. I leave it in the signature sound profile, this is the first soundcore speaker I've heard where that actually sounds good! There's is also the aforementioned class leading soundcore app, you can use that to tinker with the EQ to your heart's content.In "lying mode" it's quite nice sounding, it seems to me it goes quite "V" shaped with the sound (boosting bass and highs) to try and cover more area with sound. Does a pretty good job but probably not as good as the speaker it's emulating.In hanging mode it unfortunately sounds pretty terrible haha, I would definitely recommend doing a custom EQ for that. For some reason it seems to turn off the stereo sound and plays in mono, and it also really boosts the mids and highs making it quite harsh. It's probably ok if it's on your backpack facing away from you but I'd hate to be the person behind you on a hike.Overall I really like this speaker, it's a great addition to my two soundcore booms. (Offering something very different sound-wise obviously). IMO for the money this is the best travel speaker available. I'll probably get another one down the line on sale for stereo pairing. I do recommend waiting until it's on offer, at full price it's still worth it but there are bigger speakers for that same money that sound better...