Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Black Friday Deal Alert: at present, The black model of Anker Soundcore Boom 3i It’s $80, which is $60 off the list price through Amazon Black Friday SALE (other colors are $5 extra). This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this Portable bluetooth speaker. If you’re thinking about upgrading your mobile phone’s audio mode before the holidays, this is one offer that’s easy to miss if you wait too long. I compared it with other Bluetooth speakers like JBL Flip 6 and Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd generation)and the Boom 3i maintains its special features without straining your budget.
In some ways, new denial Soundcore Boom 3i He is the spiritual successor to Soundcore Motion Plus. It has a similar shape but has a greater flair for outdoor adventure, with Anker touting it as “designed for the wilderness” and describing it as the first Bluetooth speaker with operation in water, as it floats and “auto-corrects” to keep the speaker drivers facing straight up above the surface. It all adds up to a speaker that’s perfect for backyard hangouts or hot showers, so you might want to grab one on the cheap while Black Friday deals are still around.
I’ve used the Soundcore Boom 3i for several months and have basically been impressed with it, though it’s much easier to recommend the speaker to CNET readers at $60 than the black model, which brought the price down to $80. Meanwhile, blue, brown and green models Currently $85.
As you’d expect from a speaker that promotional photos show strapped to a kayak (it has a detachable carrying strap), the Soundcore Boom 3i is completely water and dust resistant, with an IP68 rating. Anker is taking things a step further, touting the Boom 3i as being “5x” saltwater resistant. “While traditional speakers may rust in as little as five months, Boom 3i remains corrosion-free for up to two years of beach, boat and seaside use.”
Read more: Best Bluetooth Speakers of 2025
You shouldn’t expect bassy sound from a Bluetooth mono speaker of this type. But for the most part, the Soundcore Boom 3i gives you what you want from a portable Bluetooth speaker from an audio perspective. By that I mean that it plays loud for its size — it weighs about 1.8 pounds and measures 8.3 x 3.1 x 3.3 inches — plus it puts out a reasonable amount of bass and has fairly respectable clarity. You can find speakers that sound more natural, but these types of powerful portable speakers aren’t designed for critical listening.
The speaker has some colorful LED lighting on each side.
I used it outdoors and indoors in a few rooms, including the bathroom (it’s a good bathroom speaker), and it was able to fill smaller rooms with sound. You can adjust the sound using the equalizer settings in the Soundcore companion app iOS and Android And fiddling with the settings of the built-in, synchronized LED light show, which I kept off most of the time. You can also pair two of these speakers in stereo mode and get noticeably better sound.
I tested operation of the speaker in water by dropping it into a pool. It actually flipped over, so the speaker drivers were facing up, and the music continued to play, although the sound became a little distorted when a small wave passed over the speaker, and the drivers started spitting water. In other words, it sure looks better out of the water than in it.
One problem with Bluetooth devices is that Bluetooth does not transmit through water, which is why you have to download MP3 files to memory when using wireless headphones while swimming (you can’t stream music to headphones if your head is underwater). I don’t know where the Bluetooth antenna is on this speaker, but it’s supposed to be on the side that stays above the surface when the speaker is floating.
Not only does the Soundcore Boom 3i float, it automatically corrects for upright direction.
You can actually activate the Buzz Clean mode from the app which makes the speaker vibrate and get rid of dirt and particles, like sand after a day at the beach. After completing the Buzz Clean process, you can then rinse the speaker to clean it completely.
The speaker also has another interesting feature: holding down the “BassUp” button for 5 seconds triggers a 96dB emergency alarm — which Anker says is clearly audible at a distance of up to 100 meters — with flashing red LEDs. You can press any button to stop the alarm.
Battery life is rated for 16 hours at moderate volumes, which is decent for a speaker of this size. It’s also worth noting that the Boom 3i has a Bluetooth range of 100 feet, which is better than the typical 33 feet you get with many Bluetooth speakers.
Bluetooth headphones offers this week
Trades are selected by the CNET Group’s trading team and may not be relevant to this article.
For more Black Friday offers, visit our website A roundup of the best offers You can shop now.
Join our text group for daily deals!
Get handpicked deals from CNET’s shopping experts right on your phone.
The Soundcore Boom 3i is in black, and it’s only $80 for Black Friday.