Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Anker ’s new waterproof dependable wireless earbuds gasconade a great freshwater bass - hard hearing experience at an affordable price that makes up for their deficiency of more robust characteristic .
If you believe you want to grok late into your bank building account to get good bass from a pair of truly wireless earbuds , theAnker Soundcore Spirit Dot 2will rock ‘n’ roll your world — while also rocking your best-loved tunes . These fitness - leaning buds also correspond well and can handle as much effort and raindrop as you may throw at them , all while costing considerably less than a hundred bucks . Such a pleasant price does n’t come without ritual killing , but they ’re relatively minor . The Spirit Dot 2 usually deliver when it weigh .
The case is a compact thing that well slips in a pocket ( although Anker could have made it smaller ) , and there is a admirable novelty to how its lid slides back rather than riffle undetermined . This design may be a piddling too nifty for its own good , though , as a mere week of continual use witness the lid threatening to slide open without prompting . Fortunately , the magnetic airstrip that accuse the bud in the event stick to the earpieces like a vice , so there ’s a good prospect the bud will stay put put .
A sliding lid is interesting , but has its own shortcoming .
The case also give up for around 15 extra hours of playtime , which makes up for the dissatisfactory five 60 minutes of playtime from the buds themselves . The case does n’t support wireless charging , but it does come with a cable for plugging into the sealed USB - C port on the back ; three lights across the front let you be intimate how much juice is left . Pairing is simple if a shade unintuitive : Once you ’ve opened your phone or computing machine ’s Bluetooth menu , you ask to tear both buds out of the case before the pairing prompt protrude up .
The slim and subtly fashionable buds themselves check almost as comfortably in my ear as they correspond in their case . They ’re comparatively small , too . If you look at a person who ’s wearing them pass - on , you ’ll barely notice them at all , and I wish that I can deplume off my shirt without the textile getting caught on them . The Spirit Dot 2 might not have alive noise canceling , but they seal the auricle and muffle exterior vocalize so well that it would be squeamish if they had the more and more vulgar “ ambient ” mode that use the mic to pull in sounds from your surroundings .
If you do n’t get such a great tantrum right out of the box , there ’s an excellent chance you’re able to amend that with the five different ear steer and three hollow fins that fall with the Spirit Dot 2 . These are made with what Anker call “ SweatGuard ” technology , which help improve the seal and foreclose your personal grime from corroding the technical school .
The array of ear tip and fins that make out with the Spirit Dot 2 .
The SweatGuard tech is nice , but as luck would have it the Spirit Dot 2 tout an iPX7 rating , which have in mind they ’re not in much peril from your perspiration in the first piazza . While it ’s not advisable , you should be able to douse these in a meter of water for half an time of day and they ’ll do out all right . This makes them idealistic comrade for the gymnasium , peculiarly since that excellent burst kept them from pop out of my auricle even on a prolonged jog .
But it ’s the limitations of the touch controls that entrust me hesitating to bring them along as companion for much else . There are n’t any one - spigot gestures : Instead , you tap twice on the right earbud to play or intermit the music and you also use two taps to answer or end calls . regrettably , there ’s no way to hope back to the former Song dynasty on a playlist , but you may pass over forward by tip twice on the left bud . activate Siri or Google Assistant is easy enough , as you just need to hold down your finger on either bud for roughly two second — but this is also what you do to reject a call or transference between calls . It ’s not very intuitive .
And that ’s about it , really , apart from one possible pain : Unlike many other bud , the Spirit Dot 2 do n’t sour off automatically when you take them out of your spike . In hypothesis , at least , they ’ll disconnect when you lay them back on the charging strips in the casing . In recitation , one of the SweatGuard fin would often slip a lilliputian and cover the charge surface when I pulled the buds out of my pinna . That meant that , unknown to me , the stowed bud save playing music and drain its assault and battery inside the shell for hours , and I ’d only chance out when trying to forecast out why auditory sensation was n’t come from my phone ( because the buds were still connected ) . switch to one of the other fins seems to have fixed the problem — and I also learn to look out for the lily-white light on the bud that stand for that they ’re charge up — but it ’s something to keep in thinker . Alternatively , you’re able to turn off each bud by press down on the English for eight seconds — which also means you’re able to easily listen to one bud at a time — but they still wo n’t charge if you do n’t describe them up decent .
So how respectable is that bass ? The boxwood claims it ’s “ epical , ” and while I would n’t go that far , it ’s pretty damned good . When I displace up Eminem ’s bass - lowering “ Without You ” and cranked up the volume , I actually winced .
As you might gestate from such a distich of affordable bass - focused earbuds , the lows descend through stronger than the highs in about all tracks , but the senior high school are n’t terrible , and tracks like Jazz Cartier ’s “ Tempted ” still play much as the artist intended . These are specially ideal buds for devotee of genres like coxa - hop and house , but they were also fine for a wide assortment of track like The Rolling Stones ’ “ Sweet Virginia , ” Sufjan ’s Stevens ’ “ Casimir Pulaski Day , ” and even the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra ’s recording of Beethoven ’s Fifth Symphony .
Just be indisputable you ’re quick to devote yourself to that bass : It ’s always there . You ’re stuck with the EQ options Anker gives you , as the Spirit Dot 2 buds do n’t shape with Anker ’s app .
These are liveable limitations for such a lowly price . These are a great option for true wireless earbuds if you ’re on a budget , of course , but it also means they make a dandy backup pair if you have the cash to give around . With earbuds like these , you wo n’t be out of much if you lose them at the gymnasium or on misstep as you would with buds with fancier feature like participating noise cancellation and full touch controls .
Bottom line
The Spirit Dot 2 may only be $ 80 , with that price you ’re getting deeply resonant basso , a raincoat build , and a stylishly understated design . That ’s a rare compounding to find in so low-priced a package , and the price make it easier to leave out shortcomings like their middling battery animation , moderately fiddly controls , and a charging case of confutable strength .
