So after checking out the Soundcore Motion X600 and being pleasantly surprised due to its very spatial sound and just overall elegant design, today we’re going to checkout the Soundcore Motion X500 which also sounds very spacious thanks to its built in upwards firing driver… but there are some minor sacrifices that were made here to accomadte for the smaller size.
Regarding pricing, the Soundcore Motion X500 has a retail price of $170, not bad especially due to its size and overall preference. But it does like to go on sale for around $130, making it very attractive. Nonetheless if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker, the X500 has a very small footprint on it because this is a vertically designed speaker. But size wise I would say that this is slightly larger than your typical mid sized speaker. Regardless this is a speaker that’s going to be very easy to place on a narrow or cramped table, windowsill or thin shelf. But more impressively, this speaker has a mostly metal body which I feel looks very elegant and there’s a built in carrying handle. So taking this mid sized speaker on the go with you is very easy. Now personally I would be gentle with this speaker because I would hate to scratch its all metal body… but the X500 does have an IPX7 rating, meaning that if this speaker gets wet or rained on, its going to be perfectly fine.
But now lets talk about tech specs, the X500 has an advertised battery life of 12 hours, however this advertised battery life of 12 hours is with this speaker playing at 50% volume and while its in its stock EQ. Now fifty percent volume on this speaker is already a decent listening volume. However, if you were to use this speaker at 80% volume and with its bass up turned on its going to be good for about 6 hours of playback time, not bad at all.
And when it comes to charging this speaker, it charges via a USB C port, as it should. However, this is the only port that you’ll find on this speaker. Unfortunately, the motion X500 does not have an audio jack and you cant use its USB C port as a wired connection. You can only use the Motion X500 wirelessly. Now personally, I dont mind that this speaker doesn’t have an audio jack, but I would have like to have seen an audio jack just given this speaker’s performance and speaker set up.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, the X500 is using bluetooth 5.3, but more importantly it can be connected to two devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ. But when it comes to audio codecs, this speaker has support for SBC and AAC, very standard, but this speaker also has support for LDAC, which is Sony’s high res audio codec. Which means you’re going to get more detail in your music. Just keep in mind that if you want to take advantage of LDAC you do have to be an android user because iPhones top out at AAC.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker setup, the X500 has dual frontward firing woofers, dual passive radiators that shoot out the front and back of this speaker, and what makes this speaker rather unique is that it has an upwards firing driver. And the addition of this upwards firing driver really helps this speaker sound very open and it gives you a dynamic listening experience. Now with the X500, you can quickly and easily switch between 3 preset EQ settings, signature, dynamic and bass boost. And depending on which setting you’re using, the light ring that illuminates the upwards firing driver changes, but personally I find it very difficult to tell these colors apart, and no this isn’t an RGB light. Nonetheless we’re going to jump into the soundtest and were going to be cycling between the 3 EQ’s this speaker comes with and we’re going to be playing at 87% volume.
Sound test
So personally, I think this speaker sounds best while its set to its dynamic EQ, while in dynamic mode, the vocals get emphasized, but theres still a good amount of bass. Now bass up on the X500 is also good, but since there’s so much bass, it can sound a little muddy at times cause vocals get overpowered by the bass. But more importantly, if you want you can always just make your own EQ so you can always just make this speaker sound however you want. And from a performance standpoint, this speaker get impressively loud for its size at max volume cause this is a 40 watt speaker, but even when this speaker is playing at max volume, distortion isn’t a problem neither in the highs or in the bass. And when it it comes to instrument separation, this speaker sounds decently open thanks to its additional upwards firing driver.
But finally, lets talk about pairing this speaker up with other speakers. Now with the Motion X500, if you have another Motion X500, you’ll be able to wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, so your music is going to get louder, but its also going to sound more open cause you’re going to have one speaker for your left channel and another speaker for your right channel.
However, you can only have a total of 2 speakers paired together, and you can only pair 2 X500’s together. Unfortunately, you cant pair the Motion X500 with any other soundcore speakers. So if you have a Soundcore Motion X600, or 300 or 100, they will not connect to the X500.
But with all of that being said, the Soundcore motion X500 is a very impressive speaker that thanks to its additional upwards firing driver helps it sound very open, but it also gets impressively loud for its compact size. Peronsally I think this is a good speaker to consider for at home use cause it does have an elegant design to it. However you can always take it on the go with you cause it has the built in battery and its IPX7 rated, so even if this speaker gets wet, its going to be fine. But personally this wouldn’t be my top pick if im looking for speaker to constantly take on the go with me, cause I would hate to get its aluminum body scratched, it just looks so nice. And also keep in mind you can only use this speaker wirelessly cause it doesn’t have an audio jack. And even though you can pair this speaker up to another Motion X500, you cant wirelessly pair it up to any other Soundcore Motion speaker.
