Anker Soundcore Wakey: Alarm clock, radio and QI charger for $74 | 42,49€

The Anker Soundcore Wakey combines everything you need on your bedside table. At its core, this is a rather old-fashioned FM radio, but the Soundcore Wakey Bluetooth loudspeaker also has many other functions. Find out what the Wakey can do in our review.

• Anker Soundcore Wakey
  • at Amazon for $74 (in black)
  • Amazon.de for 42,49€ | Amazon.com.au for $109.99

Technical data

Scope of delivery and packaging

Although the Anker Soundcore Wakey doesn’t come with a very extensive scope of delivery, it comes with everything you need. Next to the loudspeaker itself is a power supply, an FM antenna and a QuickStart guide in a blue/white box.

Design and workmanship

The Anker Soundcore Wakey reminds me at first sight a bit of the Xiaomi Mi TV Speaker, only in small size. Like this one, the Soundcore Wakey is only available in white with a grey fabric. The speaker is made of plastic with a rubber-like surface.

The first time I took it out of the box, I would have expected the speaker to be heavier. For its size of 20 x 9.2 x 8.2 cm it is relatively light with a weight of 539.8 g, as no battery is installed.

On the upper side there is a round rubber circle with the Soundcore logo printed in the middle. This is where the integrated wireless charger is located and a total of six illuminated control heads are located below the loudspeaker.

The design looks futuristic and modern to me, which I like very much. The Soundcore Wakey fits into almost every household because of its simple and neutral colouring.

As usual from Anker, the Bluetooth radio alarm clock is absolutely clean. I couldn’t find any material or production faults with this device. The used materials make a high-quality impression on me.

Display

In the middle, behind this textile fabric, is a display panel with a total of 200 small LEDs. In addition to the time, it also shows symbols for the different modes, volume and the next alarm time.

Thanks to a light sensor that detects the ambient light, the LEDs are dimmed according to the lighting conditions, but there is also a manual mode. The time does not have to be set individually with the Wakey, since the Bluetooth radio takes over the time from the smartphone.

The smartphone settings also determine whether the time is displayed in 12-hour or 24-hour format. The omission of “PM” and “AM” in the 24-hour time format means that the time is not shown in the middle of the display, but slightly shifted to the left.

At this point the Anker Soundcore Wakey has a small bug. On our request we were informed that this will be fixed with the next software update. Luckily this is only a temporary problem!

Sound of the Anker Soundcore Wakey

The Anker Soundcore Wakey Bluetooth speaker is equipped with 2 x 5 Watt drivers. In addition, there is a bass reflex channel on the back, similar to the Inateck BP2003.

Thus the Anker Soundcore Wakey offers, at least if on paper, a similar performance as the Tribit xSound Go or the Anker Soundcore Icon.

In practice, the Bluetooth loudspeaker with radio offers a clear sound in the high frequency range. Compared to the Tribit xSound Go, the midrange is a bit more pronounced and sounds more detailed, which I like!

In the low frequency range, of course, you have to make a few compromises, with a 10 watt Bluetooth loudspeaker you can’t expect miracles here. Nevertheless, I like the lower midrange and bass a bit better than the Tribit xSound Go. Voices sound fuller and therefore more present, the bass is also a bit stronger.

Overall, the sound of the Anker Soundcore Wakey is perfectly sufficient for a loudspeaker used at the bed, in the bathroom or in the kitchen. It’s good for listening to music, but of course it can’t compete with the Anker Soundcore Motion+ or the Doss Soundbox XL.

Connections & Playback Sources

There are a total of five ports on the back of the Bluetooth radio. These include two hollow sockets, the larger one for the power supply and the other for the FM radio antenna.

There are also two USB-A charging ports, for example for a smartphone without Qi charger or a Smartwatch. Both USB ports have a maximum output power of 10 watts. The AUX-IN connector is located in the middle. Unfortunately, there is no Micro-SD card slot and USB stick playback is also not possible.

The Soundcore Wakey is equipped with a Bluetooth 5 chipset. Thus the connection between smartphone and loudspeaker remains stable at a distance of about 15 meters.

FM radio under test

Inside the Anker Soundcore Wakey there is an FM radio which supports the common frequency range from 87 MHz to 108 MHz. If there is a window nearby, you can use the enclosed antenna to receive all available transmitters in the test. For the local radio, not even the radio antenna was necessary.

It will be a little more difficult if, for example, you have a bathroom without a window. In such rooms the radio reception is generally worse and we could receive in the test clearly fewer radio stations, than in the proximity of a window.

All in all we were able to receive the stations that are relevant for us, if this is the case with you has to be tried in case of doubt. Thanks to Amazon right of return no problem!

The Smartphone wireless charging

As already mentioned, the Anker Soundcore Wakey Bluetooth speaker can also be a smartphone charger! On the top side there is a Qi charger, which can be used to charge the phone wirelessly, if supported by your device.

Android smartphones can be charged with a maximum of 10 watts, iPhones with only 7.5 watts. The rubber ring around the Qi charging field has several functions:

• It indicates exactly where the smartphone has to be placed.
• makes sure that the back of the mobile phone is not scratched and
• counteracts excessive heat generation, as the smartphone does not rest directly on the ground.

In the test, charging the smartphone works like with any other Qi charger, there’s nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, wireless charging is slower than cable charging, as is often the case. Especially if your smartphone supports a quick charger standard, you have to be prepared for it to take longer than usual.

Operation & App Control

On the front of the Anker Soundcore Wakey there are a total of six touch buttons. This allows most of the Bluetooth radio’s functions to be carried out; however, some functions, such as configuring the alarm time, are reserved for the Soundcore app.

• Download Soundcore app for Android
• Download Soundcore app for iOS

The apps are completely identical under iOS and Android.

Functions of the Touch Buttons

Button:	1x tap	2x tap	long tap
Radio	Radio on/off	–	–
Increase/decrease	louder/lower volume	–	Radio frequency search
Multi-function button	Play/Pause Bluetooth music	next title	–
Bluetooth	Activate Bluetooth mode	–	pairing mode
Alarm	Display Alarm Time	–	–

Additional App Functions

In the Smartphone App there are also some additional functions available. Here you can:

• Set more than 10 alarm times
  • Select 10 different alarm tones
• Set the FM radio frequency
  • Store 10 favorite stations
• Configure Superior Sleep
• Adjust clock brightness

Superior Sleep

In the Superior Sleep functions you can create your own mix from a total of 10 sounds. To the sounds belong:

• Rain
• twittering of birds
• wind
• Windklang Game
• Forest with campfire
• Sea noise on the coast
• stalactite cave
• train ride
• clock
• Farm Animals

So the Anker Soundcore Wakey with sounds that you find calming should make it easier for you to fall asleep.

Conclusion

The Anker Soundcore Wakey is all you need for a bedside table and I really like it in the review! In addition to the radio and Bluetooth loudspeaker function, it offers an all-in-one solution thanks to the clock, alarm clock and wireless charger, and even looks pretty chic.

The mature Soundcore app supports other useful features, such as the superior sleep function, alarm tone selection or radio station memory, and rounds off the mature product.

The sound of the Soundcore Wakey can’t compete with the best Bluetooth speakers from China, but that’s not the claim either. It’s definitely enough for the bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. The many connection options are also positive, but unfortunately a Micro-USB slot is missing.

With the time display slightly shifted to the left in 24 hour mode, there is unfortunately a small bug. This bug will be fixed soon by a software update, which can be downloaded via the Soundcore app. As soon as the update is live, you can find it here.

Altogether I am very satisfied with the Wakey in the review. Another gadget which, similar to the AiPower Wearbuds, combines several functions of different gadgets in one device – there should be more of them!

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