Anker Soundcore Rave 3S Review (2025)

The Anker Soundcore Rave 3S is meant to be portable, and to this end, there's a handle built into the top of it, but it's still big, heavy, and cumbersome. The speaker measures 21.7 by 12.0 by 11.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 23.1 pounds. That's significantly larger and heavier than the Sony ULT Field 7 (8.8 by 20.2 by 8.7 inches, 13.9 pounds), but smaller and lighter than the $799.99 LG Xboom XL9T (38.9 by 20.6 by 18.9 inches, 60.6 pounds), which has the same tower-like form factor.

Although its IPX4 rating means it should survive the occasional splash or spill, the Soundcore Rave 3S shouldn't be submerged or used in a downpour. The Sony ULT Field 7 has a more durable IP67 rating to survive a dunk in the pool.

Gray knobs for volume and reverb are on top of the speaker, as is a button for AI vocal removal. There are also buttons for Bluetooth connectivity and power, toggling the speaker's LED lighting on and off, bass boost control, and playback controls. Between the power and Bluetooth buttons, there's a handy illuminated battery level indicator.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The face of the speaker houses a large subwoofer with three midrange drivers stacked above it, all of which are protected by a metal grille. The speaker housing is built from black plastic, with a rubber door on the rear that houses the ports and controls for the wired connections. These include a quarter-inch line input for a guitar or keyboard, a 3.5mm aux input, and a USB-C port for charging the speaker. A pair of knobs adjust gain and volume.

On the back of the speaker, you’ll find the two included microphones, which can be clipped to it for storage. The microphones automatically connect to the speaker when they're turned on and are powered by two AA batteries. Each microphone has its own volume controls and power button, along with a button to enable or disable the AI vocal removal mode. The only issue I had with the microphones was that the speaker seemed to momentarily disconnect from Bluetooth when the microphones were powered on, but otherwise, they connected reliably and worked well. While the ULT Field 7 and Xboom XL9T can each connect to a microphone for karaoke, they only support a single mic, and neither includes one in the box.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The Rave 3S pairs a 6.5-inch woofer with three 2.5-inch full-range drivers, delivering up to 200W of power. The speaker only supports the SBC Bluetoothcodec, while the Field 7 supports the LDAC codec for high-res audio (along with AAC and SBC).

The LED lights on the Soundcore Rave 3S are controlled by the aforementioned physical button on top of the speaker or via the accompanying Soundcore app. You can choose from a range of patterns or colors. The lights are reasonably bright and visible outdoors in brighter environments, though really only from the front. You can always disable them if you think they're annoying or want to save battery power.

Another limitation is that while the speaker is enormous, it can only produce mono audio. If you have two Rave 3S speakers, you can connect them viaAuracastand assign one to serve as the left channel and the other as the right channelfor a stereo experience. To this end, Anker offers a bundled pair for $599.99.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Anker doesn't disclose the Rave 3S's battery capacity but says it can deliver up to 12 hours of use between charges, depending on volume and other settings. That's not terribly impressive given its size, and it takes six hours to recharge using a recommended 5A/3V charger (which isn't included). The speaker can't be used to charge other devices as its USB-C port is only for charging the speaker itself.

The box includes the speaker, microphones, AA batteries for the microphones, and a sturdy USB-C cable for charging.

When you connect the speaker to the Soundcore app (available for Android and iOS), you're presented with two main tabs: one to control audio and one to control lighting.

The audio tab offers some helpful features. From it, you can set up the AI vocal removal feature and choose from four different volume levels for it. You can also control the levels of the microphone's reverb, choose what sort of reverb you'd like, and enable or disable the vocal enhancer feature that sets an EQ for your vocals.

(Credit: Anker/PCMag)

The lighting tab includes a selection of presets and the ability to control brightness. It also lets you create your own lighting effects, including setting which direction the lights move, which colors to use, and so on.

Other features in the app include an adjustable EQ for the music, with nine bands and a range of presets. This EQ can help you create the audio response you want from the speaker.

With the default Soundcore Signature EQ preset turned on and the BassUp feature turned off, the Rave 3S is perfectly acceptable for most types of music.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

On a track like The Knife's "Silent Shout," most of the bass frequencies are reproduced through the large woofer. The speaker isn’t quite able to hit all of the sub-bass frequencies, but it nonetheless performs better than I expected. The bass synth sounds smooth and present without being overly muddy. However, the speaker isn't as adept at reproducing high frequencies; for example, the shaker is largely buried in the mix.

I notice the same shortcoming when listening to Kendrick Lamar's “Loyalty," though the high highs aren’t quite as important in the mix on the track. Both Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals sound great. Unfortunately, this track highlights the limited bass response. It struggles a fair bit with the bass synth, especially in the lower frequencies, and this is only partially resolved by turning on the BassUp feature.

Bill Callahan's "Drover" sounds very good, mainly because it doesn't include a lot of sub-bass. Callahan's vocals are deep and well-rounded, while the kick drum that drives the track sounds rich and full. The lack of a clean high-frequency response impacts this track to a small degree. For example, the guitar sounds weak and lacks the strumming noises that give it such a natural feel. Other instruments, like the cymbals, don't sound their best.

The opening scene to John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary by John Adams is decently reproduced but feels a little cluttered. The orchestral instruments on this track don’t need quite as much sub-bass, so the track sounds full even though some brightness is lost from the brass and choir.

Despite being unable to deliver true stereo support, the speaker does include a spatial audio feature that can only be used when the speaker is laid down on its side. It helps open up tracks a little and provides a decent approximation of stereo.

There's no speakerphone, but we don't expect that feature on this sort of speaker.

I was skeptical of the AI vocal removal feature, and while it's certainly not perfect, it's quite impressive. As it says on the box, the Rave 3S uses AI to remove vocals from tracks while preserving the other sounds and instruments. However, you will find that instruments in the same frequency range as the vocals sometimes get cut, too. On a track like "Drover," for example, the volume of the acoustic guitar and the kick drum sometimes dipped where Callahan's vocals would normally be.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Imperfections aside, I was surprised by how effectively the feature works. If you listen closely, you can still hear the removed vocals in the mix, but they are dampened significantly. If you opt to only partially remove the vocals, the feature is even more effective, and even fairly low-volume karaoke singers will be able to drown it out with ease—plus, they'll be reminded of any lyrics they forget or miss.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The Anker Soundcore Rave 3S is a great speaker for karaoke lovers thanks to its two included mics and AI vocal removal smarts. That said, we wish it supported higher-resolution audio, was more resistant to backyard water shenanigans, and that its battery lasted longer. Ultimately, if you want a high-quality speaker for more than karaoke, the Sony ULT Field 7 remains our Editors' Choice winner for its better sound quality and more durable design.