I vastly prefer the Anker audio quality, but I ran into a situation recently where the Jambox was the only speaker that would work adequately. I purchased a Bluetooth transmitter (the model is not relevant -- all devices I tried behaved the same) that I connected to a streaming audio source (i.e., it can only send data as fast as the audio input is received). Not one modern Bluetooth speaker that I tried, Anker included, was able to play the audio without interruption. Only the Jambox was.
My working theory based on my observations of multiple speakers, most of which I returned for refund, is that an internal buffer accounts for the varying perceived connection reliability. The newer speakers were significantly quicker at beginning playing audio after establishing a Bluetooth connection (as observed unscientifically by watching the indicator on the transmitter — all connect using the same audio codec). The Jambox was the slowest by at least a factor of 4-5x. In my theory, this delay was a direct result of a larger audio buffer.
In my environment, I believe that 2.4 Ghz interference is a probable culprit. This is a fairly typical suburban neighborhood with most homes containing a dual-band Comcast wireless router. As a result, the 2.4 Ghz spectrum is very crowded, but since I cannot control the channels in use by other people and the fact that Bluetooth is frequency hopping, I can’t work around it.
I also experienced big buffers with my JAMBOX. When I try to play something that requires low latency (like a talk), it is perceivable that there is a latency between the video and the speaker.
My working theory based on my observations of multiple speakers, most of which I returned for refund, is that an internal buffer accounts for the varying perceived connection reliability. The newer speakers were significantly quicker at beginning playing audio after establishing a Bluetooth connection (as observed unscientifically by watching the indicator on the transmitter — all connect using the same audio codec). The Jambox was the slowest by at least a factor of 4-5x. In my theory, this delay was a direct result of a larger audio buffer.
In my environment, I believe that 2.4 Ghz interference is a probable culprit. This is a fairly typical suburban neighborhood with most homes containing a dual-band Comcast wireless router. As a result, the 2.4 Ghz spectrum is very crowded, but since I cannot control the channels in use by other people and the fact that Bluetooth is frequency hopping, I can’t work around it.