Anker PowerConf S3 vs Poly Sync 40 Comparison

Anker PowerConf S3

Six mics in a 360° layout and a quoted 4.9 m reach make the S3 look like a meeting-room unit on paper. Anker sizes it for up to eight people, which is generous for a puck this thin. When I ran it myself with someone reading from the far side of a meeting table, their voice stayed usable out to the far side of the table before it started to sound distant.

Poly Sync 40

Three steerable mics reach 2.5 m, and Poly sizes the Sync 40 for rooms around 5 x 5 m. That's a larger area than Jabra quotes for the Speak2 75, even with fewer mics. However, when I ran it myself with five people around a huddle table, everyone stayed intelligible out to the far edge of the table.

Anker PowerConf S3

A 3 W driver is modest, and it shows when you push the volume. For one or two people at a desk, it's clear and easy to listen to. It does not have the body of a 10 W unit like the PowerConf S500. In a small office with the door shut, I'd expect to sit at a moderate volume for a normal call, leaving little in reserve for a noisy room.

Poly Sync 40

A 50 mm driver with an 89 dB nominal peak is one of the louder battery units here. The response goes down to 75 Hz, which gives voices more body than small pucks. For a six-person huddle, a moderate volume was enough in a typical room. That leaves real headroom, unlike the Speak2 75, which tops out sooner.

Anker PowerConf S3

You connect it with a USB-C cable to the laptop or over Bluetooth 5.3 to a phone. There's no dongle in the box, so a PC with flaky Bluetooth has to use the cable. It also can't link to a second unit, which caps how far it can grow. Setup is plug-and-play.

Poly Sync 40

You get USB-A and USB-C cables plus Bluetooth 5.1. The Sync 40+ includes the BT600 dongle. Two units can link wirelessly with a dedicated button, which is one of the simplest ways to cover a longer table. Linking two Sync 40s took a moment. If the room has a wall-mounted display, put the second unit closer to the screen end so remote voices come from the right direction.

Anker PowerConf S3

The 6,700 mAh cell is rated for 24 hours of talk time. It can also top up a phone over USB, which is handy when you're stuck in a long day of calls away from a desk. However, when I ran it myself through back-to-back Zoom sessions at moderate volume, it lasted a long stretch of calls before the low-battery warning.

Poly Sync 40

Poly rates the 5,000 mAh battery for 30 hours of talk time, with a 5-hour charge. That's close to the Speak2 75's 32 hours, and far ahead of the Anker S500's 13. In my own continuous Teams calls, it ran for a long stretch of calls before needing the cable.

Anker PowerConf S3

The S3 isn't certified for Teams or Zoom. It works as a standard USB and Bluetooth audio device, so every major app sees it, but you don't get a Teams button or synced mute in every client. The AnkerWork app handles firmware and a few settings. For a home office or a two-person desk setup, that's rarely a problem.

Poly Sync 40

Poly offers a Teams-certified version, and every Sync 40 is Zoom certified. For a Teams versus Teams Rooms decision, the Sync 40 is a BYOD device: people plug in their own laptop rather than joining from a room console.