I like the new Marshall emberton… now personally I do feel that the emberton is a little pricey for a 20 watt speaker but the emberton does have some standout characteristics when compared to the super popular JBL Flip 5 and the Sony XB23. So if you’re looking into getting a small portable speaker and you’re thinking about getting the emberton lets see how it stacks up to these. 

Now price wise the Emberton retails for $150 which I do feel is a little pricey for a 20 watt speaker and for comparison sake for the same 150 bucks you could get the Sony XB33 which sounds way better. But nonetheless the JBL Flip 5 has a retail price of $120 but routinely likes to go on sale for $100 sometimes maybe even $90 and the Sony XB23 has a retail price of $100. So if you want to pick either of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below. 

Now first off lets talk about the designs of these speakers. Durability wise all of these speakers are very rugged and they can stand up to constant bumps and scrapes if you take them on the go with you and they’re all water proof so you don’t have to worry about them if any of these speakers get wet. But from a design standpoint the Emberton is very different from these other two speakers. Now both the JBL and Sony have a mostly fabric wrapped body with plastic end caps and they’re both rocking a cylindrical design. Where as the Emberton has a wire grill on both the front and back and its wrapped in this super durable rubber that also has a very good soft touch feel to it. So the emberton does feel way more premium in your hands when compared to these other two speakers. And materials aside personally I feel the emberton looks way better than these other two speakers when its sitting on your desk thanks to its classic Marshall design and its also a little smaller then the Flip 5 and its way smaller than the XB23. So personally for me, the Emberton is the clear winner here when it comes to build quality and design.

Now when it comes to tech specs all three of these speakers charge via a USB C port. But its very important to keep in mind that all of these USB C ports are strictly used for charging. You can’t use any of these USB C ports as a wired connection and you can’t use these USB C port’s to charge your own devices. And unfortunately none of these speakers have an audio jack. Now personally I don’t mind not having an audio jack on a speaker of this size but it would have been nice if they had one. So just keep that in mind depending on your needs or set up. 

Now when it comes to battery life… the XB23 has the worst performing real world battery life here. Now the XB23 has an advertised battery life of 12 hours but thats with this speaker playing at 50% volume and while in stamina mode. And while in stamina mode this speaker sounds very flat cause it reduces its bass. But this speaker also has an advertised battery life of 10 hours while in extra bass mode… the way that you should use it. 

Now while this speaker is in extra bass mode and at max volume the XB23 is really only good for around 2 and a half hours maybe 3 hours. And while at 80% volume this speaker is good for around 4 and a half hours maybe 5 hours. So battery life on the XB23 is very so so. 

Now when it comes to the flip 5 this speaker has an advertised battery life of 12 hours. But at max volume this speaker is good for around 4 hours of playback time and at 80% volume this speaker is good for around 8 hours of playback time. Which is a lot better. 

But then there’s the Emberton which has an advertised battery life of 20 hours which is above average for a speaker of this size. Now at max volume this speaker is good for around 6 hours of playback time and at 80% volume this speaker is good for around 12 hours of playback time which is very impressive. So if battery life is a big concern for you then this is the one to get. 

Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity… all of these speaker can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. But keep in mind both the Flip 5 and Emberton are strictly using SBC where as the XB23 has support for higher quality audio codecs like AAC and Sony’s own LDAC. 

But now lets talk about speaker set up cause all of these speakers are very different. Like I mentioned at the top of this video all of these speakers are 20 watt speakers. But the Flip 5 has a single frontward firing driver and dual passive radiators shooting out the sides. Where as the XB23 also has dual passive radiators like the Flip 5 but it has dual frontward firing drivers. But then there’s the emberton. Which also has dual drivers and dual passive radiators like the XB23… but one driver and one passive radiator shoots out the front and the other driver and passive radiator shoots out the back. Now personally I do like the Emberton’s speaker set up cause first off this speaker does a really good job of evenly filling a room with music… and you are going to get a performance boost out of this speaker is you place it up against a wall either if you’re using it indoors or out. But when it comes to actually listening to music… all three of these speakers really do sound very different from one another. But so that you can hear for yourself we’re going to jump into a sound test. 

So like you may have just heard all three of these speakers sound very different from one another. Now I feel the Flip 5 is the worst sounding speaker here specifically cause of the very narrow sound stage. When compared to these other two speakers the Flip 5 sound very claustrophobic. Where as both the Emberton and XB23 sound much more open. Now the Emberton does like to put an emphasis on the mids so the vocals on this speaker are rather pronounced. And you know this is very typical of Marshall. Where as the XB23 sounds much warmer which is also to be expected cause this speaker was in extra bass mode. Now if youre not a fan of the XB23 warmer sound signature then you do have the option of customizing its EQ to your liking. And if you want you can make the XB23 sound like the Emberton by raising the mids and highs on this speaker. Now also keep in mind the XB23 is the only speaker here that lets you directly mess around with its EQ cause you can’t do this with these other speakers. And finally when it comes to max volume… although all of these speakers do get decently loud for their size the XB23 does get a little louder than these other two speakers… the Emberton is close behind and technically the Flip 5 get the least loudest here. But its really not a huge difference. Nonetheless if your main priority here is sound then the XB23 is the best sounding speaker here cause of its wider sound stage than the Flip 5’s and customizable EQ. 

But now lets talk about speaker pairing protocols… unfortunately the Marshall emberton doesn’t have one. So you can’t pair the emberton up to another emberton and you can’t pair it up to another Marshall speaker like a Stockwell or an Acton. And I do think this is rather unfortunate. 

Where as both Sony and JBL have a speaker pairing protocol for their speakers… so you can pair your speakers up and have them cover a large area with music with multiple speakers or if your friend gets a speaker then you can hook your speakers up. 

However just keep in mind that there is some fragmentation to consider. The Sony XB23 can only be pair up another XB23 or an XB33 or an XB43. And you can’t hook it up to any of Sony’s older speakers using wireless party chain like an XB32, XB22, XB41, or any older speakers.

And the flip 5 can only be connected to JBL speakers using party connect. So you can only pair the flip 5 to either another flip 5, a JBL Boombox 2, JBL pulse 4 or JBL Xtreme 3. And you can’t hook it up to any of JBL’s older speakers using JBL Connect plus. 

But ultimately I do prefer JBL party boost over Sony’s Party Connect mainly cause JBL’s speaker manage to establish a connection much faster than Sony’s speakers. 

But with all the being said… even though I do feel the Marshall Emberton is a little pricey the emberton does make a case for itself. Design wise I think the emberton is going to look way better when its sitting on your desk than these other two speakers. And if you want to take it on the go with you this speaker can still hand cause the Emberton is super durable as well. But the standout characteristic about this speaker is it battery life. The Emberton can easily outlast both the Flip 5 and Sony XB23. And when it comes to sound… the Emberton is a decent sounding speaker that does like to put an emphasis on the vocals but this speaker should still be able to handle all genres of music without any problems. But more improtnalty thanks to its speaker set up the Emberton does a really good job of evenly blanketing a room with music and you can always get a performance bump out of it if you place it up against a wall. But if sound is your main concern than you are better of going with the Sony XB23 cause of its wide sound stage and customizable EQ. However the XB23 does have some draw back to it like its lack luster battery life and plainly said this isn’t the best looking speaker. But then there’s the flip 5 which is the vanilla option here. The Flip 5 sounds good but its sound stage isn’t as wide as these other two speakers… But the battery life on the Flip 5 is way better than the Sony XB23 and the flip 5 is more affordable than the Emberton. And if you do plan on collecting multiple speakers than the JBL’s Partyboost is better than Sony’s Party Connect.