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So this is the new JBL Partybox 310… it’s rocking both cosmetic and performance improvements from the Partybox 300 and over all I really do think the partybox 310 is a good upgrade from the original 300. So if you’re looking for a big speaker for your man cave or if you moonlight as a DJ… I aint mad at the partybox 310.
Now the Partybox 310 retails for $500 where as the Partybox 300 can currently be found on sale for $400. Now even though I know it might be tempting to go with the 300 and save those $100… I honestly think in the long run you’re going to be better off just picking up the 310 instead cause its going to make your life a whole lot easier. But regardless 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. For the most part the 310 is identical to the 300. We’ve got a mostly plastic body with a grill on the front, and they're both 2 feet and quarter tall… But the 310 is a little heftier weighing in at 38.4 pounds where as the 300 weighs in at 35 pounds. But the 310’s design has been refined from the 300’s. Most notably the 310 now has built in wheels and a retractable handle. Which is just going to make transporting this 38 pound speaker much easier than the 300 which you do have to carry around. Now along side the new wheels and retractable carrying handle… the 310’s port panel has also been upgraded. Since this panel can now be sealed off from the elements the 310 is now rocking an IPX4 certification. Meaning that if it gets a little wet or if it get caught in a drizzle it shouldn’t be a problem… but personally I would avoid getting this speaker wet period. But also the control panel on top has been upgraded as well. Now the 310 does have a few new buttons here that I will go over in a minute… but the important thing that I want to point out is that these control buttons are now backlit which I think is a great touch.
Now just like the 300, the 310 still has an awesome looking light feature on the front… but it has been slightly upgraded. For starters the light feature on the 310 does have a few more lighting modes than the 300… but more importantly you can now control this light feature through JBL’s new Partybox App. So you can cycle between these different lighting modes, you can turn off the strobe lights on this speaker and you can also choose your own color. However just keep in mind this Partybox app is currently exclusive to the 310. The partybox 300 does not connect to this app and the Partybox on the go also doesn’t connect to this app even though it was announced a long side this speaker.
But now lets talk about battery life cause over all it is rather impressive. The 310 has an advertised battery life of 18 hours but thats when this speaker is playing at 50 percent volume, with its light feature turned off and with its bass boost feature turned off as well. And at 50 percent volume and with its bass boost feature turned off this speaker sounds perfectly fine for indoor use.
Now the bass boost feature on this speaker has two levels to it… but personally I prefer to just use this speaker with its bass boost set to level 1 while in doors cause in level 2 this speaker has a lot of bass. But real world use with this speaker at 80% volume, with its light feature turned on and while in bass boost level 1 this speaker is good for around 5 hours of playback time which is not bad at all. But just keep in mind if you use this speaker while in bass boost level 2 or at a higher volume then it battery is going to drain a little faster.
But now lets talk about charging this speaker cause this is one of the minor down sides about the 310. Now the 310 charges via AC port on the back just like the 300… and you are going to get a performance bump out of this speaker is you use it while plugged in. And just like the 300, the 310 has a 12 volt DC port for charging as well.
But unlike the partybox 300… the 310 doesn’t come included with JBL’s car charger. Which personally im a really big fan of cause you can charge this speaker with your car if you’re out camping or at a cook out… but this cable is now sold separately. So yeah thats one of the minor downsides about the 310.
Now when it comes to connectivity… both of the speakers can be connected to two bluetooth devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, they both have an easy to reach 3.5 millimeter audio jack, and they both have a USB A port which you can use to either charge your own devices or you can plug in a USB Drive and play music off of it.
However, something to take note of here is that the 310 has done away with the RCA inputs which were found on the 300. But the 310 still has a microphone and guitar input. Now like I mentioned earlier the 310 does have a new control panel up top but keep in mind these bass, treble, and echo buttons are strictly used for adjusting your microphone. These buttons are not used to adjust the sound of your music.
You’ll also notice that there are these three other buttons which are used for sound effects. So you can be like one of those annoying late night DJ’s adding sirens to your music. Now from JBL’s app you can also select from a few other sound effects… but what im getting at here is that this control panel is really only used for adjusting your microphone… not adjusting the sound of your music.
But now lets talk about listening to music with this speaker. Now when it comes to sets ups the 310 is a little different from the 300. The 310 still has your dual frontward firing woofers which have an exhaust port that shoots out the back and you’ve still got your dual tweeters up top. Now the 300 also has dual frontward firing woofers but it has 3 tweeters. However when the 300 is standing up right only the top two tweeters are actually working and if you were to lay this speaker on its side then the two tweeters on the side will play instead. Now for this sound test we’re going to be using the 310 with its bass boost turned on and with its bass boost set to level two. And the 300 is going to be playing while in bass boost level 2.
So like you may have just heard the 310 and 300 share the same sound signature which is to be expected. They both like to put a slight emphasis on the mids but they still have hard hitting bass. However I can’t help but feel that the 310 sounds just a little more open the 300. Where as the 300 sounded a little more narrow. Now personally I do wish the 310 sounded more open but ultimately I do feel comfortable saying that the 310 sounds better than the 300. Even though you’ll might not notice a difference unless you were listen to these speakers back to back.
However when it comes to sheer bass and max volume… the 310 does get noticeably louder and pushes out more bass than the 300. Now like I mentioned earlier, with either the 300 or 310 you are going to get a performance bump out of them if you use them while they're plugged in… but still even when theyre both plugged in the 310 still manages to get louder and has harder hitting bass than the 300. So over all, yes the 310 does sound better than the 300. It sounds little more open which is nice, but it does get noticeably louder.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker to other speakers. Now you can wirelessly pair on Partybox 310 to one other partybox 310 and get left and right stereo sound going. However you can not wirelessly pair a partybox 310 to any other partybox. So if you’ve got a partybox 310 and a partybox 300 they won’t wirelessly pair.
Also keep in mind that you can not wirelessly pair a partybox 310 to any if JBL’s other speakers that are using party boost. So you can’t pair a 310 to lets say a JBL Xtreme 3 or a JBL Boombox 2.
However the Partybox 310 does have an Audio out port so you can get an audio cable from the 310 and plug it in to any other speaker and still get them to play in sync. Now personally I do wish that you could wirelessly pair a partybox 310 to at least one other speaker… but at least this audio out port on the 310 is a good compromise.
But overall, I think the new Partybox 310 is a solid successor to the Partybox 300. From a design standpoint I absolutely love the new wheels and retractable carrying handle on the 310 cause it just makes moving this speaker around a breeze. I love the new light up control panel up top, and I really like that you can now remotely control and customize the light feature on this speaker. From a performance standpoint the 310 does sound a little more open than the. 300… but the 310 does get noticeably louder and pushes out more bass than the 300. All while still having a solid battery life. The only gripe I have about the 310 is that the car charger is now sold separately. But other than that I aint mad at the 310.