Get Them Here
So this is the Sony SRS-XP700… its a part of Sony’s new X series line up of speakers and it was released alongside the Sony XG500. Now just like the XG500, the XP700 is trying to differentiate itself from the competition by having a long lasting battery life. But it also has some very noteworthy upgrades from its predecessor like lets say the Sony XB90 like all new drivers, an additional tweeter, and an all new look.
Regarding pricing, the XP700 retails for $450 which is the same as the Sony XG500 and sony continues to try to undercut its competition in this case the JBL Partybox 310 which retails for $500. Now in this video we’re going to be focusing on the XP700 exclusively but if you want to watch any comparisons you can check out the description below for those videos. Overall the XP700 is fine and it delivers… but I would try to pick this speaker up if its on sale. So if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. The XP700 is your typical large box speaker with a hight of 2 and quarter feet, and it weighs in at 37 and a quarter pounds. Now this speaker does have built in carrying handles but taking this speaker on the go with you can be quite a trek but its doable. Now material wise the XP700 has a mostly plastic body which can be a scratch magnet if you plan on taking this speaker around with you on a regular basis and there’s a metal grill on the front. Now on the back you’ll find all of your ports which can be sealed off from the elements giving this speaker an IPX4 rating. Meaning that if you plan on regularly using this speaker out doors on lets say the porch… if it starts raining or if you accidentally leave this speaker out doors over night you don’t gotta worry about it cause a little bit of water isn’t going to hurt it. However one crucial design element that I do gotta point out about the XP700 is that you can’t use a speaker stand with it.
But now lets talk about the light feature on this speaker. For sure the light feature on the XP700 is an upgrade from the light feature found on the Sony XB90. And from Sony’s app you can select from a few different lighting modes. Now the main ones are delightful, rave, chill and strobe. And through Sony’s fiestable app you can customize this light feature. Now if you use this light feature either indoors or at night it looks pretty good. And I also found that this light feature has a good back splashing effect. However to be straight up with you this light feature is not worth using while out doors. You barely even see it. So I would recommend that you turn off this light feature if you’re going to use this speaker while out doors cause you will extend your battery life a little bit.
But now let's talk about battery life on this speaker. The XP700 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours but that with this speaker playing at 25% volume, with its light feature turned off but with its mega bass feature turned on which is a major thing to take note of and its a good thing. Now if we were talking about lets say the Sony XG500 or any other smaller bluetooth speakers… 25% volume is nothing. But 25% volume on the XP700 is a comfortable listening volume and for comparison sake, having that XP700 at 50% volume is like the XG500 playing at 100% volume.
However for those curious at max volume, with the light feature turned off and with mega bass tuned on, Sony claims you’re going to get around 6 hours of playback time. Now there is noway you're going to be able to use this speaker indoors at max volume without suffering hearing loss and there’s no way you’re going to be able to use this speaker out doors at max volume without getting a visit from the cops.
So real world use with this speaker playing at around 35% volume with the light feature turned on and with mega bass turned on im getting a solid 18 hours of playback time before the battery is fully drained. Now just as with Sony’s other speakers once the XP700 hits 20% battery it’ll start saying please charge. But it doesn’t constantly say please charge or limit your volume. It’ll say please charge once at 20% battery and again at 10% battery.
However the thing about the XP700 is that you can always extend its battery life a little bit by either using it with its light feature turned off like I mentioned earlier or you can turn off mega bass. Or you can always switch it over to stamina mode which will turn off both the light feature and mega bass so that you can get maximum battery life.
Now one new feature on Sony’s new X series of speaker is its battery care setting which basically will stop your speaker from charging past 90% battery. Now you will have to sacrifice a little bit of battery life but the idea here is that this will extend the life of your battery. So if you plan on using this speaker for a few years than you’ll might want to use this setting.
But now lets talk about the ports on this speaker. For starters this speaker has 2 quarter inch mic inputs which could be a big deal for people who want to do karaoke or for hosting small events. But if you want you can also plug in a guitar.
Now this speaker also has two USB A Ports so that you can charge your own devices and you can even play music off of a USB stick off of one of these ports. Now personally I think its great that this speaker has two USB A ports but I wish this speaker also had a USB C port so that you can charge your own device cause a lot of newer phones these days now come included with USB C cables.
But finally there is a 3.5 millimeter audio jack if you want to use a wired connection with this speaker. But unfortunately this speaker doesn’t have an RCA inputs for any of you guys that might moon light as a DJ.
Now regarding bluetooth connectivity, this speaker is using bluetooth 5.0 but more importantly it can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, there’s zero lately across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone and when it comes to audio codecs the XP700 has your standard Sony set up of SBC, AAC and LDAC.
But now lets actually talk about listening to music with the speaker. Regarding speaker set ups the XP700 has dual frontward firing woofers and a total of 4 tweeters. There’s 3 on the front which you can clearly see and this is what youd find on the XB90… but new for the XP700, there’s now a tweeter on the back. However all of these tweeters aren’t always firing. If you’ve got this speaker laying down like then it’ll use just these tweeters, or if you’ve got this speaker standing up right then it’ll use these tweeters and the tweeter on the back. Now keep in mind whether you use this speaker standing up or laying down youre still going to get a stereo set up. As in you’ve got your left channel and your right channel. This speaker does not turn into a mono speaker if you were to stand it up right. Now like with most other speakers that charge via an AC port, if you use this speaker while its plugged in it’ll get a little louder and its bass will punch a little harder. However with just its built in battery this speaker gets more than loud enough. But if you’re hosting an event then you’ll might want to plug it in. But now lets jump into the sound test… this speaker is going to be playing at 50% volume but we’re going to use with its mega bass turned on and while its plugged in, we’re also going to use it with mega bass turned on but unplugged and we’re going to use it while in stamina mode.
So overall in classic Sony fashion the XP700 does have a warmer sound signature to it and just as you’d expect this speaker has a lot of bass to it. But like you may have heard if you use this speaker while in stamina mode its bass gets severely reduced. But the trade off here is that you do get to extend your battery life. Now whether you use this speaker while its plugged in or not this thing is going to have no problem rattling the walls in your house and even while its out doors you're going to feel a decent amount of physicality out of this speaker. But if you use this speaker while its plugged in you’re going to get more bass. Now even though the vocals on this speaker will might not be as pronounced as the JBL Partybox 310, the bass on the XP700 doesn’t really overpower the mids, which is an issue with the Sony XG500. And unlike the Sony XG500… the XP700 doesn’t sound super narrow which is a good thing. Now the Partybox 310 does manage to inch out the XP700 regarding instrument separation but nonetheless the XP700 does sound fairly open. The XP700 doesn’t sound muffled like the Sony XB90 which was an issue.
But if you do want to bring the mids out a little bit on this speaker you can always do so through Sony’s app. Now while we’re here I do want to quickly address live sound mode on this speaker. Now I never use this setting or rarely talk about it cause all it does is that it adds reverb to your music which I don’t think sounds all the great and in all honesty its just a gimmick.
But finally there’s max volume on this speaker. Like I mentioned earlier there’s no way you’re going to be able to use this speaker at max volume indoors without suffering any hearing damage. And if you use this speaker at max volume out doors expect a visit from the cops, or at the very least grumpy neighbors. But nonetheless the XP700 gets impressively loud for its size even off of its internal battery. Its not like the XP500 which off of its internal battery really just leaves you wanting more. But you can always get more out of the XP700 if you use it while its plugged in. But over I feel the XP700 is a speaker that you’re mostly just going to use between 25 and maybe 60 percent volume while at home. But if you’re like having a rave thats a whole other story.
But finally lets talk about speaker pairing protocols. The XP700 is now using Sony’s new party connect. Meaning that you can pair this speaker up to other party connect speakers like either another XP700, or you can pair it up to a sony XP500. But the really neat thing about Sony’s party connect is that you can also pair it up to Sony’s smaller speakers like either a Sony XG500, XB43, XB33, or even an XB23.
And this is a pretty big deal cause JBL doesn’t allow you to pair their smaller JBL Partyboost speakers to their larger Partybox speakers. However Sony’s Party Connect only works with other sony speakers use Party Connect. If you have older Sony speakers using Wireless Party Chain then you can’t pair them together.
Now over all Sony’s Party Connect gets the job done but its not my favorite speaker pairing protocol. Its not as easy to use, sometimes not all of your speakers will get paired together, and sometimes you will hear some stuttering. However one thing Party Connect does have going for it is that you can pair your large box speakers to your smaller more portable speakers.
But with all that being said, the Sony XP700 is a decent large portable bluetooth box speaker that has some major upgrades from its predecessor, specifically it sounds much clearer than the XB90 but the XP700 still maintains its warmer bass heavy sound signature. But if you want you can always go in and raise the mids on this speaker through Sony’s app. Now personally I think the XP700’s new light feature is more dynamic looking than Sony’s previous Box speakers… but you are better off just turning off this light feature out doors in the day time cause you're just going to be wasting battery cause you can’t see it. Now if youre a casual user yeah the XP700 will deliver, but if youre someone that like to moonlight as a DJ you’ll might have to pass on this one cause of no RCA inputs and no DJ stand.