Get Them Here
So overall Sony’s new X series line up speakers is decent. The Sony XG500 is super portable, its got a great battery life, and it has a mic input which is a little rare for a speaker like this. The XP700 is a good large box speaker which delivers all around and then there’s the XP500 which is also good… but you’ll might want to use this speaker mostly while its plugged in. But nonetheless if you’re trying to decide between either of these speakers lets see which ones right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Sony XP500 retails for $350 where as both the XG500 and XP700 retail for $450. Now with the XG500 you’re paying for portability where as with the XP700 you’re paying for sound. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below and if you want to learn more about any of these speakers please watch their full reviews cause we’re only going over their main differences.
Now first lets talk about the design of these speakers. Both the XP500 and XP700 are your typical box speakers with a mostly plastic body which can be a scratch magnet and there’s a metal grill on the front. Regarding portability, both of these speakers have built in carrying handles… however the XP700 weighs in at 37 pounds where as the XP500 weighs in at a little under 25 pounds. So traveling with both of these speakers is doable but not super easy. However both of these box speakers are rocking IPX4 rating mainly cause you can seal off their ports from the elements. Meaning that if either of these speakers were to get a little wet or rained on a little bit of water isn’t going to hurt them. However one important thing to point out about both of these box speakers is that you can’t use either of these speakers with a speaker stand. But then there’s the Sony XG500 which is just way more durable and way more portable. Since this speaker has a mostly fabric wrapped body it can better stand up to constant abuse, and since its much smaller and lighter weighing in at a little over 12 pounds… this speaker is much easier to take on the go with you. So if portability is a big deal to you then the XG500 is the obvious choice here.
But then there’s the light feature on these speakers. Now the light features on the box speakers are way more visible than the light feature found on the XG500 which really only illuminates its passive radiators. And the light features on both the XP500 and XP700 has a good back splashing effect to it. But regardless you can control the light feature on any of these speakers through Sony’s app, and you’ve got a few different lighting modes to choose. Now personally I do think the light features on the XP500 and XP700 are more impressive than the light feature found on the XG500… but just keep in mind if you do decide to use the light feature on any of these speakers it is going to take its toll on the battery life.
But now lets talk about battery lives on these speakers. The XP700 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours but thats with this speaker playing at 25% percent volume, with its light feature turned off but with its mega bass feature turned on which is good. Now if we were talking about either the XG500 or XP500 25% volume is nothing. But 25% volume on the XP700 is a comfortable listening volume. And for comparison sake having XP700 playing at 50% volume is like having either the XP500 or XG500 playing at max volume.
Now personally I think most people will end up using the XP700 between 25 to 45% volume on a regular basis. 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. But keep in mind if you were to use this speaker at a higher volume than your battery life is going to drain faster… then you’ll might get a visit from the cops.
But then there’s the battery life on the XG500 and XP500. The Sony XG500 has an advertised battery life of 30 hours but thats with this speaker playing a little below 50% volume, with the light feature turned off but with mega bass turned on. And for its size 50% volume is a decent listening volume on the XG500.
But real world use with this speaker playing at 80% volume, with mega boost turned on, and with the light feature turned on im getting a very healthy 8 hours of playback time. Now keep in mind if you were to use this speaker at max volume then your battery life is going to go down… but nonetheless real world battery life on this speaker for its compact size is great.
But then there’s the XP500 which has an advertised battery life of 20 hours. But that’s with this speaker playing at 30% volume with its light feature turned off but with its mega bass feature turned on which again is a good thing. However 30% volume on this speaker is nothing especially given its size, its good for like ambiance… but not really for like actually listening to music.
And max volume off of its internal battery is a real issue for the XP500. Cause for comparison sake the XP500 playing at max volume off of its internal battery is like having the smaller Sony XG500 playing at max volume as well. So real world use I except most people will be using the XP500 at around 80% volume just like the XG500. And at 80% volume with mega bass turned on and with the light feature turned on im getting about 8 hours playback time before the battery is fully drained as well… which is okay, but its not very impressive for the size of this speaker.
So overall regarding battery the XP700 delivers for its size, where as the Sony XG500 does out perform its direct competitors the JBL Boombox 2 and UE Hyperboom regarding battery life. So if battery life is very important to you then either of these speakers are good pick ups. Where as with the XP500 even though 8 hours is okay… its not very impressive for its sheer size.
But now lets talk about ports on these speakers. Most importantly you can plug in a microphone with any of these speakers so that you can either do karaoke or for hosting small events. However the XG500 only has one mic input where as both the XP500 and XP700 have 2 mic inputs.
Now all three of these speakers have 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 on all of these speakers so you can use a wired connection. But unfortunately none of these speakers have RCA inputs which is mostly unfortunate for the larger XP500 and XP700.
Now regarding bluetooth connectivity, all of these speakers are using bluetooth 5.0 but more importantly they can all be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, there’s zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone and when it comes to audio codecs they all have your standard Sony set up of SBC, AAC and LDAC.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these speakers. Regarding speaker set ups they're all different. The XG500 has a dual frontward firing woofers, dual frontward firing tweeters and a pair of passive radiators that shoot out the sides. Very typical for a speaker of this size. Then there’s the larger XP500 which has slightly larger dual frontward firing woofers and dual center mounted frontward firing tweeters. And finally there’s the XP700 which has the largest dual frontward firing woofers here and it has a total of 4 tweeters. There’s three in front which you can see right here and there’s one that shoots out the back. However all of these tweeters aren’t always firing on the XP700. If you’ve got this speakers laying down like this then it’ll use these two tweeters. Or if you’ve got it standing up right then it’ll use these two tweeters and the one on the back. Now the idea of this rear tweeter is that it will bounce sound off of the wall if you’ve got this speaker up against a wall… but in all honesty I can’t tell a difference. But with either the XP500 or XP700 whether you’ve got these speakers laying down flat of standing up right you’ve got your left channel and your right channel. These speakers don’t turn into a mono speaker if you’ve got them standing up right. And finally with all of these speakers if you were to use them while plugged in you are going to get a performance bump out of them. They're going to get louder and they're going to have more bass. However the performance bump that you get out of the XP500 while its plugged in is way more drastic than the performance bump you’ll get out of these other two speakers. Now ill elaborate about max volume on the XP500 in a little bit… but for right now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Now all of these speakers are playing with mega bass turned on but the SP700 is playing at 50% volume where as these other two speakers are playing at max volume.
So over all Sony’s speakers tend to have a warmer sound signature to them. But if you want you can always go in and raise the mids on any of these speakers through Sony’s app so that vocals are a little more prominent. Now obviously the larger the speaker the more wall shaking bass you’re going to have. But I do gotta say that when it comes to instrument separation both the XP500 and XP700 sound much more open than the XG500 which can sound a little narrow. And also the bass on the XP500 and XP700 doesn’t over power the mids which can happen from time to time with the XG500. Now personally I do think the XG500 is a good option to consider if you need something portable with a long battery life… but I gotta say both the XP500 and XP700 sound much better than the XG500.
However when it comes to max volume… this is an area where the XP500 really leaves you wanting more when running off of its internal battery. When running off of its internal battery the XP500 only gets as loud as the Sony XG500. Now for its size and portability the XG500 get plenty loud… where as the XP500, not so much. But if you were to use the XP500 while its plugged in then it starts to sound as you’d expect. Its get way louder than the XG500 even while the XG500 is plugged in and the XP500 gets almost as loud as the XP700 while its running off of its internal battery. But again if you were to use the XP700 while its plugged in its going to get louder. But you’re not going to see as much of a performance bump on the XP700 like you do compared to the XP500. So overall when it comes to sound both the XP500 and XP700 sound more open than the XG500. However when it comes to max volume both the XP700 and XG500 deliver where as with the XP500 leaves you wanting more when running off of its internal battery.
But finally lets talk about speaker pairing protocols. All of these speakers are now using Sony’s new party connect. Meaning that you can pair any of these speakers to other party connect speakers like either an XP700, XP500, XG500… and you can also pair them up to Sony’s more portable speakers like either an XB43, XB33, or and XB23.
And this is a pretty big deal cause Sony’s party connect allows you to pair your larger box speakers to your smaller more portable speakers. Where lets say with JBL, you can’t pair your smaller party boost speakers to your larger Partybox speakers. However just keep in mind you can only pair party connect speaker to other party connect speakers. If you’ve got any old sony speaker using wireless party chain you’re out of luck.
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 the main thing Party Connect does have going for it is that you can pair your large box speakers to your smaller more portable speakers.
So with all that being said… if you’re trying to choose between any of Sony’s new X series line up of speakers, if sound is your main priority then you do wanna go with either the XP500 or XP700 cause they do sound noticeably more open and the XG500. However with the XP500 you’ll might want to use it mostly while its plugged in cause when running off of its internal battery at max volume it can leave you wanting more. But if you need something ultra portable and durable with a long battery life than the Sony XG500 is the obvious choice.