So the JBL Partybox 110 is a great compact portable box speaker that has no problem delivering on sound and even looks. But today we’re going to see how the Partybox 110 stacks up to its larger brothers the JBL Partybox 310 and JBL Boombox 2. If you’re looking for a large speaker either for your man cave, bedroom, or for entraining with all of these speakers are solid options… but depending on your needs you’ll might be better off with one over the other.

Now regarding pricing, the 110 is the least expensive speaker here retailing for $350 where as both the Boombox 2 and 310 retail for $500. So definitely the $150 savings on the 110 can be a deciding factor for some people… and in general the 110 is a good medium between the Boombox 2 and 310. But if you want the most portability here then you’ll definitely want to go with the Boombox 2, or if you want the most sound then you’ll want to go with the 310. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below. 

Now first lets talk about the design of these speakers. Both the Partybox 110 and 310 have a mostly plastic body and a metal grill on the front. So if you plan on constantly taking either of these speakers on the go with you they can be scratch magnets. However both of these speakers are rocking IPX4 ratings meaning that they are water resistant mainly cause you can seal off the ports on the back on both of these speakers. So if either the 110 or 310 were to get caught in a little bit of rain, they should be just fine as long as the ports on the back are covered up. And if you want, both the 310 and 110 have speaker stand mounts on the bottom if you need them. However when it comes to the control panels on both of these partybox’s I do have to point out that with the 310 you can control the Bass, treble, and echo of your mic directly from the speaker itself, you’ve also got DJ effects, but more importantly this panel lights up in the dark which I feel is a very nice touch. Where as with the110, this control panel is just mainly 2 big dials up top. And when it comes to portability, the 110 weighs in at 23 pounds and has built in carry handles, so moving this speaker around isn’t too bad. But then there’s the Partybox 310 which has built in wheels. So even though this speaker weighs in at 42 pounds… if you can use the wheels moving this speaker around is even easier than the 110. But then there’s the boombox 2 which weighs in at just 13 pounds making it the most portable speaker here. But also the Boombox 2 is the most durable speaker here cause it has a mostly fabric wrapped body meaning that it won’t get as scratched up as the Partybox’s. And it's also water proof. So like I said, if you want the most portable speaker here then you’ll want to go with the Boombox 2. 

But now lets address the light features found on both the 310 and 110. In general, JBL makes really good looking light features that are impressive and very vibrant. However I do have to admit that the 110’s light feature looks better than the light feature on the 310. But the more important thing here is that you can control both of these light features through JBL’s Partybox app. So you can remotely cycle between different lightning modes and you can even customize them if you want. However just keep in mind if you decide to use the light feature on either of these speakers, it is going to take its tool on the battery life. 

But now lets talk about tech specs. The Boombox 2 has an advertised battery life of 24 hours but thats with this speaker playing at 50% volume. And 50% volume on this speaker is a decent listening volume for listening to music at home while you’re doing chores and its a decent volume for when you’ve got friends over. However at 80% volume for like lets say you’re working out this speaker is good for about 7 hours of playback time. 

But then there’s the Partybox 110 which has an advertised battery life of 12 hours. But thats with this speaker playing at around 20% volume, with the light feature turned off and with bass boost turned off as well. Now 20% volume on the 110 is good for like ambiance… but its nowhere near as loud as the Boombox 2 at 50% volume. However real world use with the 110 playing at 65% volume which is good for working out with the light feature turned on and with bass boost set to level… the 110 is good for about 8 hours of playback time. 

But then there’s the partybox 310 which has an advertised battery life of 18 hours, but thats with this speaker playing at 50% volume, with the light feature turned off and with bass boost turned off as well. And 50% volume on the 310 is like  65% to 70% volume on the Boombox 2. So 50% volume on the 310 is already a really good listening volume. But obviously if you were to use the 310 at a higher volume, with the light feature turned on or with Bass Boost turned on  thats going to drain your battery life a little faster. 

However something that the 310 has over these other two speakers is that it has a 12 volt charging port. So if you want you can get JBL’s optional car charger and be able to power your speaker with your car which could come in handy if you plan on taking your speaker on a camping trip and it dies on you. 

But now lets talk about the ports on these speakers. Most notably both Partybox’s has 2 quarter inch inputs so if you want you can plug in a pair of mics on either of these speakers for karaoke. Now you can adjust the Bass, treble, or echo on either of these speakers… but keep in mind these changes only affects any microphone you have plugged into your speaker… not your music. 

Now all three of these speakers also have USB A ports which you can use to charge your own devices. However with both Partyboxes you can also play music off of a USB stick if you want. Where as you can’t with the Boombox 2. Now I think its great and all that all of these speakers have USB A ports but I really wish these speakers had a USB C port instead so that you can create your own devices or use it a wired connection cause most phones these days come with USB C cable instead.

However, if you need to you can still use a wired connection with any of these speakers cause they all have an audio jack. However with the Partyboxes they both have audio out jacks as well. So if you’ve got a spare speaker lying around regardless of brand or size… you can always daisy chain it to a partybox and get them to play in sync. 

But when it comes to wireless connectivity all of these speakers can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ… they all have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device and when it comes to audio codecs the Boombox 2 only has support for SBC where as both partyboxes have support for both SBC and AAC. 

But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these speakers. Regarding speaker set ups the Boombox 2 has a pair of frontward firing woofers, a pair or frontward firing tweeters and a pair of passive radiators that shoot out the sides. Where as both the Partybox 110 and 310 have a pair of frontward firing woofers and a pair of frontward tweeters but just bigger. And both partyboxes have an exhaust port that shoots out the back. Now with all of these speakers if you were to use them while theyre plugged in you’ll get a performance boost out of them. They’ll all get a little louder and they’ll all have a little more bass. But now we're going to jump into the sound test. All of these speakers are playing while unplugged and both partyboxes are playing while in bass boost level one… but the 310 is playing at 65 percent volume, the 110 is playing at 70 percent volume and the Boombox 2 is playing at 75% volume. 

Regarding sound signatures all of these speakers have your classic JBL sound where the mids are a little elevated putting a slight emphasis on the vocals and the bass comes in strong when it has to. However I can’t help but feel that both Partyboxes sound a little more open and have a little better instrument separation than the Boombox 2. But the main thing that I want to stress here is that with the boombox 2, its bass only increases until like 80 or 85% percent volume. And then after that when you increase the bass really only the mids and highs get louder making the Boombox 2 sound a little nasally at those super high volumes. Where as with both the 110 and 310 their bass linearly increases all the way to max volume. Now obviously the larger the speaker the more bass you’re going to have. So if you’re really after that wall shaking bass then you want to go with the 310. However the 110 does have a lot of bass as well and it punches way harder than the Boombox 2 as well. 

Now when it comes to max volume, again the larger the speaker the louder its going to get. However just keep in mind that with all of these speakers if you use them while theyre plugged in you’re going to get a performance boost out of them. Now when the boombox 2 is plugged in it gets almost as loud as the 110 when its playing off of its internal battery… but it doesn’t sound the same cause it does sound brighter and it doesn’t have as much bass. And then there’s the 110 which gets almost as loud as the 310 running off of its internal battery if you’ve got it plugged in. And then there’s the 310 which is just a monster when its plugged in but I doubt anybody will actually get to use this cause you’ll certainly get a visit from the cops. So over all, all of these speakers have the same JBL sound signature to them. However if you do want the best sound here then you do want to go with a partybox over the boombox 2 cause these partyboxes sound a little more open and they have more bass to them. 

But the last thing to keep in mind with all of these JBL speakers is that you can’t go in and directly adjust the EQ on these speakers to your liking. Now yeah you do have your bass boost buttons on the Partyboxes but you can’t directly adjust the Bass, Mid, and treble on these speakers. And keep in mind the Karaoke adjustments you’ll might make on the Partyboxes only affects your microphone… not your music.

But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now Boombox 2 has JBL PartyBoost meaning that you can wirelessly pair it up to other party boost speakers like another Boombox 2, an Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Flip 5 or JBL Pulse 4. And you can pair up to 100 speaker together which is obviously over kill. 

However you cannot wirelessly pair a Boombox 2 to a partybox. Now you can daisy chain a Boombox 2 to a partybox if you’ve got a spare audio cable lying around. But party boost doesn’t work with Partyboxes. 

However, you can wirelessly pair up to 2 partyboxes together. Now if you’ve got a 110 and 310 paired up like I do they’ll play in sync. But if you want left and right stereo sound going you’re going to need 2 of the same models. But do keep in mind you can not wirelessly pair a 110 or 310 to any older models. So if you’ve got a Partybox 100 or 300 those won’t pair with these newer models. Overall there is some fragmentation to look out for here and I still really wish JBL would just bring party boost to their Partyboxes. 

But with all that being said, if you’re trying to choose between any of these speakers the Partybox 110 is going to give you the best bang for your buck. Its the most affordable speaker here, its compact, and it sounds better than the Boombox 2. It sounds a little more open and it has more bass. However if you need something smaller or more portable the Boombox 2 is a good pick up as well. But the main thing about the Boombox 2 is that it has Partyboost. So if you want you can collect other party boost speakers and get them to play in sync and you’re going to be able to cover a large area with your music. And finally there’s the 310. Obviously this thing is overkill… but if you need the loudest speaker with the most bass then this is the way.