The Partybox Encore essential is a little box speaker that packs a big punch in a very small package. And I feel that for a lot of people, the encore essential is going to be more than enough. But today we’re going to compare the Partybox Encore essential to the JBL Partybox 110… and we’re also going to compare it to the Sony XP500.
Now the Encore essential retails for $300… not bad, but so that there isn’t any confusion, there’s also the Partybox Encore that’s in the pipe line that retails for $400. And basically its going to have a longer battery life, an expanded light feature and its going to come included with two mics. But honestly at $400, I think you should just pick up the 110 if you can find it. And then there’s also the XP500 which also retails for $400. Nonetheless, if you want pick any of these speakers up, they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of these speakers. Now both the 110 and XP500 are relatively small box speakers and they’re both relatively easy to take on the go with you. The XP500 weighs in at 25 pounds and the 110 weighs in at 23 pounds. So both of these speakers are easy to carry around and they’re both relatively easy to throw into your car. However, the Encore is half the size of these other two speakers and the encore weighs in at 13 pounds. So this little box speaker is even easier to take on the go with you. But even though these speakers are meant to be taken on the go with you… they aren’t the most durable things out there. All of these speakers are using relatively soft plastics and they all love to collect scratches… and they all have thin metal grills on the front. So if you do plan on taking these speakers on the go with you somewhere, you are going to have to baby them. But thankfully, all of these speakers are rocking in IPX4 rating… meaning that a little bit of rain or getting splashed on isn’t going to be an issue for any of these speakers. However, I would be mindful about not getting any dirt or water into the rear exhaust ports on any of these speakers. But finally, I do have to point out that the 110 is the only speaker here with a speaker stand mount on the bottom. Where as these other two speakers don’t… but honestly, I don’t think that this is an issue for the Encore just given its size and overall performance.
But something that all of these speakers do have is a light feature. And you shouldn’t make your speaker purchase decision solely on a light feature… but if you were, JBL is the way to go. Sony’s light feature is okay, but its not as impressive as JBL’s. Now the Encore has a full RGB ring light going around its woofer… and it also has a strobe light. But personally I keep that strobe light off cause it is very annoying. But then there’s the 110 who’s light feature is just larger. You’ve got ring lights around both woofers and there are additional ring lights around the tweeters. But whether you decided to go with the Encore or 110… these light features are very dynamic, they’re very bright and they’re going to look great both at night and indoors. But if you do decide to use these light features, they will take their toll on the battery life.
But now lets talk about the battery life on these speakers cause there’s a lot of nuance here. The Sony XP500 has an advertised battery life of 20 hours where as the Partybox 110 has an advertised battery life of 12 hours and the Encore Essential has an advertised battery life of 6 hours. But the XP500’s advertise battery life of 20 hours is with it playing at 30% volume, with its light feature turned off but with its mega bass feature turned on which is good. However 30% volume on this speaker is nothing. Its good for like ambiance but its not good for like actually listening to music. And overall, max volume on the XP500 is a problem, but we will get into that later.
Where as with the 110 its advertised battery life is with this speaker playing at a little over 20% volume, but with its light feature turned off and with bass boost turned off. However 20% volume on the Partybox is noticeably louder than 30% volume on the Sony XP500. And in general the Sony XP500 is a little quiet for its size while playing off of its internal battery. So personally I feel most people will be using the Sony between 50 to a hundred percent volume on a regular basis. Where as with the 110, 60 to 80% volume is a good listening while outdoors volume. So real world use with the XP500 playing at 80% volume, with its light feature turned on and with mega bass turned on this speaker is good for about 8 hours which is fine. Where as with the 110 playing at 65% volume which is the same loudness as the XP500 at 80%, with its light feature turned on and with bass boost set to level 1 this speaker is also good for about 8 hours of play back time.
But then there’s the Encore essential who has an advertised battery life of 6 hours. But that advertised battery life of 6 hours is with this speaker playing at 65% volume… which is a good volume for outdoor use, and I would argue that its too loud for indoor use… with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off as well.
But real world use for me, while I use this speaker while I’m working out at home… at 50% volume, with the light feature turned on and with the bass set to punchy… which is the second level of bass boost… I get about 5 hours of playback time out of this speaker. Which is okay… but this speaker certainly does not have as much stamina to it as these other two speakers.
But now lets talk about the ports on these speakers… Now the encore has a single quarter inch input so you can only plug in one microphone into it… where as these other two speakers you can plug in two microphones. So if you’re planning on doing lots of karaoke, then you’ll might want to go with these larger speakers cause of the additional input.
But something that all of these speakers do have is a USB A and you can either use these USB A ports to charge your own devices if you really must… or you can play music off of a USB stick. Now I think its great and all that all of these speakers have USB A ports… but I really wish that these speakers had a USB C port as well, like the JBL Xtreme 3.
And finally, there are the audio jacks on these speakers. Now you can use a wired connection with any of these speakers, as you should. However, the 110 also has an audio out jack. So if you want, you can daisy chain any other speaker to it and get them to play in sync. And I think this can be a very useful feature that I wish the XP500 also had.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, these speakers are almost all the same. Now all of these speakers can be connected to two devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for any of these speakers so your audio and visual will be in sync… but when it comes to audio codecs, both party boxes only have support for SBC and AAC, which is fine… but the XP500 has support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s own LDAC.
But now lets talk about speaker set ups… the Encore has a single frontward firing woofer and dual frontward tweeters. Where as both the 110 and XP500 have dual frontward firing woofers and dual frontward firing tweeters. And with both the 110 and XP500, you have your left channel and your right channel. But something that all of these speakers have in common is that they have rear firing exhaust ports… so with any of these speakers, you can amplify their bass by simply placing them up against a wall. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. The 110 is playing at 75% volume, the Encore is playing at 80% volume, and the XP500 is playing at max Volume. And the XP500 is playing with its mega bass turned on and both partybox’s are playing with their bass boost set to deep.
So first I think we need to address max volume on these speakers. Now both the Encore and 110 get decently loud while they are running off of their internal battery. Where as with the XP500… not so much. At max volume, while the XP500 is running off of its internal battery… this speaker just doesn’t get as loud as you’d expect. However, if you were to use any of these speakers while they’re plugged in, they’re all going to get you a performance bump. They’re all going to get a little louder and have a little more bass. And when the XP500 is plugged in, that’s when this speaker starts to perform just as you’d expect. Now both the 110 and Encore get a performance bump as well… but their performance bump isn’t as dramatic as the XP500’s. But overall, while they are running off of their internal batteries… the Encore does get noticeably louder than the XP500… but it doesn’t get as loud as the 110. And overall, the 110 is going to get louder and have more bass than the Encore whether these speakers are plugged in or running off of their internal batteries.
But when it comes to overall sound… the Sony does have a warmer sound signature than these other two speakers. So the Sony can sound a little shallow at times. Where as both Partybox’s do a better job of bringing out the mids. But I did notice that the Encore does have an ever slighter brighter sound signature than the 110. But overall, I do prefer the sound signatures of both Partybox’s over the Sony. But I do have to point out, that with the Sony, if you want you can go in adjust its EQ to your liking. And with the Encore, you can also adjust its EQ to your liking. And as of May 2022, this is something that you can’t do with the 110, 310, or 710. But I do think that these other Partyboxes will get an adjustable EQ like the Encore in a future software update. But overall, if you want the best sound quality… then the Partybox 110 is the way to go here. Even though you can’t adjust its EQ… I think this speaker sounds fine with its bass boost set to deep… and the 110 is just going to have more physicality in it bass than the Encore. And then there’s the Encore, personally I like to use this speaker with its bass boost set to punchy, cause it will do a good job of keeping up with the 110… and overall I do feel that the Encore out preforms the XP500 sound quality wise, espically when they’re running off of their internal batteries.
But finally lets talk about paring these speakers up with other speakers. Now the XP500 is the most accommodating speaker here. You can pair it up to another XP500 or to an XP700… and you can also pair it up to Sony’s more portable speakers like either an XG500 or even an XB43, XB33 or XB23… and you can pair upto 100 speakers together. Now even though Sony is super accommodating… their speaker paring protocol isn’t the best. Syncing your speakers together can sometimes be a pain and sometimes they will cut out when they are playing. Its not my favorite… but it works when it does.
And then there’s Partybox’s TWS… now you can pair an encore up to another encore, to a 110, to a 310 or to a 710 and you can only have up to two speakers wirelessly paired to one another, which I feel is just not enough. And if you want to get let and right stereo sound going with either of these partybox’s or even Sony’s speakers… you need to have 2 of the same speakers.
And its also very important to keep in mind that you can’t pair any of your party box speakers, up to any of JBL’s smaller Partyboost speakers. So if you have a Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Charge 5, Flip 6, Flip 5 or any other speaker out there that uses Partyboost… they will not pair with any Partybox.
Now even though JBL’s TWS is very limited… it works very well. It is very easy to use, all of your speakers always get synced up, and skipping is not an issue. But personally, I just wish JBL would just use Partyboost on their Partybox Speakers.
But like I mentioned earlier… the 110 does have that audio out jack… so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to it and get them to play in sync… regardless of size or brand.
But with all of that being said, I like the Partybox Encore. Its does a really good job off keeping up with the 110 regarding sound quality… and it has decent enough battery life given its small size and out put. And I really feel that the Encore easly out performs the XP500 sound quality wise when running off of its internal battery. But if you were to use the XP500 while its plugged in, that’s a different story. I think the encore essential is a great little box speaker for the summer, and it should have no problem delivering… but if you want more bass, more volume, more battery life, and more ports… then the 110 is the way to go.