So this is the LG XBOOM XL7… now personally I really like how this speaker sounds, I like that its a little smaller than the super popular JBL Partybox 310 and I think the customizable light feature on the front is pretty neat. However, there are some short comings about this speaker that I do have to point out… but regardless, lets see what the LG XBOOM XL7 is all about.
Regarding pricing, the LG XBOOM XL7 has a retail price of $600. And I am going to be straight up, that is a little steep especially when compared to its direct competitors like the JBL Partybox 310 and Sony XP700 which have a retail price of $550 but they like to go on sale for around $450. What im trying to say is, I wouldn’t pay more than $450 for the XL7. But if you want to pick this speaker up, it’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. The XL7 looks very similar to the JBL Partybox 310. Its got a mostly plastic body which can be a scratch magnet if you try to transport this speaker, it has a thin metal grill on the which can get dented easily… but more importantly, the XL7 has a retractable handle in it and it has built in wheels. So you can roll this speaker around which does make life a little easier cause this thing weighs in at 34 pounds. And these wheels are decently sized… so they do any okay job if you’re trying to roll this speaker around in a parking lot. But in general, one of the things that I enjoy about this speaker is that it is a little smaller than the Partybox 310… so cramming it in your car is a little easier if you’re on the go. Now even though the plastic body of this speaker is rather soft, so I wouldn’t say that its super durable… the XL7 is rocking an IPX4 rating… meaning that if it gets splashed on or rained on a little bit… its going to be fine. Just remember to keep the port panel on the back covered. Now even though the XL7 is really trying to copy the 310’s design… something that it is missing is that this speaker doesn’t have a top hat mount on the bottom, but it does have a little storage compartment on the back for you to store your cables or something.
But now lets turn our attention to the light feature on this speaker. Now first, there’s an LED screen on the front and from LG’s app you can choose from different animations. But also, you can independently choose the style of your woofer lighting. And this woofer lighting is very similar to the ring lights that you’ll find on JBL’s speakers, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Overall, LG’s light feature is dynamic. But something that LG does have over JBL here is that you can customize what goes on the LED screen. Now your options are still relatively limited… but it is something. Overall, I think LG’s speaker has a decent light feature on it, its more dynamic and impressive than Sony’s light features… but I don’t think that it looks as good as JBL’s light features.
However, if you do decide to use this light feature, that is going to take its toll on the battery life. Now this speaker has an advertised battery life of 20 hours… which is very impressive. But this advertised battery life is with the light feature on this speaker turned off, its Sound Boost EQ turned on and with the volume playing at 50% volume… which is already a really good listening volume.
Now if you were to use this speaker at a higher volume and with the light feature turned on and with the Sound Boost EQ turned on, then that’s going to drain your battery life faster. Now for me, I was able to get about 10 hours of continuous playback time from this speaker while it was playing at 75% volume, which is impressive… but in general, with these larger box speakers, battery life really depends on how your use these speakers. Cause if you were to use this speaker at a higher volume, that’s going to drain your battery life faster… or if you were to use this speaker with its sound boost eq turned off, that’s going to extend your battery life because by turning off the sound boost EQ feature… that really relaxes the bass on this speaker.
Now when it comes to connectivity, this speaker can be connected to two devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ, latency also isn’t an issue, so you can watch videos with this speakers, and when it comes to audio codecs, it has support for SBC and AAC. unfortunately, this speaker doesn’t have support for APTX of APTX HD like with some of LG’s older XBOOM speakers.
And also, something that is unfortunate about this speaker is that it doesn’t have an audio jack, so you can’t use it with a wired connection. And personally, I find it super weird that a speaker of this size doesn’t have an audio jack… but it does have a USB A port so you can play music off of a USB A stick. Now you can also use this USB A port to charge your own devices… but most phones these days come included with USB C cables now.
But this speaker does have 2 quarter inch inputs. Now you can plug in a microphone and do karaoke, and from LG’s app you can customize the sound of your microphone. Now even though technically you can plug in a second microphone into this speaker… this second input is meant for a guitar, so its has a lot more resistance. Meaning that the microphone that you plug into this second input isn’t going to sound as loud as the first input.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with this speaker. Now when it comes to speaker set up, the XL7 has a frontward firing 8 inch woofer with frontward firing exhaust ports and it has dual frontward firing tweeters up top. Now like I mentioned earlier, the XL7 has this Sound Boost EQ mode which is basically going to up your mids and its also going pump your bass. Now for the best listening experience, you want to use this speaker with its Sound Boost turned on… cause when its turned off, this speaker doesn’t get as loud and the bass gets a relaxed by a lot. Making it sound flat… but this helps extend your battery life. But this speaker does have a customizable eq, so you can make it sound however you want. But personally I just like using this speaker with its sound boost eq turned on. I feel LG got it right here. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. This speaker is playing at 75% volume and we’re going to cycle between sound boost being turned on and off, and we’re also going to use this speaker while its plugged in, cause when its plugged in, you get a very big performance bump.
So, sound quality wise, personally I really like how this speaker sounds. The mids on this speaker are really able to shine with this speaker. And when it comes to the bass, the bass on this speaker is mostly on the audible side. As in, this speaker doesn’t rattle the walls in your house as much as with other speakers… but you can still hear the bass and the bass never muddles the vocals like with some other box speakers out there. Overall, I would mainly recommend this speaker to someone who likes a more vocals heavy sound signature… and to someone who might not want their speaker to rattle the walls in their house. Now I know this might sound crazy, cause some people get large box speakers so that you can feel the bass… but with the XL7, its doesn’t rattle you as much as with other speakers… but its also not flat. You can hear the bass but you don’t feel it as much. Now part of the reason why the bass on the XL7 is the way that it is, its cause it has these frontward firing exhaust ports… which also means, you can’t really do much to amplify the bass on the this speaker, like you can with other speakers out there that have rear firing exhaust ports, cause if you place them up against a wall, that’s going to increase your bass.
Now when it comes to max volume performance this speaker gets more than loud enough while its running off of its internal battery. But if you were to use this speaker while its plugged in, you’re going to get a big performance bump out of it. Its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. Now you’re going to get a performance boost with plenty of other box speakers out there when you use them while they are plugged in… but I can’t help but notice that the XBOOM gives you the most drastic performance improvement when its plugged in, compared to other speakers out there. Overall, I like how this speaker sounds and it get plenty loud while its running off of its internal battery… but if you were to use this speaker while its plugged in… you’re going to get a lot more out of it.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker with other speakers. Now if you have two XBOOM XL7’s than you’ll be able to wirelessly pair them up and get to play in left and right stereo mode… or if you have multiple XL7’s or XL5’s, then you’ll be able to pair them up and have them all playing in sync, and you can pair up to 100 speakers together which is obviously just overall kill.
So with all of that being said, personally I like the XBOOM XL7 cause I like its Melo sound profile, I like the big performance boost that you get out of it while its plugged in, I like the battery life performance on this speaker, and I like that its a little smaller than the Partybox 310. However, there are some drawbacks that I have to point out. I hate that there’s no audio jack so you can use it with a wired connection, and I don’t like that it doesn’t have an audio out jack either. Unfortunately you can technically only plug in one microphone for karaoke… and when it comes to the overall build quality of this speaker, even though it is decent… it does feel a little flimsy when compared to its direct competitors. But overall, if you’re looking for a box speaker with a mellow sound signature… something that doesn’t have an obnoxious amount of chest rattling bass… then you’ll might want to go with the XBOOM XL7.