So this is the Soundboks Gen 4, its a super durable bluetooth speaker that sounds better and is more power efficient than its predecessor. But today we’re going to see how the Soundboks Gen 4 stacks up to both the JBL Partybox 710 and the Sony XV900. Two large portable Bluetooth speakers that are also very loud and they have built in light features… but they aren’t as durable.
Now regarding pricing, all of these speakers are up there. The JBL Partybox 710 has a retail price of $800. The Sony XV900 has a retail price of $900 but it likes to go on sale sometimes for $800 and then there’s the Soundboks Gen 4 which has a retail price of $1000. Now all three of these speakers are great but they are very different from one another. So depending on your needs you’ll be better off with on over the other. 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. One of the main selling points of the Soundboks 4 is that its fairly compact and light weight, weighing in at 35 and a half pounds. So carrying this speaker and taking this speaker on the go with you is a lot easier than these other speakers which are just larger and much heavier. Now both the 710 and XV900 have built in wheels… and the wheels on the 710 are a lot better than the wheels on the XV900… but still sometimes it is a two person job to move either of these two speakers around… where as with the soundboks, one single person should be able to transport this speakers and its also easier to cram into places. But also, the soundboks is just a lot more durable than these other speakers. It has an aluminum frame and silicone balls on each corner to absorb impacts, it has a tougher poplar cabinet, the steel frame on the front is a lot studier… and its water proof. Where as with these other two speakers… they’re a lot more fragile cause they have a mostly plastic body.
So both the JBL and Sony are going to be better suited to mainly live in your man cave… but the thing with these two speakers is that they both have built in light features. Which I will admit look pretty good. Personally I think JBL’s light feature looks more dynamic than Sony’s light feature… but nonetheless, these light features could be a minor selling point over the soundboks.
However if you use the light feature on the Sony XV900… that is going to take a toll on the battery life. Now the XV900 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… but that’s with the volume set to 30% but with the mega bass turned on which is good but that with the light feature turned off. But if you were to use this speaker with the light feature turned on… than your battery life is going to go down to 12 hours.
But if you were to use this speaker at max volume and with the mega bass turned on and with the light feature turned on… than its going to be good for up to 4 hours. But definitely, whether you have the light feature or mega bass feature turned on on this speaker, that is going to affect your battery life.
But then there’s the JBL Partybox 710… and this speaker actually doesn’t have a built in battery. I know that a lot of people assume that it does, but it doesn’t… you can only use it while its plugged in. So this speaker just isn’t as portable or as versatile as these other two speakers.
But then there’s the Soundboks 4… first off if you use this speaker at 50% volume with its stock eq then its going to go as long as 40 hours… but if you were to use this speak at max volume, and while in its stage EQ which is the EQ setting that you want to use to get the most out of this speaker cause its going to have more bass and its going to get louder… its going to be good for up to 6 hours of playback time… which is longer than the Sony XV900 and max volume the Soundboks 4 is significantly louder than the Sony XV900 when its at max volume.
But the really cool thing about the soundboks is that you can easily swap out the batteries in it, so if you have multiple batteries… than you can just swap them out and keep the party going with the soundboks. And this is just something that you cant do with these other two speakers.
Now regarding connectivity, with both the JBL and Sony both of these speaker can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, where as with the Soundboks, it can only be connected to one device at a time.
But with all of these speakers, they all have an audio jack so you can use them with a wired connection… but with both the JBL and Soundboks… they have an audio out jack as well, so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to these two speakers and get them to play in sync.
Where as with the XV900… it doesn’t have an audio out jack… but it does have an optical port… so you can always hook it up to your tv and use it as a soundbar if you want… and with both the JBL and Sony, they have a USB Port so you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. Where as with the soundboks, you cant.
And finally, with all of these speakers, you can plug in 2 quarter inch microphones for karaoke or you can plug in a guitar. But with the Soundboks… its using an XLR combo jack so you can also plug in a mixer if you want. So if you’re someone that likes to moonlight as a DJ, you’ll might want to go with the soundboks.
but if you’re a more casual person and you just want to do karaoke, than you’ll might want to go with the JBL cause you can easily adjust the sound of your microphone either directly from the control panel up top or you can just use the app.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker setups, these speakers are fairly different from one another. With the soundboks we have dual frontward firing woofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides, and we have a single tweeter horn. Where as with the JBL, it has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and it has dual frontward firing tweeters. And finally there’s the Sony XV900 which has a single frontward firing woofer with an exhaust port that shoots out the front, it has dual frontward firing mid range drivers and it has a total of six tweeters. Two shoot out the front, one on each side and there are two that shoot slight upwards and towards the back. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest… now so that the Sony XV900 can keep up, we’re going to use it while its plugged in cause when you use it while its plugged in you get a performance boost out of it. It gets louder and it has more bass. Where as with the Soundboks, you dont get a performance boost out of it if you use it while its plugged in, and the JBL can only be used while its plugged in. But all of these speakers are playing at 75% volume, Sony has its mega bass turned on, the Soundboks is using its Stage Eq and the JBL is playing with its bass boost set to deep.
So first, I feel that we need to address max volume performance on these speakers. Now like I mentioned earlier, if this sound test the Sony XV900 was playing while it was plugged in cause while it plugged in you’re going to get a performance boost out of it. Its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. Cause if you use it while its running off of its internal battery… you’re going to get a performance decrease. But even while its plugged in, the Sony XV900 still struggles to keep up with the other two speakers, max volume wise… nonetheless, this speaker gets plenty loud… but it just doesn’t get as loud as these other two speakers. But then there’s the soundboks 4… with this speaker you dont get a performance boost out of it while its plugged in… and as a matter a fact, you should use this speaker past 50% volume while its plugged in and charging. But still, this speaker gets a little louder than the JBL Partybox 710. Which is very impressive cause the Soundboks is running off of its built in battery where as the 710 is plugged in.
But when it comes to the actual sound performance of these speakers… with the 710, this speakers has the most thunderous and most violet bass here. The bass on the this speaker will literally rearrange the furniture in your house. But the 710 still sound balanced and the mids and highs are still well defined. Where as with the bass on the Soundboks 4… it also has an impressive amount of physicality to it, but its bass is a lot more on the audible side when compared to the 710. But defiantly with the Soundboks 4, this speaker sounds a lot more balanced and a lot more fuller than its predecessor cause it used to lean more towards a brighter sound signature, but that’s not the case with the Soundboks 4. And finally there’s the Sound XV900… now since this speaker doesn’t get as loud as these other two speakers, its just not going to have as much phsycaillity in it bass… but in general, with the Sony XV900… this speaker has a much more neutral sound signature to it and its bass leans the most towards the audible side here. Overall the Soundboks 4 sounds good and its get very loud, but if you want that thunderous bass, than you’re still going to want to go with the JBL Partybox 710… and then, there’s the Sony XV900… now even though this speaker doesn’t get as loud as these other two speakers… relatively speaking the Sony XV900 still gets very loud and you get the best of both worlds with this speaker, you get a light feature like with the Partybox 710… but you also get a built in battery life the Soundboks 4.
But finally lets talk about pairing your speakers with other speakers. Now with the Soundboks 4, you can pair it up to any other soundboks 4, a soundboks 3 or a soundboks go… and you can have up to 5 soundboks’s wirelessly paired to one another, which I feel is plenty. And through Soundboks’s app, you can assign what roll you want your speaker to play. So if you want, you can get any two Soundboks’s and get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
Where as with the Partybox, you can pair it up to any other Partybox Encore, 110, 310, 710, or ultimate and you can get them to play in sync… however you can only have two Partybox’s wirelessly paired together and if you want to get left and right stereo sound going, you’re going to need two of the exact same speaker.
But then, there’s the Sony… now you can pair this speaker up to any of Sony’s other box speakers like an XV900, XV800, XP700, or XP500…. Or you can also pair your larger sony speaker to any of Sony’s smaller speakers like an XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200, or to an XB43, XB33, or XB23… and you can pair up to 100 speakers together.
And personally I really like having this type of versatility with Sony’s speaker pair protocol… however if you want to get left and right stereo sound going, you do need to have two of the exact same speakers. And also, even though Sony’s speaker pairing protocol is very accommodating, sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle to use. Sometimes it take a while for your speakers to get paired up. Sometimes you have to go through the pairing process multiple times and sometimes skipping does happen.
Personally I find that Soundboks’s and JBL’s speaker pairing protocols are a lot more stable… but they aren’t as accommodating as Sony’s… but like I mentioned earlier, both the Soundboks and Partybox have audio out jacks on them… so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to them and get them to play in sync.
But with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between any of these three speakers… they all have their own stand out characteristics and depending on your needs, you’ll be better off with one over the other. The Soundboks 4 is the best option here is you need something that’s rugged and easy to transport… but you also need something with big sound and a very long battery life and with an option to extend its battery life cause you can always swap out the battery. Plus, its port panel is the most robust cause you can connect it to a mixer. But if you want something with thunderous bass… and you want something with a light feature… then you’ll be better off with the JBL Partybox 710… the thing is this speaker isn’t as portable and you’re going to be tethered to the power cord. But if you want something that’s in the middle… something that has a light feature, but something that also has a built in battery… then you can go with the Sony XV900… but even though this speaker sounds great and get plenty loud… its just not going to sound as imrepssive as these other two speakers.