Get Them Here
Soundboks Gen 4: https://amzn.to/4b9FlSP
JBL Partybox 310: https://amzn.to/490TCzj
Sony XV800: https://amzn.to/428sVXg
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 310 and the Sony XV800. Two super popular portable bluetooth speakers… but these aren’t as powerful or as durable… but lets see if its worth it to you to upgrade.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Partybox 310 is the oldest speaker and it retail for $550… but it does like to go on sale from time to time… but then there the Sony XV800 which was released in the spring of 2023 and it has a retail price of $650, but it also likes to go on sale from time time… and in this video we’re also going to lightly touch on the Sony XP700… which has a retail price of $550. But finally there’s the Soundboks 4 which has a retail price of $1000… overall all of these speakers are good but you’ll be better off with one over the other depending on your needs. 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… now all of these speakers are meant to be portable box speakers that you can relatively easily take them on the go with you. And both the Partybox and JBL have built in wheels so you can roll them around… however the wheels on the Partybox are just a lot better than the wheels on the Sony… and both the Partybox and Sony are water resistant… so a little bit of rain isn’t going to hurt them… however, these speakers just aren’t as durable or as portable as the Soundboks. With both the JBL and Sony, these have a mostly plastic body which can get scathed very easily and their grills can get dented. Where as with the Soundboks… this speaker has an aluminum frame with silicon balls on each corner, and it has a much thicker steel grill on the front… so overall this thing can take a much harder beating and its also much more water resistant than these other two speakers. I also feel that its a little smaller so you can more easily cram it into your car and its also a little lighter, weighing in at 35 and a half pounds, where as these other two speakers weigh in a little over 40 pounds. So overall, all of these speakers are very portable… but if durability is very important to you, then the soundboks is a no briner.
However, something that the soundboks just doesn’t have is a light feature. And if you plan on mostly using your speaker at home or in your man cave, then this could be a minor deciding factor. But overall I go feel that JBL’s light feature looks a little more impressive than Sony’s.
However, if you do decide to use the light feature on either of these two speakers, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life. Now the 310 has an advertised battery life of 18 hours… but that is with this speaker playing at 50% volume, which is already a really good listening volume, but that’s with the light feature and the bass boost feature turned off.
But real world use with this speaker playing at 65% volume, which is feel is a really good to use this speaker while you’re with friends, and with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost feature set to deep, its good for about 7 to 8 hours of playback time.
But then there’s the XV800 which has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… but that’s with this speaker playing at 30% volume and with the light feature turned off but with the mega bass turned on. But real world use with this speaker playing at 65% volume and with the light feature turned on and with the mega bass turned on, its good for about 10 hours of playback time, which is very impressive. But just remember, battery life on these box speakers really varies a lot depending on how you use them.
But in general, with both go these speakers if you use them at max volume, and with their bass features turned on and with their light features turned on, they are both going to last you for about 4 hours of playback time.
But then there’s the Soundboks 4 and the battery life on this speaker is on a whole other level. Now first off if you were to use this speaker at 50% volume with its stock EQ, its going to be good for around 40 hours of playback time… and 50% volume on this speaker is significantly louder than 50% volume on these other two speakers.
But if you were to use this speaker at max volume while its set to its stage EQ… which is the EQ setting that you want to use if you want to get the most out of this speaker… it going to get louder and its going to have more bass… then its going to be good for around 6 hours of playback time. And max volume on this speaker is way louder than max volume on these other speakers as well.
So the soundboks 4 easily has the best preforming battery here… but also, you can easily swap out this battery… so if you have multiple batteries then you’ll be able to keep the party going for longer.
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 set up, the Soundboks 4 has dual frontward firing woofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides, and there’s a forntward firing tweeter horn. But then there’s the JBL Partybox 310 which has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and it has dual frontward firing tweeters. Next up there’s the Sony XV800 which also has dual frontward firing woofers, but its exhaust port shoots out the front… and it has a total of 5 tweeters, three on the front and 2 on the back. But when this speaker is standing up right it’ll use the two tweeters on the top and the two on the back. And in this soundest we’re also going to include the Sony XP700 which has a similar speaker set up to the XV800. It has dual frontward firing woofers, but its exhaust port shoots out the back… and it has a total of 4 tweeters. 3 on the front and one on the back… but when its standing it’ll use the top tweeters and the on the back. But now, we’re going to jump into the sound test. Now so that these other speakers have a chance of keeping up with the Soundboks… they’re all playing while they’re plugged in.. cause if you use these speakers while they are plugged in you’re going to get a performance boost out of them. They are going to get louder and they are going to have more bass. Except for the Soundboks… you shouldn’t use it past 50% volume if its plugged in. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest. All of these speakers are playing at 75% volume… the Soundboks is using its Stage EQ, both of the Sonys are have their mega bass turned on and the Partybox 310 has its bass boost set to deep.
Sound test
So first, I think we need to address max volume performance on these speakers. Plainly said… the Soundboks 4 gets significantly louder than all of these other speakers… which is one of its main selling points, along side its long lasting swappable battery and durability. Now don’t get me wrong, the Partybox 310, Sony XV800 and Sony XP700 all get very loud and you’ll rarely have to use them at max volume for your casual or large get together of lets say 25 ish people… but with the Soundboks… at max volume this thing is a problem, its going to cause hearing damage and you are going to get a visit from the cops. And mind you… in this soundtest these speakers were playing while the were plugged in so that they can keep up with the Soundboks. Cause with all of these speakers, you if youse them while they are running off of their internal batteries, they aren’t going to get as loud or have as much bass. But still, they get plenty loud. But if you want the loudest speaker here, then you want to go with the Soundboks.
But when it comes to the overall sound quality of these speakers… first off the Soundboks 4 has a much more balanced and much more fuller sound signature to it especially when compared to it predecessor, the soundboks 3 which leaned towards a brighter sound signature. Now the soundboks 4 also has an imrepssive amount go physicality in it bass and its going to rattle the walls in your house… but there’s a decent amount of its that’s on the audible side as well. But then there’s the Partybox 310. Now the party box 310 doesn’t get as loud as the Soundboks… but it does have a lot of physicality in its bass. And since it has a rear firing exhaust port, you can always amplify its bass as well by placing it up against a wall. But evne though the Partybox 310 has a lot of bass to it… the mids and vocals are very well defined as well. But then there’s the XV800… now the bass on this speaker is more to the audible side and there’s less physicality to it… but what really sets the XV800 apart here is its much more neutral sound signature and better instrument separation. Cause when compared to the XP700… yeah it has more physicality in its bass, but it sound muffled and narrow when compared to all of these other speakers.
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.
So with all of that being said, both the JBL Partybox 310 and the Sony XV800 are very capable and very popular portable box speakers that sound good and you can take them almost anywhere. And thanks to their light features, they are both good options for your man cave. However, if you’re looking for something a lot more durable, a lot more portable, something with a much longer lasting battery, and something that gets way louder… than it will be worth it to spring with for the Soundboks 4. Cause if you plan on constantly taking your speaker on the go with you, or if you plan on being rough with it… you’re not going to have to worry about the soundboks. Were as with these other speakers… you’re going to have to baby them a little bit.