JBL Partybox 320 Vs JBL Partybox 710 - Sound Or Portability?
So there is a lot of excitement around the new partybox 320 due to its better sound, expanded light feature and swappable batteries… but there are people that are still asking how does the 320 compare to the partybox 710… and will we be getting a partybox 720? Now I really hope that we get a partybox 720 after having checked out the Partybox Ultimate… but today we’re going to compare the Partybox 320 to the Partybox 710 and we’re going to see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Partybox 710 has a retail price of $800 but it now like to go on sale for $700… where as the Partybox 320 has a retail price of $600 but I do expect this speaker to eventually go on sale for $550. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two speakers they’ll be linked down below or you can press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first we have to talk about the design of these speakers. Obviously, the 710 is much larger and heavier than the Partybox 320. The 710 stands at 36 inches tall where as the 320 has a hight of 26 inches. And when it comes to weight, the 710 weighs in at 61 pounds where as the 320 weighs in at 36 pounds. So in general, moving the 710 up stairs can be a 2 person job… where as a single person will be able to easily handle the 320. But besides that, transporting both of these speakers are relatively easy cause they both have built in wheels and the wheels on both of these speakers are fairly chunky, so they do a good job of dealing with asphalt. But when it comes to durability, these speakers are the same. They both have mostly plastic bodies which can get scratched up pretty easily and they both have thin metal grills on the front which can get dented easily as well. But both of these speakers are IPX4 rated so water isn’t an issue for either of these speakers. Now when it comes to the ports panel on the top, they’re pretty similar. They both have large dials for your volume and light features, they have your DJ buttons and they have your knobs to adjust the sound of your microphone. But something the 320 does have over the 710 is that its ports panel on the back is illuminated which I feel is a nice touch… and also the 320 has a top hat mount on the bottom so if you want you can place the 320 on a speaker stand if you want.
But then theres the light feature on these speakers. Both of these speakers have your conjoined light rings on the front, they also have RGB light bars and they also have built in stars. Overall the light features on both of these speakers are very impressive and very dynamic. And through JBL’s app you can go and choose from a few different lighting modes and you can even customize these light features. However, if you do decide to use the light feature on the 320 that is going to take its toll on the battery life. But not on the 710 cause this speaker doesn’t have a built in battery, it can only be used while its plugged in.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Partybox 320 has an advertised battery life of 18 hours… just like the 310. However, this advertised battery life of 18 hours is with this speaker playing at 50 percent volume which is already a decent listening volume, with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off too.
But real world use with the 320 playing at 70% volume, which I feel is a really good volume to use when youre with friends, with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost set to deep… ive found that the 320 is good for about 7 hours which is good… but I have noticed that the 320 runs out of battery a little faster than the 310 cause under the same conditions the 310 is good for about 7 to 8 hours.
HOWEVER, one of the main upgrades on the 320 over the 310 is that it now has a swappable battery. And this swappable battery is great for 2 reasons. The first reason is, if you get multiple batteries you can just easily swap them out and keep the party going… or, since batteries degrade over time due to multiple charging cycles… if you get to a point where your battery can no longer hold a charge, you can always just get a new battery instead of having to get a whole new speaker.
So one of the main selling points to get the 320 over the 710 is cause of the built in battery and smaller size… making it a lot more portable and versatile… and if you want you can get multiple batteries and keep the party going. Where as with the 710, you’re going to have to this speaker isn’t as convientnet cause it can only be use while its plugged in.
But with power out of the way lets talk about ports and connectivity. Both of these speakers can be connected to two devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is not an issue for either of these two speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. But when it comes to audio codecs, the 710 only has support for SBC where as the 320 now has support for both SBC and AAC.
But when it comes to ports, things are pretty identical here. First off both of these speakers have a USB A port so that you can either plug in and charge your own devices… or you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. Now I think its great and all that the 320 has a USB A port… but I still wish that this speaker had a USB C port so that you can charge your own devices and use it as a wired connection cause most phones these days now come with USB C to USB C charging cables.
However, the both of these speakers still have your 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can still use these speakers with a wired connection…. And they both have an audio out jack so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to these speakers, regardless of size or brand and get them to play in sync.
And both of these speakers have dual quarter inch inputs where you can either plug in 2 microphones for karaoke or you can plug in a guitar. And from the control panel on both of the speakers, you can adjust the bass and treble on these microphone and you can also add an echo if you want.
And both of these speakers also have your DJ buttons up top which can be a lot of fun if you have the right host. Overall, both of these speakers are great options for karaoke, however I really wish that the 710 had more than 2 quarter inch inputs so that you can have more people to do karaoke with… and it would have also been great to see XLR inputs on these speakers so that you can use them with a mixer.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up but the 320 and 710 have dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoot out the back and dual frontward firing tweeters… expect the set up on the 710 is larger. Now through JBL’s app you can also go in and adjust the EQ on these speakers to your liking and there’s a separate bass boost feature as well. But I like to use both of these speakers with their stock EQ’s and with their bass boost feature set to deep. But obviously, one of the main performance differences between these two speakers is going to be their volume and overall bass. So in this sound test we’er going to be using the 710 at 75% volume… and so that the 320 has a chance of keeping up were going to use it while its at max volume and were going to use it at max volume while its plugged in cause when this speaker is plugged in you get a performance boost… but its still now where near the 710, but so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into the sound test.
Sound test
So first we need to address max volume performance on these speakers. Obviously sine the 710 is larger than the 320 its going to get louder and its going to have more bass as well. I like to say that the 320 is good for like a 20 person get together and the 710 is good for like a 35 person get together. But like I mentioned earlier, with the 320 if you use this speaker while its 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. But even while its plugged in at playing at max volume, the 320 is no match for the 710. And when it comes to overall sound quality… I actually feel that these two speakers have very similar instrument separation and detail. So the main difference between these two speakers is going to be max volume and the amount of physicality in their bass… and in this case, the 710 easily out classes the 320 here cause it gets way louder and it has a lot more wall shaking bass than the 320.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now the the 710 if you have another 710 you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair it up to on other partybox like lets say an encore, 110, 310 or to another 710 and get them to play in sync. But with the 710 you can only have a total of 2 speakers wirelessly paired together… and you cant pair this speaker up to any of JBL’s smaller party boost speakers either.
But then theres the 320 which is using aura cast, and again if you have 2 320 you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair the 320 to another aura cast speaker like lets say a 120 and get them to play in sync… but unfortunly, you cannot wirelessly connect your 320 to any of JBL’s older Patyboxs like either an encore, 110, 310 or 710 and you also can’t connect your 320 up to any of JBL’s party boost speakers.
Now JBL’s app does mention that you can connect Partyboost speakers to aura cast speakers… but only aura cast speakers like the Go 4, Clip 5 and Xtreme 4 show up on this list, and the 320 and 120 dont. So right now you can’t connect these box speakers to these smaller speakers unless JBL changes that through a firmware update.
Now I feel that not being able to connect your 320 to any of JBL’s older partybox speakers sucks… but like I mentioned earlier, both of these speakers have audio out jack, so you can always daisy chain any other speakers to these speakers regardless of size or brand and get them to play in sync, so at least theres that.
So with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between these two speakers it all comes down to your needs. With the Partybox 710 you are going to get a lot more sound out of it. It gets significantly louder and it has significantly more bass than the 320. But with the 710, transporting this speaker around can be a two person job and it can only be used while its plugged in. Where as with the 320, this speaker is a lot more portable cause its smaller and lighter plus it has that built in battery… and thanks to the new swappable batteries, if you get multiple batteries you can keep the party going no matter where you are.