So this is the LG XBOOM XL7, now even though it does have its short comings, personally I really enjoy its mellow sound signature and I think the customizable light feature up top is a nice touch. But today, we’re going to see how the XL7 stacks up to some smaller and more portable options like the JBL Boombox 3 and the Sony XG500.
Regarding pricing, the LG XBOOM XL7 has a retail price of $600, which I do feel is rather pricy cause its direct competitors like the Partybox 310 and Sony XP700 retail for $550 but they like to go on sale for $450 on a regular basis. So with the XL7, I wouldn’t pay more than $450 for it. But then there are the JBL Boombox 3 and Sony XG500 which both have a retail price of $500… but the XG500 likes to go on sale for $350… where as the Boombox 3 likes to go on sale for around $450 from time to time. 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 cause obviously they are very different from one another. Now obviously the Boombox 3 and XG500 are significantly smaller and lighter than the XL7, weighing in at 15 pounds and 12 pounds, where as the XL7 weighs in at 34 pounds. So with both the Boombox and XG500, they are very easy to carry around cause they’re very light weight, and they are also much more durable cause they both have mostly fabric wrapped bodies. Where as with the XL7, this speaker just isn’t as durable or as portable than these other two speakers cause it has a mostly plastic body that just loves to collect scratches… and the sheer size of this speaker just makes it harder to transport. However, the XL7 does have built in wheels, so transporting it is a little easier. But its just not as easy to take on the go with you compared to these other two more portable options. But I think the important thing that we need to point out here is that all of these speakers are water resistant, the Boombox 3 and XG500 are more water resistant than the XL7, but the important thing is, if any of these speakers get splashed on or rained on, they are going to be perfectly fine.
However, something the XL7 has over these other speakers is that it has a built in light feature. Now there’s an LED screen on the top that has its own set of animations, you can also customize what goes on this screen… and there’s also a ring light down below. Overall this is a decent looking light feature as light features go. Cause I do have to point out that the XG500 also has a light feature… but this light feature is tucked inside the passive radiators of this speaker. Making it very hard to actually see it. So personally I never use the light feature on this speaker and I just enjoy the improved battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life, for starters battery life really varies on the XL7 depending on how you use it. If you use it at a higher volume, that’s going to drain your battery life faster, if you use it with its light feature turned on, that’s going to drain your battery life faster, or if you use it with its bass boost feature turned on, that’s going to drain your battery life faster.
Now the XL7 has an advertised battery life of 20 hours, but that’s with this speaker playing at 50% volume which is already a really good listening volume, and with the light feature tuned off, but with the sound boost EQ turned on as well. But real world use, I managed to get 10 hours of playback time with the XL7 while it was playing at 75% volume, with the light feature turned on and with the Sound Boost EQ turned on as well.
But then there’s the XG500 which has an advertised battery life of 30 hours, and that’s with it speaker playing a little below 50% volume which is a decent listening volume, with its mega bass feature turned on, which is good, and with its light feature turned off, which is how I like to use this speaker anyways. However real world use, with the XG500 playing at 80%, with the mega bass turned on and with the light feature turned on, this speaker is good for a healthy 8 to nine hours of playback time.
But then there’s the Boombox 3 which has an advertised battery life of 24 hours but that’s with this speaker playing at 50% volume. Real world use with it playing at 80% volume its good for about 8 hours of playback time. Overall, I feel the XBOOM does a really good job of keeping up with these other two speakers when it comes to battery life. But the main difference that I do need to point out here is when it comes to charging these speakers. The XG500 still has a power brick that you have to be mindful of. Where as both the Boombox 3 XBOOM charge via a universal AC port. So I feel that simply having this cable is a lot more conveinite.
Now when it comes to connectivity, all of these speakers can be connected to two devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency isn’t a problem for any of these speakers, so you can use them to watch videos with your phone… but when it comes to audio codecs, the JBL only has support for SBC, the XBOOM has support for SBC and AAC, and then there’s the Sony which has support for SBC and AAC, but it also has support for LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codec. But just keep in mind, if you want to take advantage of LDAC, you do have to be an android user cause iPhone’s top out at AAC.
But now lets talk about the ports on these speakers cause there are some major differences. First off I have to point out the XBOOM does not have an audio jack, so you can’t use it with a wired connection. And personally I feel that this is redicouls, cause most other box speakers have audio jacks, and both the Boombox 3 and XG500 have audio jacks, as they should.
But all of these speakers have USB A ports on them so that you can charge your own devices. But with both the XBOOM and XG500, you can also plug in a USB stick and play music off of it. Now I think its great and all that all of these speakers have USB A ports on them, but I think these speakers should start moving to USB C ports cause most phones these days come included with USB C cable.
But then there’s the XBOOM which has 2 quarter inch inputs and the XG500 has one. So with both the XBOOM and XG500, you can plug in a microphone for karaoke. Now even though the XBOOM has two inputs, you can really only use one microphone with it, cause the second input is meant for a guitar, so it has a lot more resistance to it.
But now lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker setups the XG500 has the most conventional speaker set up here. It has dual frontward firing woofers dual frontward firing tweeters and duals passive radiators that shoot out the sides. But then there’s the Boombox 3 which has a frontward firing subwoofer, it has dual frontward firing woofers and it has dual frontward firing tweeters which are stacked on top of the woofers, and it has dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. And finally there’s the XBOOM which has an 8 inch frontward firing woofer with exhaust ports that shoot out the front and it has dual frontward firing tweeters. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. The XBoom is playing at 75% volume and with its Sound boost EQ turned on, the Boombox 3 is playing at 86% volume… and we’re going to be using my preferred EQ settings for this speaker which is the bass raised by 2 clicks and the treble lowered by one click, and the XG500 is playing at Max volume with its mega bass turned on.
So first I think we need to address max volume performance on these speakers. Now obviously since the XBOOM is a larger speaker, its going to get louder and have more bass than these other two speakers. However, the Boombox 3 does a very impressive job of keeping up with the XBOOM, where as since the XG500 leans more towards a warmer sound signature, it doesn’t sound as loud. However, with all of these speakers, if you were to use them while they are plugged in, you’re going to get a performance bump out of them, they are going to get louder and they are going to have more bass. But the really interesting thing about the XBOOM, is that the performance boost that you get out of this speaker is a lot larger than the performance boost that you will get with most other speakers out there. So obviously if you want something loud or something for larger parties, then you’ll want to go with the XBOOM and ill say that the XL7 is good for 20 person parties… where as these smaller more portable speakers are good for like 10 person parties.
Now sound quality wise, the XBOOM is just going too sound fuller than these other two speakers cause that 8 inch woofer is just going to give you more bass… but in general, the XBOOM has a mellow sound signature to it cause the vocals are fairly emphasized on this speaker, and the bass on this speaker is mostly on the audile side. Now by no means does that mean that this speaker sounds flat, but this speaker doesn’t have the same chest thumping bass that you’ll find on its direct competitors. And since this speaker has frontward firing exhaust ports, you can’t do much amplify its bass. And even if you were to go into its customizable EQ and raise its bass all the way up, you’re not going to get all that much physicality out of it. But then there’s the Boombox 3, now the reason why we used my prefer EQ settings on this speaker is cause this speaker does lean towards a brighter sound signature… but still thanks to the frontward firing subwoofer on this speaker, this speaker does have more bass than the XG500.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers with other speakers. Now with the XL7, if you have XL7’s than you can pair them up wirelessly and get to play in left and right stereo mode… or if you have multiple XL7’s and or XL5’s, then you can pair them up and get them to play in sync and you can pair up to 100 speakers together.
Where as with the Boombox again if you have two boombox 3’s you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair it up to other JBL Partyboost speakers like either another Boombox 3, a Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 5, Flip 6 or Flip 5 and you can get them to play in sync and you can have up to 100 speakers playing together.
And finally there’s XG500 which is using Sony’s party connect. Now again if you have two of the same speakers you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair it up to other Party connect speakers like either another XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200, XB43, XB33, or XB23 and you can get them to play in sync, and you can have up to 100 speakers playing together.
But the cool thing about party connect is that you pair your smaller more portable Sony speakers, to Sony’s larger box speakers. So if you have an XG500, you can always pair it up to an XP500, XP700, XV800 or XV900 and get them to play in sync. Where as with JBL’s smaller Partyboost speakers, you can’t pair them up to JBL’s large Partybox Speakers.
Just be warned, even though sony’s Party Connect is super accommodating cause you can pair your large box speakers to Sony’s smaller more portable speakers, sometimes its can be a pain to use. Sometimes all of your speakers don’t get found so you
So with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between any of these three speakers, obviously if you go with the XBOOM XL7, its going to get significantly louder and sound fuller than these other two speakers. And battery life on this speaker isn’t half bad. However, this thing isn’t as portable or as durable as these other two speakers. Now if you’re trying to choose between the Boombox 3 and XG500, personally I do prefer the Boombox 3 cause it gets louder and it has more physicality in its bass than the XG500. But with the Boombox 3, you are paying a premium for it. Where as with the XG500, this is also a good speaker, plus you can plug in a microphone, and if you have any of Sony’s larger box speakers, you can also pair it up with them.