If you’re looking for a large portable bluetooth speaker that’s super durable and super portable, and gets extremely loud, then any of Soundbok’s speakers are good options. But right now we have 3 different soundbok’s to choose from. We have the Soundboks 3 which was completely redesigned from the ground up from its predecessor… we also have the soundboks 4 which is a refined version of the gen 3… and then we have the Soundboks Go which is the most portable option here. So lets see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Soundboks Gen 4 is the newest speaker here and it has a retail price of $1000… then there’s the Soundboks Gen 3 which is the oldest speaker here and it now likes to go on sale for $850. And finally there’s the Soundboks Go which has a retail price of $700. Now all of these speakers are good options if you want something durable. 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 first off all of these speakers are very durable. They can all take a beating and they are all water proof… but the main difference here is going to be their size. Now the Gen 4 and Gen 3 are the same size as one another… and taking these speakers on the go with you is relatively is cause they are compact and they both have built in carrying handles. But the main difference here is that the Gen 4 is a little heavier weighing in at 35 and half pounds where as the Gen 3 weighs in at 34 pounds. But overall this pound and a half difference isn’t a big deal. But another minor difference is that with the Gen 4, it is much easier to remove its grill cause you just have to pull it out, where as the Gen 3, you have to screw it out. But then there’s the Soundboks Go, now the Soundboks Go is basically half the size of both of these speakers and it weighs in at 20 pounds. Now you can either carry the Soundboks Go with its carrying handle or you can get the optional shoulder strap. Overall, all of these speakers are super durable and I feel that the Soundboks gen 4 and Gen 3 are portable especially when compared to similar box speakers out there… but with the Soudnboks Go, this one is just much easier to take on the go with you cause its half as small and it weighs in at 20 pounds.
Now when it comes to battery life, all of these speakers have an advertised battery life of 40 hours while they are playing at 50% volume and while they are suing their stock EQs. And in general, 50% volume on all of these speakers is already a really good listening volume… its like using the JBL Boombox 3 at 85% volume… and 40 hours is very impressive.
However, if you were to use these speakers at their max potential, which is max volume, and that’s with the Soundboks 4 playing while its in it stage EQ, and with these other two speakers playing while in their Bass Plus EQ… than the Soundboks 4 is going to be good for up to 6 hours… and the Soundboks 3 is going to be good for up to 3 hours… and that’s cause the Soundboks 4 is just more power efficient then the Gen 3.
Now the Soundboks go is also good for up to 6 hours of playback time if you were to use it at it max potential… however, this speaker just isn’t as loud as the Soundboks 4 or 3 cause it has one less woofer. Nonetheless, with all of this speakers you can always extend their battery life if you use them with their Stock EQ’s or if you use them with their more relaxed EQ’s.
But with all of these speakers, they are all using the same swappable batteries. So if you have multiple batteries you can always keep the party going. Now with all of these speakers, you can use them while they are plugged in an chargning, but you shouldn’t use them past 50% volume.
But now lets talk about the ports on these speakers… now the port on the Soundboks go is very disappointing. All you have is a 3.5 millimeter audio jack so that you can use it with a wired connection… and that’s it. Where as with the Gen 3 and Gen 4, they both have a 3.5 millimeter jack… and they also have an audio out jack so that you can always daisy chain any other speakers to these speakers and get them to play in sync.
And something that is completely missing on the Soundboks Go are the XLR slash Quarter inch Como jack that you’ll find on both the Gen 3 and Gen 4. So with both the Gen 3 and Gen 4 you can plug in two microphones for karaoke, guitars, or you can plug in a mixer. So the port panels on both the Gen 3 and Gen 4 are identical and they are much more robust than the ports on the Soundboks Go. Peronsally i just wish the Soundboks Go had 1 XLR slash Quarter Inch combo jack.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set ups, the Soundboks go has a single frontward firing woofer with exhaust ports that shoot out the front, and it has a single frontward firing tweeter horn. But then there are the Soundboks 3 and Soundboks 4, both of these speakers have dual frontward firing woofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides and they both have single frontward firing tweeter horn. And with both the Gen 3 and gen 4… one woofer handles the lows and the other woofer handles the mid lows. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, all of these speakers are playing at 75% volume, the Soundboks gen 4 is playing while in its stage EQ and these other two speakers are using their Bass Plus EQ’s and these are the EQ settings that you want to use if you want to get the most out of all of these speakers.
So first, I think that we need to address max volume performance on these speakers. Now with all of these speakers, they get extremely loud and they get impressively loud for their size. Now both the Soundboks 3 and Soundboks 4 get louder and have more bass than the Soundboks go… but that is to be expected cause the soundboks go has one less woofer. But if we were to compare both the Soundboks 3 and SOundboks 4… even though on paper they get equally as loud as one another… I can’t help but feel that the Soundboks 4 sounds louder than the Soundboks 3. And the reason why I feel the Soundboks 4 gets louder than the Soundboks 3 is going to come down to sound quality. One of the main upgrades on the Soundboks 4 from the gen 3 is its returned sound and increased bass. So with the Soundboks 4, this speaker just sounds more balanced, it has more bass and sounds fuller than the Gen 3. And since the Gen 4 sounds fuller, at max volume it sounds louder than the Gen 3. Now dont get me wrong, the Soundboks 3 sounds good too… but it does like to lean towards a brighter sound signature. But finally there’s the Soundboks Go, now I will admit when this speaker first came out I was not super imrepssed with its sound quality cause I felt that it sounded very bright and had very little bass. But after a few firmware upgrades, that has changed and thankfully, the Soundboks Go sounds a lot more balanced than it did before and it also has a decent amount of bass. Now this speaker doesn’t get as loud or have as much bass as the Soundboks Gen 4 or Gen 3… but it does get as loud or a little louder than lets say the JBL Partybox 310 or Sony XV800 while they are both playing at max volume and while they are plugged in… and the soundboks go is half their size. But simply said, the Soundboks 4 sounds a lot better than the Soundboks 3 cause it sounds more balanced and it has more bass… and the Soundboks Go sounds a lot better than when it first came out.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with all of these soundboks’s you can pair them up to another soundboks 3, a soundboks go or soundboks 4 and you can have up to 5 speakers wirelessly connected to one another which I feel is plenty.
And through Soundboks’s app you can assign what channel you want these speakers to play. And since I have a go a 3 and 4… I like to set the go as the center channel and ill have the 3 and 4 play the left and right channel. But more importantly, you can get any two soundboks’s together and get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
But also like I mentioned earlier, both the Gen 3 and Gen 4 have audio out jacks, so you can always daisy chain any other speakers to these speakers and get them to play in sync… and peronsally I really feel that the Soundboks Go should have also had an audio out jack.
But with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between any of these speakers then here’s my break down. It is very easy for me to recommend the Soundboks 4 over the Soundboks 3 cause the Soundboks 4 sounds better cause it sound more balanced, it has more bass and it sounds fuller… and its also more power efficient so you can keep the party going for longer. And then there’s the Soundboks Go… this speaker sounds a lot better than when it first came out. Now even though it doesn’t get as loud or have as much bass as the Gen 3 or Gen 4… the soundboks Go gets as loud as lets say your JBL Partybox 310… but while being half its size and weighing half as much. All of Soundboks’s speakers are portable… but the Soundboks Go just makes taking your speaker on the go with you a lot easier.