So over the last few months Sony has really been refining their box speaker and giving them a much more neutral and balanced sound signature. But JBL also just refined the upgraded their new Partybox Speakers. So today we’re going to compare the Sony XV800 to the JBL Partybox 320 and we’re going to see which is right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Sony XV800 has a retail price of $650… but this speaker likes to go on sale on a regular basis for $550. But then theres the JBL Partybox 320 which has a retail price of $600 and I do expect this speaker to eventually go on sale for $550 as well. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
Now first lets talk about the design of these two speakers cause they’re very different from one another. Size wise these are both large portable box speakers but the XV800 is noticeably taller and narrower than the Partybox 320… and its also a little heavier weighing in at 41 pounds where as the Partybox 320 weighs in at 36.4 pounds. So overall, the Partybox 320 is slightly smaller and lighter than the Sony XV800… but also the Partybox 320 is just easier to transport than the XV800 thanks to its built in wheels. Now the XV800 also has built in wheels, but these wheels are very small so they dont do all that well on asphalt… where as the wheels on the 320 are larger and wider… but also the 320 has a built in telescopic handle so its more comfortable to roll this speaker around… where as the XV800 doesn’t. So portability wise, the Partybox 320 is the clear winner here. But when it comes to durability, both of these speakers have a mostly plastic body which can get scratched up very easily and they both have a thin metal grill on the front which can get dented very easily as well. But both of these speakers are water resistant so a little bit of rain isn’t going to hurt either of these speakers.
now regarding control panels up top… the 320 has large dials for your volume and light feature… and it has DJ buttons and knobs for your mics which we will talk about more later… where as the XV800 is using capacitive buttons… but the capacitive buttons on the XV800 light up making it slightly easier to use in a darker environment than the 320… however, the 320 has an LED in its ports panel making it easier to plug in your mics in a dark room… where as the XV800 doesn’t. And another thing the XV800 doesn’t have which the 320 does is a top hat mount on the bottom… so if you want you can place the 320 on a speaker stand if you want.
But finally, the major design difference between these two speakers is going to be the light feature. Now the light feature on the XV800 is decent and its revered in the top and bottom handle of this speaker. But then theres the Partybox 320 and the light feature on this speaker is much larger and its much more dynamic than the light feature on the XV800. Now obviously you shouldn’t pick up a speaker simply because of its light feature… but just look at how epic the Partybox 320 looks in comparison to the XV800. Just keep in mind that if you do decide to use the light feature on these speakers, that is going to take its toll on the battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life… the XV800 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… but this advertised battery life of 25 hours is with this speaker playing at 30% volume, which is a decent listening volume… and that’s with the mega bass turned on, which is good but that’s with the light feature turned off.
But real world use with this speaker playing at 70% volume… which I feel is a reasonable volume to use this speaker while you’re with friends… with the mega bass turned on and with the light feature turned on… its good for a solid 10 hours of playback time. And sony claims that if you were to use this speaker at max volume its good for 3 and half hours of playback time.
Now just keep in mind, if you were to use this speaker while in stamina mode, where its mega bass feature and light feature is turned off… you’ll be able to extend the battery life of this speaker. But stamina mode makes this speaker sound rather flat. But in general, battery life on large box speaker really varies depending on how you use them. If you use them at higher volumes that’s going to drain your battery life faster.
But then theres the Partybox 320… and this speaker has an advertised battery life of 18 hours… However, this advertised battery life of 18 hours is with this speaker playing at 50 percent volume which is already a decent listening volume, but 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 in general the Partybox 320 does have significantly less real world stamina than the Sony XV800…
However… another thing that the Partybox 320 has over the Sony XV800 is that it has swappable batteries, and this is great for two reasons… first if you get multiple batteries than you can just easily swap out the batteries on the 320 and keep the party going if you’re in an area where you can easily plug in… or if you get to a point where you battery can no longer hold a charge then you can just replace the battery instead of having to replace the whole speaker.
So with the Sony XV800 I have found that it has better real world stamina than the Partybox 320… cause the stamina on the Partybox 320 is also a little less than the outgoing partybox 310… but with the Partybox 320 you do have those swappable batteries… So here I do feel that you’re going to have to make your own decision…
But with battery out of the way, lets talk about connectivity and ports. Now 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… and when it comes to audio codecs, the Partybox has support for both SBC and AAC where as the Sony has support for SBC, AAC and LDAC. Just keep in mind that if you want to take advantage of LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out a AAC.
But then there are the ports on these speakers. Like I mentioned earlier the Partybox’s port panel on the back is illuminated which is feel is a nice touch… but more importantly, both of these speakers still have a USB A port so that you can either plug in your own devices and charge them up… or you can plug in a USB stick and play music off of it. Now I think its great and all that these speakers have USB A ports on them… but I still wish that they have USB C port so that you can charge your own devices and use them as a wired connection cause most phones these days now come with USB C to USB C charging cables.
But both of these speakers still have your standard 3.5 millimeter audio jacks so that yo can use them with a wired connection… but the party box also has an audio out jack so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to this speaker, regardless of size or brand and get them to play in sync. Where as the sony doesn’t.
But something the XV800 does have is an optical cable so if you want you can always connect this speaker to your tv and use it as a sound bar… and I think that this feature helps make the Sony XV800 more versatile.
But more importantly, both of these speakers have dual quarter inch inputs so that you can either plug in two microphones for karaoke, or you can plug in a guitar. But with the 320 you can go in and adjust the bass and treble of your microphone directly from the control panel up top, and you can also easily add an echo.
Where as with the XV800 you cant change the sound of your microphone… but you can add an echo if you want through Sony’s app… or you can change the key of your music… you can make your music sound brighter and speed it up a little or make it sound deep and slow it down a little. Personally, I never use the key change feature on Sony’s speakers.
But something the Partybox does have are these DJ buttons which you can set though JBL’s app… and they can be a little fun if you have the right host.
Overall, both of these speakers are good options for karaoke cause they can both drive two microphones… but personally I wish that both of these speakers had more quarter in drivers and or I wish they had XLR inputs so that you can use these speakers with a mixer.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up the Partybox 320 has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and dual frontward firing tweeters. Where as with the Sony XV800, this speaker also has dual frontward firing woofers but its exhaust port shoots out the back and it has a total of 5 tweeters. Three on the front and two that shoot out the back. Now when this speaker it standing up right it’ll use these two top tweeters and the 2 on the back… and when its on its side it’ll use these two tweeter and the ones on the back as well. And interestingly enough, it looks like JBL doesn’t even want you to use their speaker laying on its side cause they removed the side feet. But more importantly, with both of these speakers you can always go into their app and adjust their EQ to your liking. But I like using the 320 with its stock eq and with its bass boost set to deep. And I like using the XV800 with its stock EQ and with its mega bass feature turned on. And this is how we are also going to be using these speakers while in the sound test… and they’re going to be playing at 87% volume and were going to be using these speakers while they are unplugged and plugged in as well. Cause when you use either of these two speakers while they are plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of them.
Sound Test
So when it comes to the sound quality between these two speakers… I feel that both of these speakers have very similar instrument separation to one another. Which is great, cause both Sony and JBL has drastically improved the instrument separation and clarity on their newer generation of speaker from their predecessors. But when it comes to sound signature… the JBL does lean a little more towards the brighter side where as the XV800 is leaning a little more to the warmer side… but with the Sony it does sound a little more full cause the mids aren’t getting overpowered by the highs… However, when it comes to bass… the Partybox 320 has noticeably more wall shaking bass than the Sony… and thanks to its rear firing exhaust port, you can always amplify its bass by placing it up against a wall. Were as with the Sony, its exhaust port shoots out the front. So you cant amplify its bass. But then theres max volume performance… while their running off of their internal batteries, both speakers do a decent job of keeping up with one another. And in general, I feel that both of these speakers are good for get togethers to cook outs of around 20 people. But the Partybox 320 is a little louder than the Sony XV800. But with both of these speakers, if you use them while they are plugged in, they will get a performance boost. They both get louder and they both have more bass. But the Partybox 320 is still able to edge out the Sony XV800. So overall, both speakers have improved instrument separation from their predecessors. But the Sony XV800 does sound a little fuller in the mid and it has more neutral sound signature to it… but with the Partybox 320, this speaker does get noticeably louder and has more physicality in its bass.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up to other speakers. The Partybox 320 is using Auracast… and if you have 2 Partybox 320’s you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair the 320 up to to another aurocast speaker like a partybox 120 and get them to play in sync.
But unfortunately, you can not wirelessly connect the Partybox 320 to any of JBL’s older Partybox speakers like either a 310, encore, 110, or 710 and you cant connect your 320 to any of JBL’s smaller party boost speakers
But like I mentioned earlier, the 320 does have an audio out jack, so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to their speaker and get them to play in sync. So at least theres that… but in general not being able to pair you 320 with any of JBL’s older speakers does suck.
But then there’s the XV800 which is using Sony’s party connect and you can pair it up to other party connect speakers like lets say an XV900, XV800, XP700 or XP500 and you can pair up to 100 speakers together and get them to play in sync. Or if you have two of the same speakers, you can get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
But the cool thing about Sony’s party connect is that you can pair your larger box speakers to and of Sony smaller speakers that are also using party connect like lets say an XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200, XB43, XB33 or XB23.
Now even though Sony’s party connect is very accommodating, and it gets the job done, sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle to use. Sometimes it take awhile for your speakers to get connected. Sometimes all of your speakers don’t get paired on the first try so you’ll have to go through the pairing process multiple times… and sometimes skipping does happen. Now this doesn’t happen all of the time… but this is just a heads up as to what to expect.
But with all of that being said, both the Sony XV800 and JBL Partybox 320 are great large box speaker to consider for summer 2024… however there are some very important differences between these two speakers which can be more beneficial for one group over the other. With the Sony XV800 this speaker has better stamina than the JBL Partybox 320, it can also be used as a sound bar with your tv, and you have a lot more flexibility as to what speakers you can connect with this speaker. And sound quality wise, the XV800 does sound more balanced and neutral. But with the JBL Partybox 320, this speaker gets louder and has more bass, its also a lot more portable cause it slightly smaller, lighter and it has those great built in wheels. The 320 also has those swappable batteries and you can daisy chain any other speaker to this speaker. And finally the JBL Partybox 320 has a much more dynamic looking light feature. Both are great, but if I had to choose, im leaning towards the 320.