Get Them Here:
JBL Partybox 320: https://amzn.to/4d2EfsY
JBL Partybox 120: https://amzn.to/4d16QPn
JBL Boombox 3: https://amzn.to/4cZCyg0
So JBL’s new Partybox 320 and 120 are surprisingly portable cause the 120 is relatively small, and the 320’s built in wheels just makes it super easy to roll this speaker around. However, if you’re looking for something even more portable, then you’ll might want to look at the JBL Boombox 3. Now yeah, the JBL Boombox 3 is more portable and durable… but it costs almost as much as the Partybox 320. So naturally, how does the boombox 3 sound when compared to either the Partybox 320 or Partybox 120.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Partybox 320 has a retail price of $600, however I do expect this speaker to eventually go on sale for $550. But then there the Boombox 3 and this speaker has a retail price of $500 but it likes to go on sale for $450. And finally theres the Partybox 120 and this speaker has a retail price of $400, but I do expect it to go on sale for $350. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below, or you can press on the YouTube shopping button.
Now first we need to talk about the design of these speakers. Now like I mentioned earlier, the 120 and 320 are relatively easy to take on the go with you cause the 120 is smaller than the 320… and the 320 is also relatively easy enough to take on the go with you cause you can just roll it around cause of its built in wheels, and these wheels do a great job of dealing with asphalt. However, the Boombox 3 is just even easier to take on the go with you cause its way smaller and lighter than both party boxes. The Boombox 3 weighs in at 15 pounds where as the 120 weighs in at 25 pounds and the 320 weighs in at 36 and a half pounds. The only thing that I feel is missing on the boombox 3 is a shoulder strap like the one thats found on the JBL Xtreme 3 and 4. And when it comes to durability, the Boombox 3 comes out on top as well. Both Partyboxes have a mostly plastic body which can get scratched very easily and they both have thin metal grills on the front. Where as the Boombox 3 has a mostly fabric wrapped body which does a much better job of dealing with constant abuse from bumps and scrapes. Now all three of these speakers aren’t afraid of a little bit of water, but the Boombox 3 is just more water resistant than the Partyboxes. So very obviously, if portability and durability are very important to you, then you do want to go with the Boombox 3 over either of these two Partyboxes.
But something these Partyboxes have over the Boombox 3 are their light features. And these light feature are very dynamic and very impressive. And through JBL’s App you can choose from different lighting modes. And the light features on both the 120 and 320 are identical. So if you’re looking for something that is going to mainly live in your man cave, then you’ll might want to go with a Partybox. However, 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 Boombox 3 has an advertised battery life of 24, however, this advertised battery life of 24 hours is with this speaker playing at 50% volume. Real world use with this speaker playing at 80% volume its good for about 8 hours of playback time.
But then theres the 120 which hashas an advertised battery life of 12 hours, but this advertised battery life of 12 hours is with this speaker playing at 25% volume, which is a decent lisnteing volume for when you’re alone, with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off.
Realworld use with this speaker playing at 65% volume, which is feel is decent for when you’re with friends, with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost feature turned on, its good for about 6 to 7 hours of playback time, which is good, but this is a little less stamina than the 110.
But then theres the Partybox 320 which 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 again, the 320 has slightly less stamina than its predecessor. But the important thing here is, you are going to get a longer lasting battery than the 120… and its going to be able to be used at consistently higher volumes.
However, a major upgrade on both of these speakers is that they both have swappable batteries. And these swappable batteries are great for two reasons. First off you can get multiple batteries for either of these two speakers and keep the party going if you’re in an area where you cant plug in… or if you get to a point where your battery degrades, you can just get a new battery instead of having to replace the whole speaker.
So overall, battery life on all of these speakers really varies depending on how you use them. And these box speakers can run out of battery faster than the Boombox 3. However with these new Partyboxes, having those new swappable batteries is a huge deal and for some people it could be a deciding factor.
But with power out of the way lets talk about connectivity and ports. Now with all of these speakers can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ and latency is not an issue for any of these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone.
Now all three of these speakers also have USB A ports… but the USB A port on the Boombox 3 is only used to charge your own devices… where as the USB A port on the Partyboxes can be used to charge your own devices, and you can 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, but I still wish these speakers had a USB C port instead cause most phones these days come with USB C to USB C chargning cables.
Now all three of these speakers also have 3.5 millimeter audio jacks so that you can use them with a wired connection. However, both Partyboxes also have audio out jacks so that you can daisy chain any other speaker to these speakers, regardless of size or brand and get them to play sync.
And finally, both Partyboxes have dual quarter inch inputs so that you can either plug in 2 microphones for karaoke, and or so that you can plug in a guitar. But the important thing here is that with both Partyboxes you can use them for Karaoke, where as the Boombox you cant.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker setup, the Boombox 3 has a frontward firing subwoofer with dual frontward firing woofers and dual frontward firing tweeters which are stacked on top of the woofers and it has dual passive radiators that shoot out to the sides. Where as with the Partyboxes, they both have dual frontward firing woofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the back and they both have dual frontier firing tweeters. The difference here is that the 320 is just larger than the 120. And with all of these speakers, if you use them while they are plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of them. They are all going to get louder and they are all going to have more bass. And with all of these speakers, you can go into their apps and adjust heir EQ to your liking. Now I like using both of the Partyboxes with their stock EQ’s and with their bass boost set to deep… but I actually like using the boombox 3 with its bass raised by 3 clicks. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test and all three of these speakers are playing at their 92% volume and we’re going to use these speakers while they are unplugged and plugged in.
Sound test
So first, I am very surprised at how similar the instrument separation on the Boombox 3 is compared to the Partybox 120 and 320. But the main performance difference between the Boombox 3 and both Partyboxes is going to come down to bass and volume. Now the Boombox 3 has a lot of bass relative to its size thanks to its frontward firing subwoofer. However, the bass on the Boombox 3 just doesn’t compare to the bass on either the 120 and 320 which is just going to rattle the walls in your house a lot more than the Boombox 3. And then theres the max volume performance on these speakers, again the Boombox 3 just isn’t able to keep up with either the 120 or the 320. Nonetheless I feel that both the Boombox 3 and Partybox 120 are good for like 12 to 15 people get togethers, where as the Partybox 320 is going to be better suited for 20 or more people. So overall, with either Partyboxes, your music is going to get much louder and its going to sound fuller thanks to the additional bass.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up to other speakers. Now with all of these speakers, if you have two of the exact same speakers you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
But with the Boombox 3, this speaker is using party boost and you can pair it up to other party boost speakers like either another boombox 3, a boombox 2, an Xtreme 3 a Charge 5, a Pulse 5 a Pulse 5 or to a flip 5 or to a flip 6 and get them to play in sync. You can even connect the Boombox 3 to upcoming aura cast speakers like either an Xtreme 4, go 4 or Clip 5.
Now both the Partybox 320 and Partybox 120 are also aura cast speaker and you can wirelessly pair these two speakers together and get them to play in sync. But unfortunately, you can not pair either the 320 or 120 to any of JBL’s smaller party boost speakers.
Now JBL’s app does mention that you can connect party boost speaker to aruacast speakers… but it seems like you can only connect auracast speakers like the clip 5, go 4, or Xtreme 4… unfortunately neither the 120 or 320 show up here.
Now I do feel that not being able to connect either your 320 or 120 to any of JBL’s older speakers sucks, however like I mentioned earlier, both of these speakers do have your audio out jacks so you can always daisy chain them to any other speaker and get them to play in sync, so at least theres that.
But with all of that being said, if you are trying to choose between either the Boombox 3 or either the Partybox 320 or Partybox 120… personally I think that you are going to be much better off going with either Partybox cause your music is going to sound fuller, its going to have more bass and its going to get much louder than the Boombox 3. You also get extra features like a great looking light feature, you can plug in 2 microphones for karaoke, and you have those swappable batteries. And plus traveling with these speakers isn’t too bad. But if you need something super durable and portable than you’ll might want to go with the Boombox 3. Now dont get me wrong, the boombox 3 also sound great and it has an impressive amount of bass… but with the Boombox 3 you are mostly paying a premium for portability and durability.