So right now the JBL Partybox 110 is becoming one of my favorite box speakers to recommend especially if you’re looking for something to have gatherings with. But now, we have the JBL Partybox Encore Essential… and this little guys packs a very big punch in a very small package. There’s a lot to like here… but there are also some things that you should keep an eye out with the Partybox Encore Essential.
Now when it comes to pricing… the Partybox Encore Essential has a retail price of $300… not bad. But just so that there isn’t any confusion… there’s also the Partybox Encore that in the pipeline for Summer of 2022… and its going to have a retail price of $400. Now its going to have an expanded light feature, a longer battery life, and its going to come included with 2 mics… But honestly at $400 I think you should just spring for the 110 if you can find it. Nonetheless, if you want to pick up the Partybox Encore Essential, it’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. The Encore is basically half the size of the 110. It weighs in at 13 pounds… the same as the JBL Boombox 2… and it has a built in carrying handle. So taking this speaker on the go with you is very easy. And one thing that I really like about this speaker is its square design. So if you throw the Encore into the trunk of your car, its not going to roll around like the Boombox 2 does. Now from a durability standpoint, the Encore is rocking an IPX4 rating, meaning that a little rain or getting splashed on isn’t going to be an issue for this speaker. However, the Encore is using the same plastic and metal grill on the front as the 110. Meaning that this speaker does love to collect scratches. So if you plan on transporting this speaker on a regular basis… you’re really going to have to baby it. So overall, I think the Encore is good to use around the house, take it to your friend’s house and maybe take it to the park from time to time. But if you’re looking for something to take on a camping trip with you… or to regularly take to the beach with you… it wouldn’t be my first pick… but it will get the job done. But finally, I do have to point out that the Encore does not have a speaker stand mount on the bottom like the 110 and 310 do. Ultimately, I don’t think this is a big deal… given the Encore’s size and performance.
However, something that the Encore does have, which is pretty much synimious with party box speakers is a pretty dope looking light feature. With the Encore Essential, we’ve got a fully RBG ring light going around the main woofer… and there’s a strobe light on top. And overall, this light feature is very bright and its very dynamic. Its going to look great indoors and at night. However, if you do decide to use this light feature… it is going to take its toll on the battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life… the Encore Essential has an advertised battery life of 6 hours… but that’s with this speaker playing at 65% volume, with the light feature turned off and with its bass boost feature turned off. And overall, I gotta say that 65% volume on this speaker is a really good listening volume. Its decent loud enough for outdoors use and I would argue that its a little too loud for indoor use.
But real world use for me, while I use this speaker while I’m working out… at 50% volume, with the light feature turned on and with the bass set to punchy… which is the second level of bass boost… I get about 5 hours of playback time out of this speaker. Which is okay… but this speaker certainly does not have a lot of stamina to it.
However, if you were to use this speaker at a lower volume… or if you were to use this speaker with its light feature turned off… or if you were to use it with it bass boost feature turned off… any of those would extend the life of your battery life. But overall, if you plan on taking this speaker on the go with you… you want to remember to pack your charging cable and make sure that there’s an outlet around.
Now when it comes to ports… the Encore essential has a single quarter inch input so you can plug in one microphone into this speaker. And through the app, you can adjust the bass, treble and echo of this microphone. But keep in mind… these adjustments will only affect the sound of your microphone… not your music.
But also, the Encore has your standard audio jack so you can always use it with a wired connection… and it also has a USB A port. Now you can use this USB A port to either charge your own devices… or you can also plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. Now even though I think its great and all that this speaker has a USB A port… I still wish that it had a USB C port… like the JBL Xtreme 3.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity… the Encore is using bluetooth 5.1… but more importantly, this speaker can be connected to two devices at the same time, so you and a friend can both be DJ… and latency is not an issue for this speaker. So if you’re going to watch a video with this speaker, your video is going to be in sync. But unfortunately, the Encore is still only using SBC.
But now lets talk about sound… regarding speaker set ups, the Encore has a single frontward firing woofer and dual frontward firing tweeters… but the really important thing about this speaker is that is a rear firing exhaust port, meaning that you can easily amplify the bass on this speaker by simply placing it up against a wall. And this is a big deal cause this is something that the Partybox On The Go didn’t have and its one of my biggest critiques about the Soundboks Go. Now like with most there Partybox’s, the encore has a bass boost feature. And I think bass boost level 2… or is its not called… punchy… is the way to go with this speaker. But so that you can hear for yourself, we’re going to jump into the sound test. The Encore is playing while at 75% volume.
So overall, I think the Encore sounds balanced with strong mids and the bass comes in when it has to. And whether you’re using this speaker at a high volume or at a lower volume… the bass on this speaker has a decent amount of physicality it. So you can use this speaker either outdoors or indoors without any problems. Unlike lets say the Soundboks Go who likes to put its tweeter on over drive… and this is speaker that you gotta use at higher volumes to fully enjoy your music. Now with bass boost sutured off, the Encore is going to sound relatively flat, but if you turn on the bass boost, that when you start to get some kick out of it. Now since this speaker only has one woofer… its not going to have as much bass as lets say the Partybox 110… but if you were to use it with its bass boost set to punchy… its does a really good job of keeping up with the 110. And since the Encore does put a little more emphasis on the highs than the 110… while its playing with its Bass Boost set to punchy… its doesn’t sound as shallow. But one thing that Encore does have going for it over all of JBL’s other Partybox’s is that it has a customizable EQ. So you an adjust its EQ to your liking. Now as of My 2022… the 110, 310 and 710 don’t have a customizable EQ… but I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets added to these other speakers in a future software update. JBL has been more open to adding an adjustable EQ to their speakers.
But then there’s max volume performance on this speaker. Now the Encore gets decently loud while off of its internal battery. But obviously it doesn’t get as loud as the 110… and the Boombox 2 gets a little louder than the Encore as well. However, with the encore, if you were to use it while its plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of it. Its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. And while its plugged in the, the Encore gets noticeably louder than the Boombox 2… and the encore gets also most as loud as the 110 when its plugged in, but obviously I just doesn’t have as much bass. Overall, the Partybox Encore gets decently loud at max volume while running off of its internal battery… but if you were to use it while its plugged in, you are going to get a noticeable power up out of it.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker up with other speakers… now you can pair a Partybox Encore up to another party box encore, or to a 110, 310, or to a 710 and you can have up to 2 speakers wirelessly paired together. Which personally I feel is just not enough. And if you want to get left and right stereo sound going, you need to have 2 of the same speakers paired together.
Now even though Partybox’s TWS is rather limited when compared to other speaker pairing protocols out there… its very good. Its very easy to use, your speakers pair up very quickly, and skipping is not an issue. It just works.
However, its is very important to keep in mind that you can’t pair any Partybox speakers to any of JBL’s smaller PartyBoost speakers. So you can’t pair your Partybox Encore to your JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, JBL Flip 6, or any other JBL speaker using PartyBoost. And quiet frankly… I think JBL just needs to bring Partyboost to their Partybox Speakers.
So with all of that being said, the JBL Partybox Encore Essential is a well rounded speaker that doesn’t explicitly excel at one specific thing… but it does everything well. The Encore essential is small and super easy to take on the go with you… but it not super durable. But it gets the job done. The Encore is good for a solid 5 hours of playback time… but you need to remember to pack your charging cable… but it gets the job done. The Encore also gets decently loud… but its not going to have as much bass as the 110… but it gets the job done. And the encore only has on microphone input… but it gets the job done. Overall, I can’t be mad at the Partybox Encore Essential, its a little speaker that packs a big punch.