So JBL has really been expanding their Partybox Line up, we have big Partyboxes and we have small Partyboxes. But today we’re going to break down JBL’s current party box line up cause it is pretty big, there is some fragmentation to look out for and and I feel that the Partybox Ultimate is our preview at JBL’s new generation of Partyboxes.
Regarding pricing, we have a large spectrum here. First there’s the Partybox Encore essential which has a retail price of $300… now there’s an upgraded version of the Encore but at that point you’ll might as well just get the partybox 110 cause it also retails for $400. And the 110 is just a little work horse that I love to recommend. Then there’s the 310 which has a retail price of $550 and this speaker is plenty for most people. Then there’s the Partybox 710 which has a retail price of $800 and its an earthquake machine… and finally there’s the newest speaker here, the JBL Partybox Ultimate and this thing is overkill for any sane person. Overall im a really big fan of JBL’s Partyboxes but they aren’t perfect. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets tap about the design of these speakers. Now all of these speakers have similar construction to them. They all have a plastic body which can get scratched very easily and they all have a thin metal grill on the front which can get dented very easily. But all of these speakers are water resistant, so a little bit of rain isn’t going to hurt any of them. Now obviously, both the encore and 110 are good speakers to consider if you’re looking for something to take on the go with you cause they are small and they have built in batteries. Now the 310 also has a built in battery so you can take it on the go with you as well, but its not as easy to transport as the 110. But the 310 does have built in wheels and it has a built handle, so rolling this speaker around is pretty easy. Now the 710 and Ultimate also have built in wheels so you can roll them around, but moving these speakers around can be a 2 person job especially if you plan on going up stairs. Personally I think the 710 and Ultimate are better suited to stay in your man cave. The 310 can be 50 50, but if portability is very important to you, then both the 110 and encore are good options.
But something that all of these speakers have in common is that they all have light features. And JBL’s light features have always been very impressive. But oddly enough, I do think the light feature on the 110 looks better than the light feature on the 310 cause the tweeters are illuminated, where as the light feature on the 310 just looks very tame. But then theres the 710. Now the light feature on the 710 looks like a larger version of the light feature on the 110 except it has been built out with light rails and stars. And finally there’s the Partybox ultimate. This light feature is larger and it has been built out more than the light feature on the 710. Specifically, the light rails now extend to the sides and there are now floor lights, which I love cause they just give the ultimate an even larger presence. Overall all of JBL’s speakers have very impressive light features and they are all going to look great in your man cave… however I do think the ultimate is giving us a preview of what to expect on future, smaller partyboxes.
However, if you do decide to use the light feature on these speakers, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life on the speakers that have a built in battery. Now real world use with the Partybox Encore playing at 50% volume, with the light feature turned on and with its bass boost set to deep, its good for about 5 hours of playback time. Which is okay for its size.
With the Partybox 110, with it playing at 65% volume, which is a good volume to use when you’re with friends, with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost set to deep, its good for about 8 hours of playback time.
And finally, there’s the Partybox 310, with it playing at 50% volume, and again, this is already a really good volume to use with friends, with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost set to deep, its good for about 12 hours of playback time.
And finally, there are both the 710 and Ultimate, and these speakers don’t have built in batteries, they can only be used while they are plugged. And just given their sheer size, its understandable that they don have a built in battery cause if they did, they would easily weigh in at over 100 pounds.
But now lets talk about connectivity, Now with all of these speakers, they all have bluetooth and they can all be connected to two devices at the same time, so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency isn’t an issue for any of these speakers, so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone… but when it come to audio codecs, they only have support for SBC.
But what is unique to the Partybox Ultimate here is that it has wifi support… so if you’re connected to the same wifi network as this speaker you’ll be able to stream music to it either with Airplay 2 or chrome cast, so whether you’re an iPhone user or an android user you’ll be fine.
But now lets talk about the ports panel on the back, which is good for the smaller speakers but it is a disappointment on the larger speakers. Now all of these speakers have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can use them with a wired connection… and all of these speakers, expect for the encore has an audio out jack, so you can always daisy chain any other speaker to these speakers, regardless of size or brand, and you’ll be able to get them to play in sync. And I feel that this audio out jack is very useful.
But also, all of these have a USB A port so that you can play music off of a USB Stick or you can also charge your own devices. But like I have said in the past, I think it time that JBL added a USB C port on their speakers cause most phones these days now just come with USB C to USB C charging cables.
But more importantly, all of these speakers have quarter inch inputs, so you can plug in a microphone for karaoke. Now all of these speakers have dual quarter inch inputs except for the encore… and with the 310, 710, and ultimate, you can easily adjust the sound of your microphone from the control panel up top.
Now I feel that having a single input on the encore is fine and I think that having 2 inputs on both the 110 and 310 is fine as well. However, I go feel that the 710 and ultimate should have more than 2 inputs… I think 4 would be great… and I also feel that both the 710 and Ultimate should have XLR inputs as well so that you can use them with a mixer, cause they are just too large and too expensive to not be able to use them with a mixer.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about about sound. Now obviously, the larger the speaker the louder and more bass its going to have. But with the Encore it has single frontward firing woofer with dual frontward firing tweeters. The 110 has Dual frontward firing woofers and dual frontward tweeters. The 310 has the same setup, except larger. And the 710 has the same set as well, except larger-er. But then there’s the Ultimate which is a little different. It also has dual frontward firing woofers and dual frontward firing tweeters… but what it unique here is that it has dual mid range drivers, which is new for Partybox. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Now so that the Encore, 110 and 310 all have a chance of keeping up, they are playing while they are plugged in cause they get a performance boost, and they are playing at max volume… where as both the 710 and ultimate are playing at 75% volume.
Sound test
So like you may have just heard, obviously the target the speaker the louder and more bass it going to have. But the important things to keep in mind here is, with the speakers that have built in batteries… if you want to get the most out of them, you have to use them while they are plugged in cause when they are plugged in they are going to get louder and have more bass. But also, with all of these speakers since they have rear firing exhausts ports, you can always amplify their bass by placing them up against as wall cause their bass is going to have something to bounce off of. And finally, with all of these speakers you can adjust their sound to your liking cause they all have an adjustable EQ. But from a performance stand point, from the encore, to the 110 to the 310 and to the 710, all of these speakers sound the same… you’re just paying for more volume and more bass. But with the Ultimate, this speaker does sound a little more open, even if you’re not playing any Dolby Atmos content… cause the mid range drivers on this speaker gives the ultimate better definition in the mids. But plainly said, the Encore is good for parties up to like 5 or 6 people. The 110 is good for up to like 12 ish people. The 310 is good for like 25 ish people, the 710 is good for like a 40 person party and the ultimate is now entering commercial level events.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers cause there is a lot of fragmentation to keep in mind here. With the party box ultimate, for now you can only pair it up to another party box ultimate and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… the problem is, you need a wifi connection to do so.
So if you plan on taking your ultimates to an area where you don’t have wifi, you’re going to have to daisy chain your speakers together, they’re only going to play in sync, and your light features aren’t going to be in sync. Now there have been talks that JBL is going to fix this on the ultimate, but until they do, this over reliance of wifi is ridicules.
The only silver lining is, sine the ultimate has wifi, you can always get it to play in sync with your other wifi enabled speakers.
Where as with the Encore, 110, 310, or 710, you can wirelessly pair two speakers, you light features are going to play in sync, and you don’t need wifi to do it. Now if you have 2 of the same speakers you can get them to play in left and right stereo mode, or if you’re mixing and matching speakers, then they’ll only play in sync.
But finally, with all of these Partyboxes, you can not wirelessly pair them to any of JBL’s smaller partyboost speakers like the JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 5, or to a flip 6… unless you have the wifi version of the Boombox 3 or charge 5 and if you’re using an ultimate.
Overall, there is a lot of fragmentation here when it comes to pairing your JBL speakers together and I don like the over reliance of wifi on the Ultimate. But for right now if you’re thinking about getting multiple Partyboxes I would go with either the encore, 110, 310 or 710 cause you can connect them together without needing wifi… but at least the majority of these speakers have that audio out jack.
But with all of that being said, JBL’s box speakers are all great options. However my top pic here are the 110, 310, and 710. The 110 is great to constantly take on the go with you to friends houses and it gets plenty loud. But if you want something with more volume and more bass, then the 310 is a great upgrade and its still fairly portable thanks to its built in wheels and retraceable handle. But if you want something big for your man cave, then the 710 won’t disappoint. Plus with these speakers, you can always get a second speaker and easily pair them together, no wifi needed. Personally I feel the encore is just a little too small and the ultimate is just overkill. However, if you do decide to get the ultimate, you’re going to have a lot of fun.