So the JBL Boombox 4 is a very impressive speaker that gets super loud and it has a lot of bass for its size. However, the JBL Boombox 4 can be a little pricy, So today we’re going to compare the JBL Boombox 4 with its little bother, the JBL Xtreme 4, and the Sony ULT field 5. Lets see if its worth it for you to upgrade to the JBL Boombox 4, or if these smaller speakers will get the job done just right for you.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Boombox 4 has a retail price of $450, which is a lot and it is an increase from the Boombox 3 and this is the same price as the JBL Partybox 320, so let that sink in. Where as the JBL Xtreme 4 has a retail price of $380 and the Sony ULT Field 5 has a retail price of $330. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always watch some of the related videos in the description down below.
So when it comes to design, all three of these speakers are super durable cause they all have a fabric wrapped body so they are going to have no problem standing up to constant abuse. And They are all water proof, making them great options to use while at the beach, lake or pool. Now all of these speakers are super portable, however the JBL Boombox 4 is signifincalty larger and heavier than these other two speakers. But the biggest thing about the Boombox 4 is that this speaker doesn’t come with a shoulder strap like with either the JBL Boombox 4 or Sony ULT Field 5, which I feel is a shame cause I think an included shoulder strap on the Boombox 4 would have been a great update.
But one thing that I do want to point out about the Xtreme 4 is that its USB C port is exposed, where as the ports on the both the Boombox 4 and ULT field 5 are covered. So if the Xtreme 4 gets wet, you do have to wait for it to dry off before you can charge it, or else youre going to get a blinking red light when you plug it in. Where as that isn’t an issue for these other two speakers cause their ports are covered. I just wanted to let you know cause this happened to me with my Charge 6 and I thought I broke it.
But one update the Boombox 4 did get is that it now has a built in light feature. But I think this light feature is pointless for two reasons. For starters this light feature only flashes orange or white depending on your bass boost mode… but also, since this light feature is tucked away in the passive radiator, its hard to see. Where as with the Sony ULT field 5, this speaker also has a built in light feature, and this light feature is actually worth using cause you can see it from the front and it also has a good flooding affect. So personally I just use the JBL Boombox 4 with the light feature turned off, its not worth in.
Now when it comes to battery life the Boombox 4 has an advertised battery life of 34 hours, which is a lot, but thats with stamina mode turned on which is going to severely reduce your bass. But with stamina mode turned off, its going to have an advertised battery life of 28 hours, which is still a lot. And real world use with this speaker playing at 75% Volume, which is already super loud, and with the bass boost turned on, its good for around 10 hours of playback time.
Where as the Xtreme 4 has an advertised battery life of 24 hours where as the ULT Field 5 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… however this advertised battery life of 25 hours on the Sony is with the light feature turned off, which I do feel is fair. But real world use with both of these speakers playing at 80% volume, and thats with the ULT field 5 playing with its light feature turned off and with ULT 2, the Sony is good for about 12 hours and the Xtreme 4 is good for about 14. Not bad for either of these two speakers. But 75% volume on the Boombox 4 is already louder than max volume on these other two speakers.
But the biggest battery upgrade on the Boombox 4 and Xtreme 4 over its predecessors is that you can actually remove the battery if you want. Now removing the battery on the Boombox 4 and Xtreme 4 isn’t as easy as with JBL’s Partybox’s cause you do have to use an Allen key to undo some screws and you do have to remove a rubber grommet, and JBL did it this way so that the Boombox 4 and Xtreme 4 can have their IP68 ratting. But the important thing is, if you want to swap out the battery, you can.
Now the JBL Boombox 4 is using a JBL 600 battery… which is the same battery found in either the JBL PartyBox 520, or 720… so if you want you can actually mix and match batteries between these three speakers. Where as the Xtreme 4 is using a JBL 400 battery, which is the same battery as the partybox 320, so if you want you can mix and match batteries between these two speakers. And this is something that you just cant do with the Sony ULT Field 5.
And to charge these speakers, the Boombox 4 charges via a double barrel AC port and theres no external power brick that you have to worry about, which is good. Where as with these other two speakers, they charge via a USB C port, which is even more conviente. And with all of these speakers, if you use them while they are plugged in, you do get a performance boost out of them. They get louder and they have more bass. And with the Xtreme 4, you get a complete charging cable, where as with the ULT field 5, you have to use your own wall adaptor cause you just get a USB C to USB C Cable.
Now when it comes to ports, the ports on both of JBL’s speakers are pretty sad. All of these speakers have a USB C port which you can use to charge your own devices, which I feel is super useful, but you can also use the USB C port on the Boombox 4 as a wired connection as well. But the Sony ULT field 5 is the only speaker here that actually has an audio jack. So you can use it as a wired connection that way.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, all of these speakers can be connected to two devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is not an issue for any of these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, all of these speakers have support for SBC and AAC, but the Sony also has support for LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio codec. But if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC, but still the Sony sounds great if you’re using it with AAC. And none of these speakers have wifi support, which personally I dont care… but maybe JBL will make a Wifi version on the Boombox 4 which I will ignore cause it think those would be pointless.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up, the Xtreme 4 has dual frontward firing woofers, dual frontward firing tweeters and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. Where as the ULT Field 5 has a single frontward firing woofer, dual frontward firing tweeters and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. And then theres the JBL Boombox 4 which has dual frontward firing woofers, dual frontward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides… but what is new is that this speaker now has a passive radiator that shoots out the back for added bass. Another new feature on the Boombox 4 is that it now has its bass boost button like JBL’s party boxes, and theres two settings, deep and punchy. Personally I prefer deep cause it gives you more kick in your bass where as with punchy I feel it just added too much resonances so it messes with your music. And then theres the Sony which has its ULT mode. ULT 1 is going to increase your bass, and this is the setting that you want to use while indoors, and ULT 2 is going to increase both your sound pressure and bass, so you’re going to get the most out of this speaker. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest. The JBL Boombox 4 is playing at 75% volume with the its bass boost set to deep, and both the JBL Xtreme 4 and Sony ULT Field 5 are playing at max volume.
Sound Test
So when it comes to sound, I feel that the JBL Boombox 4 is a violent sounding speaker. It gets very loud and it has a lot of bass for its size thanks to that new rear firing passive radiator. So you’re going to get a lot of kick out of your bass. But the reason why they Boombox 4 is able to get so loud is cause it puts an emphasis on the highs… but in doing that, the Boombox 4 can sound a little nasally cause you’re not going to get as good detail in the mids. And for the most part, the JBL Xtreme 4 is kind of the same, it also gets super louder for its size, but thats cause it puts a strong emphasis on the highs. Where as with the Sony ULT Field 5, I feel that this speaker sounds more balanced and open cause it doesn’t put as much emphasis on the highs, so it has better detail. But obviously, when it comes to max volume performance, the JBL Boombox 4 gets much louder than these other two speakers, and for the most part I feel the Boombox 4 is going to be good for like a 15 to 20 person party cause not only does it get loud, it has the bass to match. Where as with these other two speakers, I think they’re going to be good for like a 10 person get together. So overall, just as you’d expect, the JBL Boombox 4 gets much louder and has much more kick in its bass than these other two smaller speakers… but when it comes to sound quality… it just gets louder. If you want better sound quality, better balanced and more openess, you’ll might want to look at a box speaker.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with both of these speakers if you have 2 of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, but they have to be two of the exact same speakers.
Now the the Sony ULT field 5 is using wireless party chain so you can pair it up with any other Sony speaker that also using wireless party chain like either an ULT Field 5 or to and ULT field 3 and you can also pair it up with Sony’s older speakers like lets say the XG500 or XE300… or you can also pair it up with Sony’s larger Box speakers like either a Tower 10 or the Tower 9. The only thing is, you cant pair your ULT field 5 with an ULT Field 1 cause it doesn’t have wireless party chain.
But then theres the JBL Boombox 4 and Xtreme 4 which are using aura cast, so you can pair them up to other aura cast speakers like lets say the JBL Charge 6, or Flip 7, Clip 5, go 4 or to the grip and you can get them to all play in sync… but you can also pair up your JBL Boombox 4 or Xtreme 4 to any of JBL’s party boxes that are also using Auracast like lets say the JBL PartyBox Encore 2, Partybox 120, 320, 520, 720, or to the ultimate and you can get them to play in sync as well.
But unfortunately, since the JBL Boombox 4 is using aura cast, you cant pair it up to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using Partyboost like either the JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 6 or Flip 5.
The JBL Xtreme 4 is the only JBL Auracasrt speaker that can connect to both Auracast speakers and Partyboost speakers. And also, even though the JBL Boombox 4 and Xtreme 4 are using aura cast, you cant pair them up to JBL’s Partylight sticks and get them to play in sync like you can with a partybox. But nonetheless, if you are planning on going your collection of speakers, the Boombox 4 gives you a lot of options… but just keep in mind, if you’re upgrading from a Boombox 3 or any other Partyboost speaker… you cant pair them up. But you can with an Xtreme 4.
But with all of that being said, with the JBL Boombox 4, you are getting more volume and more bass out of this speaker than you would with either the JBL Xtreme 4 or Sony ULT field 5… but I wouldn’t necerssly say that you’re going to get better sound quality. But one down grade that you do get with the Boombox 4 over the Xtreme 4 is that the Boombox 4 isn’t backwards compatible with Partyboost speakers like the Xtreme 4. But if the Boombox 4 is a little too big or too expensive for you, peronsally I do prefer the Sony ULT field 5 over the JBL Xtreme 4 cause I feel that it sounds more balanced plus it also has a built in light feature that is worth using unlike the light feature found on the Boombox 4.