Get Them Here:
JBL Partybox 720: https://geni.us/GC-JBLPartybox720
JBL Partybox 520: https://geni.us/GC-JBLPartybox520
JBL Partybox Ultimate: https://geni.us/GC-PartyboxUltimate
The JBL Partybox 720 is perhaps the most impressive speaker and the biggest update that JBL has put out in a very long time. And this isn’t click bait, the JBL Partybox 720 has some big updates over its predecessor like it being battery powered, its gets almost as loud as the Partybox ultimate, and it looks much better too. Now I still really wish the Partybox 720 had mid range drivers, but still, the JBL Partybox 720 is super impressive.
Regarding pricing, the JBL partybox 720 has a retail price of $1100, which is a lot, I know. But for comparison sake, the JBL Partybox Ultimate currently has a retail price of $1,900… and I think this speaker is more versatile and gets almost as loud, and the JBL partybox 520 has a retail price of $880. Nonetheless if you want to pick this speaker up it’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 first we need to talk about one of the biggest upgrades on the Partybox 720 over the Partybox 710, and thats the included batteries. The JBL partybox 720 comes included with two batteries. And for those curious, if you were to remove one of these batteries, then the speaker will turn off… and if one battery is much lower than the other, then you are going to get a blinking notification. But the really important thing here is, the Partybox 720 is actually using the same battery found in either the Partybox 520 or the JBL Boombox 4… so if you want you can always mix and match batteries between these 3 speakers.
And this is a very big deal cause the JBL Partybox 710 doesn’t have a built in batter, you can only use this speaker while its plugged in, thus making the Partybox 720 much more versatile than its predecessor. But keep in mind, if you were to use the Partybox 720 while its plugged in, you are going to get a very big performance boost out of it, its going to get louder and its going to have more bass.
Now when it comes to battery life, the JBL partybox 720 has an advertised battery life of 15 hours… but thats with this speaker playing at 40% volume and with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off. the same as the JBL partybox 520 and 320. And 40% volume on this speaker is already very loud.
But real world use with this speaker playing at 60% volume, with the light feature turned on, and with the bass boost turned on, for me its been good for 8 hours of playback time… and honestly, anything above 60% volume while indoors is going to require hearing protection. And anything above 80% is just telling your neighbors that you really care about them and you really want them to listen to your favorite song, and at 100%, its just telling the cops that you really miss them and that they should visit more often.
But overall, one of the biggest upgrades on the Partybox 720 over the Partybox 710 is that it now has dual swappable batteries, making it much more versatile cause you can use it anywhere, unlike the Partybox 710. And if you want you can get multiple batteries and just keep the party going, or you can mix and match batteries between your Partybox 520 or Boombox 4.
But another change between the 720 and the 710 are the looks. Now the Partybox 720 has the same design language as the JBL’s new line up of speakers… but when compared to the 710, the 720 is a little larger and it is a little heavier weighing in at 69 pounds, nice. Where as the 710 weighs in at 61 pounds, not nice. Now the 720 does have built in wheels so its very easy to move this speaker around, and the good thing is, these wheels are very chunky, so you can still easily roll this speaker around in the parking lot, sidewalk, grass or thick carpet. However since this speaker is so big, you are going to need help if you’re going to load it into your car or take up and down stirs if you dont want to damage the speaker its self, the car or the walls in your house.
Nonetheless the 720 is still fairly portable thanks to its wheels, but when it comes to durability, you still want to be careful. This speaker has a mostly plastic body so it can get scratched easily and it has a thing metal grill on the front so it can get dented… and this speaker is only rocking an IPX4 ratting, so some water is going to be fine, but you want to make sure that its panels on the back are closed. And unlike lets say the 520 or 320, the 720 does not have a top hat mount on the bottom, so you cant elevate it, but I doubt anyone would actually want to do that.
But another major change on the 720 over the 710 is the updated light feature. Now jus like always, this light feature is very impressive, its very bight and its very dynamic. And through JBL’s app you can go in and select from a few different lighting modes. And since the 720 is using Aura cast, you can also connect it to JBL’s Partylights and extend your light feature if you want… However, the light feature on the Partybox 720 is identical to the light feature found on the Partybox 520. Its just bigger. Cause the light feature on the Partybox ultimate is little more impressive, the rings in the center have a 3D effect and the ultimate has floor lights as well, which I would have like to have seen on the 720. But just keep in mind that if you do use the light feature on this speaker, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life.
And when it comes to the ports on this speaker, this is another upgrade. Now first off the port panel on the back is illuminated, which I do feel is a nice touch. But more importantly, the Partybox 720 is now using XLR combo jacks, just like the 520. so if you want you can plug in a mixer making this speaker a great option for both casual users and someone that might want to moon light as a DJ. Plus the 720 already has the built in light feature which is a big plus, but this is another reason why I wish it had floor lights, for DJS.
But with these XLR Combo jacks, you can still plug in a 2 microphones for karaoke, or you can plug in a guitar. But in think karaoke is more important. And directly from the speaker it self you can adjust your bass, treble or echo so that you can hide just how off key you are. There are also some extra DJ buttons so that you can ad sound effects, but I think these buttons are pointless but you can customize them through JBL’s app.
Now if you want you can have a total of two wired mics plugged in, or you can plug in JBL’s Partybox Mics and get two wireless mics going. Now I know JBL’s wireless mics are a lot more expansive compared to wired ones… however these mics do sound better, they do a really good job of focusing on your voice and they also do a really good job of not picking up too much noise when you’re handling the microphones.
Also since the Partybox 720 does have a USB C port which you can use to charge your own phone… you can also use this USB C port to charge your JBL Partybox Mics and the transmitter as well. But also, with this USB C port you can use it as a wired connection with your phone.
And I really love that JBL listened and they added this USB C port to the 720 cause it makes it super easy now to charge your phone… but the 720 still has an audio jack so you can use it with a wired connection that way as well… but it also has an audio out jack, so you can always daisy chain this speaker up with any other speaker and get them to play in sync, regardless of size or brand.
And when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, this speaker can be connected to anything two bluetooth devices so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos with on your phone and it has support for SBC and AAC… but just keep in mind that this speaker does not have wifi support like lets say the Partybox Ultimate, but honestly that doesn’t matter to me.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up, the JBL Partybox 720 has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back, and dual frontward firing tweeters, just like the Partybox 710 and just like with all of JBL’s smaller party boxes. And personally I am a little disappointed here cause I really wish the 720 had mid range drivers just like the Partybox Ultimate for better instrument separation… but it doesn’t. But thanks to the rear firing exhaust port, you can also amplify the bass on this speaker by simple placing it up against a wall cause your bass is going to have something to bounce off of. And though JBL’s app you can go in and select from a few premade EQ’s or you can make your own. And then theres the bass boost button. Now there are two settings, theres deep and rumble. Deep is the one that I prefer cause it going to give you more kick in your bass, you’re going to feel it more… where as with rumble, you’re going to get more resonance, but I dont like it too much cause I feel that it muddles the rest of your music. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, we’re going to be using this speaker at 75% volume, we’re going to cycle with bass boost off and bass boost set to deep and we’re also going to use it while its plugged in.
Sound test
So when it comes to sound quality between the partybox 720 and partybox 710… these two speakers have very similar instrument separation, which honestly I didn’t expect. I thought the Partybox 720 would have better openess than the 710, cause thats what happened when we went from the 310 to the 320 and when we went from the 110 to the 120. Now dont get me wrong, the JBL Partybox 720 sound balanced and the mids and highs have no problem standing out… however I do with that the 720 had mid range drivers like the Ultimate so that we can have better quality sound… instead of just having more bass and more volume when trying to upgrade from lets say the Partybox 520. However, what is very impressive here is the max volume performance of the Partybox 720. The Partybox 720 gets just as loud as the Partybox 710 when its running off of its internal battery. Which I think is genuinely surprising cause usually when speakers play off of their internal batteries, they just dont get as loud so that they can extend their battery life. But thats not the case here. And when the Partybox 720 is playing while its plugged in, it gets significantly louder and it has much more bass than the partybox 710. While its plugged in, the Partybox 720 gets almost as loud as the Partybox Ultimate. And like I said earlier, anything above 60% volume on the Partybox 720 while indoors, you’re going to need hearing protection. And in general, I think this speaker is going to be good for like a 50 person plus party, and we’re starting to enter commercial use territory, think DJ’s, medium sized restaurants, food trucks or even booths.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker up with other speakers. Now if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, so your music is going to sound more open and its going to get louder. But you have to have 2 of the exact same speakers.
But also, the Partybox 720 is using aura cast so you can pair it up to other speakers that are also using aura cast like lets set the JBL Partybox Encore 2, 120, 320, 520, or ultimate and you can get them all to play in sync… but also you can pair your Partybox 720 to any of JBL’s smaller speakers that are also using aura cast like lets say a charge 6, xtreme 4, flip 7, clip 5, or go 4.
But also, you can pair your Partybox 720 up to any of JBL’s older Partybox Speakers that are using TWS like either an original partybox encore, or 110, 310, or 710… however you can only have a total of 2 speakers wirelessly paired to one another. And another thing is, lets say you have your 720 paired up to any other speaker… if you have a mic plugged in into your 720, then your mic audio is only going to come out of the partybox 720.
And like I mentioned earlier, the Partybox 720 does have that audio out jack so you can always daisy chain it up to any other speaker regardless of size or brand, and get them to play sync. And since this speaker is using aura cast, you’ll also be able to pair it up to other non JBL speakers that are also using aura cast.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Partybox 720 is perhaps the biggest upgrade that JBL has put out in a long time. Most importantly, the JBL partybox 720 has a built in battery now, so you can use it anywhere and its a lot more versatile than its predecessor. And the really interesting thing is, since its using dual 600 batteries, you can mix and match batteries between a Partybox 520 or Boombox 4, if that matters to you. And unlike the Partybox Ultimate, you have those XLR inputs if you want to moonlight as a DJ. The only thing that is disappointing is that the 720 doesn’t have mid range drivers… so even though its still sounds good, I wish it had improved instrument separation over the 520, 320 and its predecessors. But I am genuinely shocked at just how loud this speaker gets when its plugged in. If you need a big speaker and if you’re trying to choose between the JBL Partybox Ultimate and 720… honestly id just go with the 720.