So JBL Just put out two bangers of Partybox’s, first theres the JBL Partybox 520 which I feel is the perfect size. It gives you more then enough power where you never ask for more… but you never get overwhelmed and feel like you made a mistake. But then theres the JBL Partybox 720 which basically says, Oh you think the 520 is crazy, check this one out… Now the 720 can be a little over whelming… but its still as versatile as the Partybox 520. Nonetheless, today we’re going to compare the JBL partybox 720 to the JBL partybox 520 and lets see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Partybox 520 has a retail price of $880, its up there, but you never wonder what if you had something bigger or it you have a second speaker. But then theres the JBL Partybox 720 which has a retail price of $1,100… which is going to almost give you JBL Partybox Ultimate Max volume performance, while still being as versatile as the 520. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two 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 the related videos in the description below.
Now first theres the design of these speakers, the JBL Partybox 720 is noticeably larger and a heavier than the JBL Partybox 520. The Partybox 720 weighs in at 69 pounds where as the JBL Partybox 520 weighs in at 56 and a half pounds. Now with both of these speakers I do feel that you’re going to need help if you’re going to load them into your car or carry them up and down stairs if you dont want to risk damaging the speaker or car or walls in your house.
But besides size and weight, the JBL Partybox 720 is just like the Partybox 520. First off both of these speakers have built in wheels so you can easily roll them around. And the important thing here is, these wheels are also super chunky, so its still going to be super easy to roll them around in a parking lot, on the side walk, in the grass or on a rug. But with the 520, this speaker has a telescopic handle, so its more comfortable rolling this speaker around.
Nonetheless these speakers are still super portable thanks to their wheels, but when it comes to durability, you still want to be careful. Both of these speakers have a mostly plastic body so they can get scratched easily and they have a thin 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 the 520 has a top hat mount on the bottom, where as the 720 doesn’t, so you can always but this speaker on a stand if you want. But you’re going to need a sturdy one.
But then there are the light features on these speakers… now both of these light features are identical, except the 720 is just a little bigger… and through JBL’s app you can choose a few different lighting modes and you can customize these light features as well. And since both of these speakers are using aura cast, you can also connect them to JBL’s Partylights and extend their light feature. Overall, JBL’s light features look great, but I do wish the that both of these speakers had floor lights like the Partybox ultimate… and I do feel the ultimate’s light feature is more impressive cause the light rings have a 3D effect. But nonetheless if you do decide to use the light feature on either of these two speakers, that is going to take its toll on the battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life, both of these speakers have an advertised battery life of 15 hours, but thats with both of these speakers playing at 40% volume and with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off as well. Now battery life on these speakers really varies depending on how you use them, but 40% volume on both of these speakers is already very loud.
But real world use with both of these speakers playing at 60% volume and with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost feature turned on, therye both going to be good for around 8 hours of playback time. And honestly, anything above 70% volume on both of these speakers while indoors is going to require hearing protection.
But the really cool thing about both of these speakers is that they both have removable batteries… however, the partybox 720 is using 2 batteries where as the 520 is using one battery. But these two speakers and the boombox 4 are using the same 600 battery, so if you want you can actually mix and match batteries between these three speakers. But more importantly if you want you can get multiple batteries and swap them out to keep the party going, or if you ever get to a point where your battery can no longer hold a charge, you just need to get a new battery which is good for the overall life of your investment.
But in general, it is very imrepssive that the Partybox 720 even has batteries, cause its predecessor, the 710 didn’t… So thanks to the Batteires on the 720, this speaker is just as portable and versatile as the 520.
And to charge these speakers they both charge via a double barrel AC port, and with both of these speakers, if you use them while they are plugged in you are going to get a performance boost out of them, they’re both going to get louder and therye both going to have more bass. But the 720 gets so loud when its plugged in, it gets almost as loud as the JBL Partybox Ultimate.
And when it comes to the ports on these speakers, first off these ports are illuminated which I feel is a very nice touch… but more importantly, both of these speakers are using XLR combo jacks, so if you want you can easily plug in a mixer which is good if you want to moon light as a DJ. Plus since these speakers have their built in light features, I think thats a very big plus… but this is why I wish they also had floor lights, for the DJs.
But more importantly with both of these speakers you can plug in two microphones for karaoke, or you can also plug in a guitar, but I feel kakroke is more important. And with both of these speakers you can adjust the sound of your mic directly from the speaker it self.
Now with both of these speakers you can plug in 2 wired mics, or you can plug in JBL’s Partybox Mics and get 2 wireless mics. 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.
And since both of these speakers have a USB C port, you can use these USB C ports to charge your own devices, or you can use it to charge your mics, and you can also use these USB C ports as a wired connection with your phone.
And I really love that JBL listened and they added these USB C ports to the 720 and 520 cause it makes it super easy now to charge your phone… but both of these speakers still has an audio jack so you can use them with a wired connection that way as well… but they also have 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. When it comes to speaker set up both of these speakers have dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and they both have dual frontward firing tweeters. Expect on the Partybox 720, its just bigger. And personally I am a little disappointed that the 720 doesn’t have mid range drivers like the Ultimate, cause I wish it had something more to differentiate it from the 520 and 320, rather than just more sound. But with both of these speakers you can go into their apps and you can adjust their EQ to your liking and they both have their bass boost. Now peronsally I prefer deep cause you get more kick in your bass, where as with punchy, you get more resonance but I feel that it muddles the rest of you music. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Both of these speakers are playing at 75% volume with bass boost set to deep, and we’re going to use the 520 while its unplugged and plugged in.
Sound test
So like you may have just heard, these two speakers sound very similar to one another… which is to be expected cause they are from the same company and they have the same speaker set up. Now dont get me wrong, both of these speakers sound good and balanced… but like I have said multiple times already, I really wish that the 720 had mid range drivers like the Ultimate, so that it could have better instrument separation and openness… thus giving us a larger reason to upgrade from the 520 to the 720 instead of just saying that yeah, it gets louder and it has more bass. Now when it comes to max volume performance… the 520 gets almost as loud as the 720 when the 520 is plugged in and the 720 is running off of its internal battery. But when the 720 is plugged in, this speaker gets almost as loud as the JBL Partybox Ultimate. But plainly said, upgrade to the 720 is just going to mean more bass and a higher max volume… but no real difference in instrument separation and openness. And when it comes to max volume performance, I feel that both of these speakers are going to have no problem with the a 50 person party and you can even use them for commercial use, think small DJ gigs, medium sized restaurants, or event booths. But if I had to choose between these two speakers, I think you cant go wrong with the 520, its gets more than loud enough… cause I feel that the 720 can be a little overwhelming at times, especially when its plugged in.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers 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, since both of these speakers are using aura cast you can pair them up to other speakers that are also using aura cast like lets set the JBL Partybox Encore 2, 120, 320, 520, 720, or ultimate and you can get them all to play in sync… but also you can pair your Partybox 520 or 720 up 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, Boombox 4 or Grip.
But also, you can pair your Partybox 520 or 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 520 paired up to any other speaker… if you have a mic plugged in into your 520, then your mic audio is only going to come out of the partybox 520. The audio isn’t synced up across all other speakers.
And like I mentioned earlier, the Partybox 520 and 720 both have that audio out jack so you can always daisy chain them up to any other speaker regardless of size or brand, and get them to play sync. And since these speakers are using aura cast, you’ll also be able to pair it up to other non JBL speakers that are also using aura cast. Just keep in mind that you cant pair these aura cast speakers to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using Partyboost like either a JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 5 or Flip 6.
But with all of that being said, Both the JBL PartyBox 520 and JBL PartyBox 720 are great box speakers to consider. They both sound good, they have a lot of bass, they both have easy to remove batteries and they are both fairly portable. Now the JBL Partybox 720 is epic, and even when its running off of its internal battery it can get overwhelming. And when its plugged in, it gets almost as loud as the Partybox Ultimate. However I am disappointed that it doesn’t have mid range drivers like the Ultimate… I would really like to have seen improved instrument separation over its smaller brothers. So even though I like the JBL Partybox 720… I still prefer and recommend the JBL Partybox 520. It gets more than loud enough, but its not over whelming. Plus this speaker is smaller and easier to transport.