Earlier this spring, Sony announced the latest addition to its family of portable Bluetooth speakers. Now with summer just starting to get cozy, we’re taking a look at just how the new Sony XB100 speaker stacks up. I’ve been rocking out to the compact serenader for the past few weeks and on top of simply loving the form-factor, have become quite partial to just how good of a value the speaker is.
Hands-on with the new Sony XB100 speaker
It fits in the palm of your hand, comes in four colors, and rocks a minimalistic design. Sony’s new XB100 speaker just began shipping last month, and I’ve been listening to it daily for the past few weeks. But before I even get to how this new release sounds, I am dying to talk about how it looks.
Very much in line with what we’ve seen from other Sony speakers in the past, the design of its new XB100 throws away some of the frills that we’ve seen from the competition. Nearly the entire exterior is covered in a hardshell plastic that has a ribbed texture. On the top is the usual speaker grill that helps fire music out into your space, with some ports on the bottom to allow the downward firing bass driver to send out some lower notes.
But what I really want to talk about first is the color. If you couldn’t guess from my hair style, I asked Sony to send over the XB100 in the powder blue color. I know, I know, it’s hardly an out-of-the-box decision for me, but it’s just such a pretty shade! I couldn’t pass it up. It’s such a nice departure from the usual black or grey models on the market. And if you’re not as obsessed with all things of the blue variety like I am, there’s also three other colors to check out.
I could spend the whole review talking about how enamored I am with the looks, but we do have to move on. One last thing that’s worth talking about with the form-factor might be even more compelling to me than the visual stylings. Sony has included a built-in strap to its new XB100 that really shows the company wants you to take full advantage of its durable design. Hanging off the top of the speaker is a fairly long cord that can be clipped onto things.
Some speakers like to just put a little loop at the top that you’d be lucky to fit around the zipper of a backpack. But oh no, not Sony. The company is going all-in on making sure that if there is something you want to hang the XB100 on, you’ll likely be able to do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re like me and carrying it around you in the city or someone in more of a suburban setting hoping to strap it around a tree branch, your shower rod, or somewhere else. Sony simply doesn’t mind where you use it, and backs the speaker with an IP67 water resistance rating to really make sure it’s up to the task. The strap is ultimately such a small inclusion, but I just love how versatile it is.
As much as I can fawn over the form-factor of Sony’s latest, that’s hardly the whole story for its new XB100. We are talking about a speaker after all, and how it sounds really is the more important aspect. So let’s just dive right into it. My first impression right after getting it out of the box was just how loud the speaker is despite fitting in your hand.
While you won’t find bass anywhere in the name scheme like some of Sony’s other speakers, the XB100 definitely doesn’t skimp out on the low end of your music. Almost to a fault sometimes. More bass heavy tracks end up having some of the clarity from the high end, as well as vocals, consumed by just how hefty the bass can be. The whole unit also doesn’t have the room for a more comprehensive internal audio array to keep all of the different notes super distinct, especially at higher volumes, but can easily fill a room with sound.
Music is just a little more muddled than than that of the Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 3 that I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to as of late. But then again, this speaker does clock in at just $58 – well below that of its fabric-covered counterpart from Ultimate Ears. That alone makes this well worth the price for me.
9to5Toys’ Take
I’ve been listening to a lot of speakers this year so far, all in the pursuit of finding summer’s best offering. And I really do think that all of the other models in my collection have just found their match. The Sony XB100 speaker has quickly won a place in my listening setup, which should be apparent based just on the the hundreds of words I wrote above.
Ultimately, if I was going to take a trip tomorrow that needed a speaker, I would definitely reach for the Sony XB100. Not because it would sound the best, but because it’s the best value out there. And not just in the financial end of things. Its small size packs quite a punch compared to the other models I’ve been using, and the integrated strip really does let you listen anywhere. It can get loud enough to tap in for serenading more people than just me, and has enough bass to serve as a pretty reliable party starter. The $58 price tag just happens to make all of those things better.
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