Sony SRS-XB100 evaluation: A Bluetooth speaker made to tag along

The Sony SRS-XB100 is an replace to the firm’s compact, raise-along XB12 and XB13 portable Bluetooth audio system. The recent XB100 keeps a truly similar originate however has some below-the-hood upgrades and a brand recent tether for attaching the speaker to your equipment for on-the-hurry listening.

At $60, the SRS-XB100 affords a competitive bundle that undercuts a lot of the opposite portable Bluetooth audio system. Its dimension might perhaps perhaps also contain some sacrifices to quantity when put next with true celebration audio system, however it boasts a good deal of punch for solo or diminutive community listening on the hurry, and it won’t fuss while that you just can’t occupy it dry.

Mark and availability

The Sony SRS-XB100 is accessible now and charges $60. Yow will locate it on sale suddenly from Sony’s online retail situation apart from to Easiest Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and other outlets.

Originate, hardware, and what’s within the sector

The Sony SRS-XB100 is effectively a glow-up of the earlier XB12 or XB13, squeezing the necessities of a Bluetooth speaker true into a diminutive unit about the diameter of a 12-ounce soda can and barely loads shorter. It weighs very top over a half pound. This makes for a application that’s both straight forward to retain, stow away, or strap down, and that’s very top what Sony supposed.

Striking off the facet of the SRS-XB100 is a hearty material strap intended to permit straight forward anchoring of the speaker to backpacks, bicycles, tree branches — you title it. The strap has a straightforward hook and loop at reverse ends, so it’s straight forward on and straight forward off, though happily now not too straight forward to occupy by chance come unhooked.

The speaker housing has a further slot the strap can squeeze through to effectively shorten the scale. That’s at hand to occupy the SRS-XB100 from dangling willy-nilly, though won’t primarily eradicate it. You’ll both occupy to accommodate somewhat of flopping about or accept ingenious with wrapping and weaving the strap round smaller objects to accept a factual fit.

This tiny soda-can speaker makes the most of its dimension, sticking a 1.81-whisk driver onto its top, covered with a metal grille intended to also aid as a sound diffuser, spreading the audio out in all instructions. The underside of the speaker has three slots that aid as ports for the passive radiator, intended to present the machine extra bass (because the XB within the title indicates) than the diminutive unit might perhaps perhaps in any other case accept.

The underside and facets of the Sony SRS-XB100 occupy a grippy, rubberized raise out. The perimeter will be ribbed, making it straight forward to retain onto the speaker even when it’s moist. And also that it’s also possible to accept it loads moist — it even floats. It has an IP67 ranking, which must stand up effectively to mud and might perhaps perhaps handle gentle submersion down to a depth of 1 meter for half an hour. I took this unit out paddleboarding on Lake Michigan, where it saw no shortage of water, and it shrugged all of it off.

Apparently, Sony warns in opposition to the pronounce of the speaker with it space within the sand. This can also very effectively be since the vibrations with it in contact with such abrasive self-discipline matter will wear down the rubberized exterior.

Spherical one facet of the Sony SRS-XB100 is a row of buttons, handily offering energy, powering, play/stay, and quantity controls. A protracted press of the play/stay button can also name up a paired phone’s pronounce assistant.

True past all of these buttons is a USB-C port with a rubber quilt, which has to be in arrangement for appropriate water resistance. That port is accountable for recharging the battery, which is rated for a competitive 16-hour runtime. The switch to USB-C will be an make stronger from the micro USB of the earlier XB12, though Sony ditches the 3.5mm audio enter that would be at hand in a pinch when Bluetooth is proving unreliable.

Sound and battery existence

For a compact unit with a single speaker, the Sony SRS-XB100 puts on fairly the efficiency. Being attentive to song out on a balcony overlooking a barely busy boulevard, the speaker is effectively ready to drown out a factual little bit of background noise to provide a punchy presentation. At max quantity, the highs would be a tiny grating, seemingly in fragment to Bluetooth compression, however dialing it abet somewhat to about 75% quantity peaceable affords a fine quantity. Enhance for the AAC codec also helps occupy Bluetooth compression from being too detrimental.

The SRS-XB100 is especially effective within the mid-differ. Vocals come through with richness that’s now not matched within the treble or bass ends of the spectrum. That’s factual news while you are seeking to occupy to rob label to audiobooks or podcasts, because it interprets effectively to spoken phrase.

The bass from this speaker is a curiously mixed receive. On the one hand, there’s a modest quantity of bass within the combine, though it goes to feel a tiny buried when vocals come in. The slinking bass traces in Of Montreal’s Counterfeit Priest album lack potency and are fairly muddy. Then again, the speaker has some actual physical rumble. Environment it on a exhausting ground, it’ll truly rattle round, slowly transferring, because the bass rumbles. If it’s space on a ground or table shut by, this might perhaps build for bass you feel as worthy or more than you hear.

The originate of the speaker gifts some quirks. Though it’s intended to spread sound in all instructions, and sound naturally behaves that map to a level, what you hear will fluctuate considerably looking on which map the speaker goes through. One of the necessary necessary crispness and brightness will be misplaced if the stay of the speaker goes through away, while it goes to be too biting if suddenly going through you. Transferring it round nearly has the discontinue of changing the EQ — which might perhaps presumably be at hand since the speaker doesn’t occupy paired app for any such control. I receive the most balanced listening setup is with the low down, on the bottom, so as that I’m listening from about a Forty five-level attitude to the speaker standing vertically.

Audibility is a tiny bit a matter of direction. The bass pumps out the underside of the speaker where it flares out, meanwhile the mid-differ and treble come out the stay. Having the stay pointing suddenly at me, I’m offered with very diversified audio than having the speaker going through in other locations.

All told, the audio is legitimate for song and podcasts. It lacks the delicacy that you just can need for motion images and TV reveals, where hushed conversations would be very top as necessary as booming explosions. But it absolutely’s undeniably a distinguished step up from a phone or pc speaker machine. It’s equivalent to the Tribit Stormbox Micro, though a tiny clearer for voices.

With a constructed-in microphone, the speaker can handle calls, though the quality isn’t stellar. The pronounce of the actual person on the opposite end doesn’t come through with the total affect of vocals in song and podcasts. The mic picks up some echo, and it fades in whenever I verbalize, effectively elimination the distinguished little bit of one thing else I convey.

That 16-hour runtime on battery energy that Sony suggests might perhaps perhaps also now not prolong all that effectively. With the speaker initiating at about 80% fee, one hour of playback with the speaker at max quantity saw it drain down to about 40%. Sony’s ranking is consistent with a worthy decrease quantity level.

With the speaker at about a third of its max quantity, it’s worthy more difficult to listen to over that very same busy boulevard and mostly overpowered by first rate pc audio system. But one other hour of playback at that level didn’t dawdle the battery reading from round 40%. Bumping abet up to max quantity saw it fall to round 20% moments later though — of present, the speaker and accept in contact with pairing appear to measure easiest in 20% increments.

Competitors

At $60, the Sony SRS-XB100 thoroughly undercuts most of our popular portable Bluetooth audio system in label. It’s a clear replace for the SRS-XB13 we liked for its similar portability.

Those with extra room of their budgets and backpacks might perhaps perhaps also accept loads more sound out of the JBL Flip 6. At $100, that speaker is bigger and packs a dual-driver setup with two passive radiators to pump up the bass. Though it’s less portable, it peaceable has similar water resistance, so that you just might perhaps perhaps bring it with you on aqueous adventures, however you’ll deserve to accept ingenious about strapping it down.

JBL’s Clip 4 Eco has the same aim, attaching to your equipment with an integrated carabiner-style clip. That makes for more very top attachments though less flexibility in what that you just can build it to. There’s also a tradeoff to quantity and battery existence due to its smaller dimension, however no now not up to it’s also IP67 rated. JBL prices a tiny more, with it coming in at $80.

Tribit has produced some spectacular audio system, such because the now-dated X-Suppose. However the logo peaceable has a vital risk within the manufacture of the $60 Stormbox Micro 2. It has an integrated rubber strap on the underside that enables for some straight forward attachment while on the hurry, and it’s fairly compact. I haven’t stale the Stormbox Micro 2, however the fashioned Stormbox Micro affords noticeably louder audio facet-by-facet in opposition to the SRS-XB100, and it produces spectacular bass. Presumably, the Stormbox Micro 2 has easiest improved on its predecessor. With the total sound Tribit pumps out of these smaller items, the larger MaxSound Plus might perhaps perhaps also very effectively be an supreme gargantuan challenger.

Might presumably well furthermore peaceable you aquire it?

The Sony SRS-XB100 is a factual tiny speaker. No matter its diminutive dimension, it goes to crank out audio factual for listening in even louder environments. Its portability comes at a label, though. You might perhaps perhaps also accept bigger, more highly effective audio system for the money, however they’ll be more difficult to bring with you. The XB100 also has the support for flexibility in what you build it to, as long as you don’t thoughts it swinging round somewhat. If that’s sounding handle the factual arrangement to you, then it’s a mighty speaker. But of us taking a look to celebration will be higher off with an even bigger possibility, and vacationers shopping for convenient attachment might perhaps perhaps also very effectively be higher served by the clip-on alternatives.