At a lookSkilled’s Ranking
Professionals
- Light-weight and compact
- Nice sound
- Lengthy battery life
- Mic for calls
Cons
- Sound varies relying the place it’s sat
- Could possibly be louder
Our Verdict
Beautiful little speaker that may kick out some nice audio, as long as you place it on the suitable floor.
Sony has a stable observe file on the subject of compact Bluetooth audio system. I’ve owned just a few myself through the years, so when the corporate introduced a brand new mannequin it instantly went to the highest of my evaluation checklist. The not-so-catchy named SRS-XB100.
However, does this little speaker have what it takes to obtain the composer’s baton from its predecessors? Time to crank it and discover out.
Design & Construct
- Light-weight
- Good chunky buttons
- IP67 water and mud ranking
- Makes use of sustainable supplies
Whenever you first take the SRS-XB100 out of its packaging, which is non-plastic for a welcome change, the rapid shock is that the speaker itself is so gentle within the hand. At 274g, it’s not far more than most smartphones, so you may positively see how that is the form of gadget you may throw in a bag and even the pocket of a jacket if you wish to take it with you.
The 75 x 95mm cylindrical form additionally makes it simple to carry within the hand when you favor to hold it that approach, with the textured plastic giving a great grip. Sony features a removable wrist strap so that you received’t have to fret about dropping it within the pool throughout these summer time BBQs or any clumsy mishaps with laborious flooring.
Martyn Casserly
Ought to the previous occur, then the XB100’s IP67 waterproof ranking means you’ll be capable to fish it out as soon as extra with out lacking a beat. The waterproofing is useful in one other approach, because the physique does tend to choose up marks from the oils in arms and fingers, which might take a little bit of effort to take away.
The design is easy and considerably utilitarian, a minimum of within the darker liveries, however appears to be like fashionable and tidy
The highest of the XB100 is residence to the speaker unit and grill, whereas the decrease part has cutouts to permit the passive radiator to emit its tones. Above this can be a collection of controls, together with energy on/off, Bluetooth pairing, play/pause, and quantity. They’re all raised symbols that give a satisfying clicky response and are massive sufficient to ensure you discover the suitable one rapidly.
On the finish of the controls is a coated panel that homes the USB-C charging port. The field features a cable, however no adapter, so that you’ll want to make use of the one out of your smartphone or in any other case.
The design is easy and considerably utilitarian, a minimum of within the darker liveries, however appears to be like fashionable and tidy. The XB100 is available in Orange, Blue, Mild Gray and Black, so you may add a little bit of sparkle with the lighter tones if that’s extra your factor.
Sony additionally claims that the XB100 is partially constructed from sustainable supplies, in order that’s a great factor or slightly {a partially} good factor.
Martyn Casserly
Sound High quality & Options
- Sound diffusion processor
- Passive radiator for bass
- Microphone for hands-free calls
For such a small and lightweight gadget, you’d be nicely inside your rights to count on a sound that was slightly skinny. That’s actually not the case with the XB100, though there’s some context to know.
The best way the unit is constructed, you have got the principle speaker firing out of the highest, aided by a sound diffusion processor to stability the output frequencies. On the backside, there’s a passive radiator. Mainly, this works by reverberating to the sounds kicked out by the speaker, which it amplifies by transferring that power into the floor beneath.
It’s a design that’s been round for some time, however the upshot is that the tones that come out of the XB100 are closely influenced by what it’s sat on. For instance, once I listened to the speaker with it on my picket desk in the lounge, the bass actually rumbled. This was as a result of the passive radiator pushed the power down into the picket high, which then traveled down the legs into the slate flooring.
This resulted in loopy ranges of bass at instances, and I might really feel a mild throb within the flooring itself. Ought to I choose up the XB100 and maintain it in my hand, practically the entire low frequencies disappeared as they’d little to work with.
So, you will discover you could fine-tune or tame the frequencies that the speaker places out by merely transferring it to a different floor. That is good, as there aren’t any EQ controls or sound profiles accessible, even within the accompanying app that Sony gives.
Martyn Casserly
Generally use, the speaker can sound excellent, relying on the music you select (and the floor it’s on). Apparently, I discovered that fashionable rock tracks, which often are fairly compressed throughout the combo, sounded quieter and fewer wealthy than singer-songwriter or basic jazz tunes.
For instance, the brand new Nita Strauss album with its guitar gymnastics and hard-driving songs, really felt slightly smaller than the newest Elephant Revival album with its mild harmonies and folkish instrumentals.
I’m guessing it is because there’s more room between the frequencies, which is simpler to deal with with the only speaker setup within the XB100. If you’d like a extra highly effective and wider frequency scope, then I’d advocate attempting a bigger unit with an array of audio system for larger and decrease frequencies.
That’s to not say you may’t hearken to fashionable mixes on the Sony SRS-XB100. They do sound first rate, however I positively really feel that the unit gives extra spacious and rewarding audio when coping with much less busy songs.
There may be the choice of shopping for two XB100s after which pairing them for a stereo setup. This is perhaps a good suggestion when you and a pal had been every contemplating selecting one up, in any other case a single, however higher speaker would make extra sense.
As a conveyable speaker, it’s an important little gadget to have in your bag. You received’t be capable to energy a celebration with it, because the sounds don’t actually carry that nicely open air. However, when you’re sitting round with buddies having a picnic or drink within the backyard, then the XB100 can add some good-sounding background music with out annoying the neighbours.
It’s additionally an important choice for individuals who get pleasure from, as I do, audiobooks and podcasts however need larger volumes than these provided by a smartphone. There’s additionally a microphone built-in, so you may take calls hands-free whereas utilizing the speaker. In my checks, the recipients stated all of it sounded good, which is all you may hope for with this sort of characteristic.
Fortunately, you received’t must cost the XB100 too typically, because the 16-hour battery life will get you thru fairly just a few albums earlier than it runs dry. Charging time is round three hours, so that you’ll wish to plug it in nicely earlier than you plan to pack for a time out.
Value & Availability
Sony gives the SRS-XB100 for $59.99/£54.99/€64.99 and it’s also possible to buy it by means of numerous retailers together with Sony, Amazon, Currys and Argos within the UK.
Within the US you should buy it from Sony, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, Dell and B&H Photograph.
On the time of writing, these costs had been dropped by the corporate to across the $40/£40/€40 mark, so it appears to be like like this is perhaps the actual worth on the road. For that cash, you’re getting a stunning little journey companion that’s able to some nice sounds.
Alternatively, you may strive the cool JBL Clip 4, which prices round $50/£50/€50, is compact, sounds good however doesn’t have a built-in mic for hands-free calls. There’s additionally the Edifier MP100 Plus which is one other extremely transportable speaker that’s waterproof and might spin a great tune for across the similar worth because the Sony XB100.
Don’t neglect to take a look at our greatest low-cost bluetooth audio system for extra concepts.
Do you have to purchase the Sony SRS-XB100?
As a conveyable speaker you could tackle vacation, round the home or out into the backyard, the Sony XB100 is a really good choice.
Sound high quality is sweet (though you’ll must be cautious the place you place it) and the simple pairing and battery life imply you may simply get on with listening to your audio with none faff.
An EQ setting would have been good, as would extra quantity to be used exterior, however this little speaker stays a high quality alternative for individuals who need a compact and well-built method to hear on the transfer with out breaking the financial institution.
Specs
- Full vary, off-centre diaphragm speaker
- Sound Diffusion Processor
- Passive radiator
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Helps SBC and AAC codecs
- A2DP, AVRCP, HFP suitable profiles
- 20Hz – 20,000Hz frequency transmission vary (sampling frequency 44.1kHz)
- 2.4GHz frequency vary
- Constructed-in microphone
- Onboard controls
- IP67
- USB-C charging port
- Included wrist strap
- 76mm x 95mm
- 274g
