Adjusting line lights requires app Souq Lulu Webstore Their focus on extra bass definitely tells you that it is suited for events like house parties.
When you switch to this mode, you really make sense of the “Extra Bass” that Sony has been advertising about everywhere. It is as if someone was singing live, and gives a feel like you’re in an auditorium where the artist is performing for you.
Apart from the presets, the app also allows you to change the bass, treble, and the middle individually as per your liking. There is also a strobe that flashes intermittently which adds on to the party effect.
When you select “party booster” from the app settings, and turn it on, the speaker makes a sound when you hit it with your palm. It also includes a USB (DC out) port so that you can charge your phone if it is running out of juice. The “Party Chain” allows you to connect 100 of these speakers together via bluetooth and the music and lights sync up. This is achieved by using the physical buttons behind the speaker that are labelled WPC (wireless party chain) and ADD. The speaker also has a BATT button which tells you the battery percentage via audio. The speaker weighs about 900gms which is pretty good considering the kind of sound output that it delivers.
On that note, we have a little video that made waves that we mentioned earlier in this article.
Customer Reviews: Sony SRS-XB31 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Red SRSXB31/R
I was shocked at not only how loud this small speaker sounds, but how much bass it puts out. I wish it had shipped with it’s own charger, it does not come with one, it only comes with the speaker itself, and a micro-USB to full size USB cable (and a short one at that). I listen tried playing music and wow, was really shocked how loud a small speaker like this could get, and how much bass it put out. Ok, that was fine enough, but I noticed that once I would be playing audio on my device, music, audiobook, anything, if she was on twitter on her phone, and it happened to be scrolling thru, and an advertisement would should up in her twitter feed, the audio would get paused from my phone. Had her turn off bluetooth on her phone all together and the pausing of audio on mine just stopped, and all was good. She turned bluetooth back on her phone, this time left it on but not using it, no problem, my audio was not paused anymore randomly. She then went back to her phone, got on twitter, and she realized when she would scroll past a video advertisement, even though it was silent on her phone (the audio doesn’t play automatically), once the video started to load, it would pause whatever audio I had going to the speaker. I have yet to try taking it to a beach but the phone is waterproof, made of a washable fabric, and also dustproof, so long as you keep the charging panel closed.
There is also the ability to charge your own phone via a separate USB port on the speaker, which is a great feature, especially if you are out on the beach away from an outlet.
However, it does not output alot of power from that USB port, and would not charge my phone at full speed.
Sony SRS-XB31 portable speaker: Style, substance and a savvy price-tag
Where more-dedicated portable speaker brands are going smarter, Sony’s latest effort in the space opts to go bassier – to mostly-positive results. If there’s any clear, visual delineation to be made between the approach that Sony have taken to the party speaker niche usually catered to by competitors JBL and Ultimate Ears, it’s that – at least at first glance – their SRS-XB31 look a little more conventional and professional.
Once activated using the rubber control panel on the speaker’s side, the edges of the Sony SRS-XB31 lights up like your latest RGB Razer keyboard.
By default, it’s set to Rave mode – which looks alright, but I was a little bit disappointed that you couldn’t synchronize my music and color patterns together.
Once you’ve installed this and connected your phone or tablet to the speaker, you’re able to toggle the illumination on the SRS-XB31 between about a dozen or so presets. If you’re after the same house-party disco effect you can find in Sony’s larger audio products, its inclusion here is a strong point-of-difference against the competition, and, if you don’t care for, you can always turn it off. I could envision a situation where fishing it out of a body of water would be made easier by the flashing light show – but for the most part, your mileage is ultimately going to vary based on what you’re looking for in a speaker. As the name (and the branding around the product around it) suggests, the sound signature ends up leaning pretty heavy on the bass.
Stacked up against the competition, we’d rate it above the Bose SoundLink Micro and JBL Link 10 but, again, found it fell short of the Ultimate Ears Megablast. Notably, I found that the Sony SRS-XB31 sounded a noticeably better when set up in a vertical orientation versus a horizontal one. The SRS-XB31 isn’t necessarily pushing forward any sort of great innovation for the category – but it’s not convinced that’s what Sony are trying to do here. This is one of those times If the target is offering a mostly-solid party speaker with an appealing price-point and battery life attached, the SRS-XB31 hits the mark.
Sony SRS-XB31 Bluetooth Speaker Review » Technically Well
Using Sony’s Music Center app, you can also access the “Live Sound” feature that Sony states will provide a more 3D sound experience with “festival vibes.” Well, I’m not sure about the festival vibes, but what I found is that it does is maintain the bass of the “Extra Bass” mode while increasing the volume and enhancing some of the mids. You can turn the Extra Bass feature on and off using the Sony Music Center app, or by holding down the Volume Down and Play buttons for 3 seconds, until the power indicator changes colors. The lights really do add a bit of a party atmosphere and helps this speaker stand out from other brands. If you don’t like the lights, you can hold down the BATT/LIGHT button inside the cap on the rear side of the speaker for about 3 seconds. The lights really do add a bit of a party atmosphere and helps this speaker stand out from other brands. If you don’t like the lights, you can hold down the BATT/LIGHT button inside the cap on the rear side of the speaker for about 3 seconds.
Party Booster : You can add some sound effects to the music that you’re playing on the speaker by tapping it in different places. Rustproof, Waterproof, Dustproof: The IP67 rating means you can take it to the beach and not worry about salt water ruining the speaker.
The IP67 rating means you can take it to the beach and not worry about salt water ruining the speaker.
Wireless Party Chain : You can sync this speaker with other compatible models to play the same music simultaneously. This year’s SRS-XB31 solves that issue with a standard Micro USB input (although, USB-C would have maybe future-proofed this speaker a little more). This year’s SRS-XB31 solves that issue with a standard Micro USB input (although, USB-C would have maybe future-proofed this speaker a little more).
You can also access Siri or Google Assistant by holding down the Play button for about 3 seconds and you hear the activation sound. However, with the lights on and the Extra Bass feature enabled, you can expect more like 4 to 6 hours of battery life.
Sony SRS-XB31 Portable Bluetooth Speaker
I’ve been dismissive of it before, but the “Extra Bass”function in the Sony SRS-XB31 Bluetooth speaker lifts it above most. Sony rates the speaker at IP67, which means that it’s totally dust-tight, and can survive a dunking in a metre of water for up to half an hour.
A passive radiator is a kind of weighted panel – sometimes it’s just another speaker driver but without any wires.
Remember, if the speaker enclosure is sealed, the air inside it is being repeatedly compressed then released as the driver cone vibrates. With a properly chosen passive radiator, the bass portion of this energy can be released into the room. There are the usual control buttons on the top for switching the unit on and off and for putting it into pairing mode and play/pausing. That is, a bunch of similar speakers can be scattered around, providing the same music across a larger area. A quick press makes a voice tell you the battery level to the nearest ten per cent.
Well, tracing the front grille all the way around, and down the sides to the back, is a strip of (presumably) LED lights. I was startled when I first charged up the unit, paired it to my phone and listened to some music, to see this light band pulsate in a wide range of colours to the music, while those white lights flashed under the grille.
I kind of liked the default “Rave”, but you can try things like “Calm Cinnabar” if it’s all a bit too frenetic for you. I wasn’t going to bother too much with the app, but I had noticed some disappointing aspects to the speaker.
First, although the packaging makes it clear that the speaker supports the AAC and LDAC codecs, my Google Pixel 2 XL only reported the Bluetooth standard: SBC. To enable AAC and LDAC, you have to switch them on using the Sony Music Center app. You whack the relevant spot – either side, top, bottom or front – and the noise comes out. After fiddling around ineffectually for a while, I fixed it by telling the phone to “forget” the speaker.
After making the setting change, the Google Pixel 2 reported that it was connected to the speaker using the LDAC codec. I ran through a Spotify playlist at a comfortable playing level, and the sound was indeed balanced. When some late sixties Three Dog Night came on, the bass guitar was full and easily followed. Surprise: the output of the Sony SRS-XB31 speaker is solid down to 50 hertz in all modes.
That stops the device from wasting energy and effort on trying to reproduce tones that it couldn’t do very well with anyway. At low volumes – measured at 73dB SPL (C-weighted at one metre) the “Extra Bass” function added from 6dB to 9dB of boost from 60 to 100 Hertz. Clearly, Sony has used some digital signal processing to optimise bass handling for various volume levels. I used it for closer to twelve hours in “Extra Bass” mode and the lights on – the default state – before it switched itself off.
Alternatively, there’s also a setting that keeps the Bluetooth circuitry running while the rest of the speaker is powered down. The Sony SRS-XB31 Bluetooth speaker is a surprisingly fine sounding unit, with some additional fun features.
Tech Review: Sony SRS-XB31 turns up the bass for an excellent portable party speaker
If you want the concise verdict on Sony’s recently released SRS-XB31 Bluetooth speaker then all you need to know is that they’ve taken last year’s well-reviewed SRS-XB30 and given it some noticeable improvements with better design, punchier bass, and a more comprehensive range of light patterns. It’s mostly as simple as that, sitting in the middle of Sony’s new-gen Bluetooth speaker range (that also includes the smaller SRS-XB21 and larger XB41), shying away from trendy smart home integration to keep the price down and focus on performance.
The party speaker is geared for millennials with a great sound profile that should make it very suitable for social settings, particularly for those which demand chunkier styles of music like hip hop, grime and electronica.
The “Live” function is most valuable if you want the mids to stand out a bit more, otherwise there’s more than enough immersion in standard mode, thanks to the angled speakers which work with onboard DSP to extend the reach.
A mode you may want to switch between is the lighting function, another defining feature of the speaker where the edges around the grille give off a – sometimes obnoxious – strobing effect, despite not being completely synchronised with the music the majority of the time. Although a neat feature in terms of connectivity has the speaker acting as a power bank for any desperate phone-charging you want to do, at the expense of the promised 24 hour battery life.
Sony have managed an IP67 rating for this device, which means its reasonably rust, water and dust proof in case you’re planning any late night beach parties.
Geek Review: Sony Extra Bass Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker SRS-XB31
The new fabric material that Sony is using on the exterior is an odd choice though, and only time will tell if it is a durable enough surface. It is much larger as compared to its competitors, enabling it to push out tunes with clearer midtones and deeper bass. From the electronic tunes of Daft Punk to classic rock of Oasis, it provided an excellent listening experience for everyone in the office.
The only downside is that the speakers are forward-facing, as compared to 180-degrees audio projection like what the UE Boom 2 is trying to encapsulate.
Sony’s inclusion of the LED line and strobes lights are a nice touch to the speakers. We did not test how long it could stand being soaked before giving in, so hold your horses on throwing an underwater music system.
The app enables you to control playback options, lighting, and also let you pair up multiple sets of Sony speakers for a “wireless party chain”. The connectivity options and long battery life are the key features that makes the XB31 stand out among its peers.
GEEK REVIEW SCORE Summary Bluetooth speakers are ultimately lifestyle devices, and the XB31 definitely does not get in the way of fulfilling its role. An enjoyable user experience all-around, life-proof, a 24-hour battery life and superb sound quality make the XB31 a worthy contender if you are in the market for a portable speaker solution.
Review of the Sony SRS-XB31 Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
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