It hasn’t been long since Sony unveiled its updated line of 2020 Bluetooth speakers , but they’ve quickly garnered a lot of attention for their performance and value. The Sony SRS-XB23 will launch this summer– most likely June or July – for $99 (around £80, AU$150) and will be available in five colors: Coral Red, Olive Green, Light Blue, Taupe and Black.
Obviously, you’ll need to buy additional speakers to make these modes work, but their inclusion allows you to get pretty creative with your setup. While Sony would never admit to it, it feels like it’s taken a lot of design cues for this year’s entry-level SRS-XB23 from Ultimate Ears’ lineup, especially with the new top bungee strap that allows you to hang the speaker from a carabiner, shower nozzle, tree branch or fencepost depending on where you use it.
Ultimate Ears wasn’t the first to use it and can’t claim any exclusivity over a primarily utilitarian feature, but it’s worth calling attention to the design inspiration for the sake of transparency. Last but not least, the XB23 uses Bluetooth 5.0, the latest standard, and supports three major codecs – SBC, AAC and LDAC, the latter of which you’ll find on newer Android devices and sounds absolutely great.
If you don’t have another Bluetooth speaker in the same room to compare it to, however, you’ll probably be blown away by the SRS-XB23 – it can get pretty loud without a massive amount of distortion and the passive radiators help the bass to sound clearer than it has on any of Sony’s previous models. Connecting it to a Google Pixel 3a XL allowed us to test the speaker with the LDAC codec streaming MQA files from Tidal – all of which sounded full, robust and powerful.
Sony SRS-XB23 review: Extra bass you can take anywhere
Many of the leading products in Sony’s portfolio come with powerful bonus capabilities like active noise cancellation, fully-balanced speaker units, and more. You’ll notice a regular range of new and improved options to choose from each year, often featuring fantastic extras like smart assistant access, or a higher level of dust and moisture resistance. You’ll spend less than $100 for this speaker, and in exchange you get a massive IP67 rating, 12 hours of battery life, and a range of attractive color options to choose from. While this Sony Bluetooth speaker isn’t the most advanced product on the market, it has a lot to offer for its small price tag.
The water and dust resistance is great for life on the move, and the passive radiator on the bottom of the cylinder allows for excellent sound dispersion. With a compelling appearance and a lightweight design, the Sony SRS-XB23 is great for those who like listening to music outside or taking speakers with them on hiking trips. There’s access to an app where you can manage your streaming content, and you can also control Party mode here, which allows users to sync up to 100 Sony speakers to play the same music at the same time. This Sony extra bass speaker delivers fantastic quality of sound and consistent volume on tracks with a lot of intense sub-bass content.
There’s no distortion to worry about thanks to excellent digital signal processing, and the mid and high levels are petty impressive too. With the voice memos application, you can easily understand all of the words spoken through this Sony Bluetooth speaker, which is a rare find for a portable device like this one.
Sony SRS-XB23 rood
Net zo groot als een flesje water en daardoor lekker makkelijk op te bergen in je tas als je naar het strand gaat. Hij staat gewoon aan, koppelen met je telefoon gaat snel en eenvoudig.
Hij is meerdere keren gevallen maar tot nu toe merk ik geen verschil. Dit zou betekenen dat hij ook mee onder de douche kan!
Sony SRS-XB23 Zwart
Sony kan als geen ander sinds jaar en dag een onvoorstelbaar compleet geluid laten horen uit miniluidsprekers. Daarom heb ik deze besteld (2 stuks, om van de stereo-koppeling gebruik te kunnen maken).
Wees er alert op, dat je een lader nodig hebt van 1,5A of meer.
Sony SRS-XB23 Review
Sony is one of the heaviest hitters in the portable Bluetooth speaker realm, and it’s been busy updating its outdoor-friendly lineup for the summer. Those seeking huge bass will likely want to move up in size and price to Sony’s $250 SRS-XB43, but if you’re looking to cap your spending at $100, the SRS-XB23 is a good, no-nonsense option with a rugged build and adjustable EQ.
It doesn’t distort, thanks to some pretty strong DSP (digital signal processing) tamping down the deep lows when the volume is raised. On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives an ideal amount of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain its punchiness. The drum loop can sound slightly thin here, though, and the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are more implied than delivered—we get their raspy top notes, but nothing that resembles the powerful bass depth you hear on a large speaker system. Generally speaking, the SRS-XB23 does a solid job delivering a balanced mix, but its bass depth is rooted in modesty and not in truly deep, sub-bass frequencies.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound rich and full through the SRS-XB23. The lower-register instrumentation gets plenty of support through the drivers and passive radiators—there’s some added low-mid richness here, but nothing that muddies up the mix.
Those seeking truly deep bass from a portable speaker need to spend more on a larger option like the aforementioned SRS-XB43 or the $400 JBL Boombox 2. The SRS-XB23 is no slouch with its rugged, waterproof build and app-based EQ controls—but for some, spending a little more on its bigger, more powerful siblings will be worth it. Sony SRS-XB23 4.0 See It $98.00 at Amazon MSRP $99.99 Pros Powerful bass depth and crisp highs in a compact design
Sony SRS-XB23 – Draadloze Bluetooth Speaker – Zwart
Hij is compact, lichtgewicht en gemakkelijk mee te nemen, waar je ook bent. Geniet van rijk, krachtig geluid waar u maar wilt met uw EXTRA BASS-speaker. De X-Balanced Speaker Unit, ontwikkeld door Sony, biedt mooier en krachtiger geluid voor een bijzondere luisterervaring. Met een IP67-classificatie kunt u uw speaker meenemen naar het strand, bos en de woestijn.
Hij is ook waterdicht en bestand tegen zout water, dus geen zorgen aan zee of bij het zwembad. Dankzij de luidsprekerfunctie kunt u eenvoudig handsfree bellen, of het nu om een vergadering gaat of u even met vrienden wilt kletsen.
Verbind tot wel 100 compatibele draadloze speakers via BLUETOOTH®-technologie en synchroniseer de muziek, zodat iedereen kan dansen op dezelfde beat.
Customer Reviews: Sony SRS-XB23 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Coral Red SRSXB23/R
Not wanting my Beats Pill full of mud and water I looked at getting her a waterproof portable speaker to link up to her Apple Watch. The instructions clearly indicate that one was supposed to be included so at least I can sleep knowing it was an one-off oversight and not a silly cost cutting decision. My ‘bass’ test song is Space Lord by Monster Magnet and it confirmed how difficult it is to get a truly deep and resonating sound out of a small speaker. The drivers at the end definitely showed a lot of movement and looked impressive, but in reality there wasn’t a rich bass sound that I know the song arrangement to have.
If you’re talking inside the house there are much better, albeit non-portable, options that are going to sound much better than using a portable device for whole home audio. In summary the XB23 is a decent value for a waterproof device that has a simple minimalistic design and with a strong sound that gets loud without a lot of distortion.
Good Sound In A Handy Format
It is large enough to get some volume and bass, at the same time the narrow cylinder shape fits well in the hand. The speaker has a panel with buttons on the back, so you do not need to have your mobile phone in front at all times to operate it. All you have to do is download the Sony Music Center app and activate Extra Bass. With that adjustment the music gets a rich enough bass, at the same time as sounding clear enough on voices and acoustic instruments.
You still do not completely get rid of the colouring in the bass, for example on the ballad One Minute You’re Here where where the resonances from Springsteen’s acoustic guitar mask the chest sound register of the vocal. But the biggest problem is that it takes forever to charge and also has only mediocre battery life.
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