So Soundboks first made a name for themselves by creating a super durable bluetooth speaker
that can take any abuse that you can throw at it… all while still being able to get
incredibly loud.
Now even though the Soundboks 3 is relatively small and lightweight when compared to its
direct competitors…
We now have the Soundboks Go which is even more portable than the Soubdoks 3.
However, if you are trying to choose between either of these two speakers… then you definitely
have to watch this video cause these two speakers are very different from one another.
Now regarding pricing…
the Soundboks Go has a retail price of $700.
And if you want the optional carving strap, that’s going to be an additional $50.
Where as the Soundboks 3 has a retail price of $1000.
Now overall these speakers are very different from one another and depending on your needs
you will be better off with one over the other.
Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked
down below.
Now first let talk about the design and portability of these speakers.
Now one of the main selling points about Soundboks in gerneal is that their speakers are super
durable.
Both the Soundboks 3 and the Go have an IP65 rating.
Meaning that they are both dust and water resistant.
So getting caught in the rain, getting splashed on, or getting sand caught in either of these
two speakers isn’t going to be an issue.
However, even though these speakers are super durable…
I would still be mindful about not getting any dirt or water caught in the exhaust ports
on either of these speakers.
The Go has them all around its main woofer… and the Soundboks 3 has them on its sides.
Now even though the Soundboks 3 is relatively compact when compared to its direct competitors…
and its relatively light weighing in at 34 pounds…
so traveling with this speaker isn’t too bad…
Portability with the Go is just way better.
The Go weighs in at 20 pounds…
its significantly smaller than the Soundboks 3… and I would actually argue that it is
more durable than the Soundboks 3 cause the Go has a mostly super dense plastic body and
honey comb grill… and we’ve got those extruded rubber bumpers all around the body
of the Go which does a much better jog of absorbing impacts than the silicon balls found
on the corners of the Soundboks 3.
So yes, if you plan on constantly traveling with your speaker… then the Go is the obvious
choice cause of its more durable body and its just smaller and lighter.
And as a plus, the Go has a built in loop strap, so you can always attach somethings
to it which is nice… but both of these speakers do have speaker stand mount on the bottom
which is also very nice.
But now, lets talk about battery life…
now both of these speakers have an advertised battery life of 40 hours while they’re playing
at 50% volume and while in their Power EQ.
And for context…
having these speakers playing at 50% volume is like having lets say the JBL Boombox 2
or UE hyperboom playing at around 85% volume.
Which is pretty loud.
But at max volume, the Soundboks go is good for upto 10 hours of playback time… which
is a lot.
Where as the Soundboks 3 is good for upto 5 hours of playback time… which is still
decent.
However, if you were to use the Go while in its bass plus EQ, which is my preferred EQ
model ause you ware going to get more out of it.
Its going to get a little louder and its going to have more bass… however, you are going
to have to sacrifice some battery life and at max volume its only good for up to 6 hours
of playback time.
Now the Sundboks 3 also has a bass plus EQ… but I think the Soundboks 3 sound perfect
while in its Power EQ.
But if you were to use the bass plus EQ on this speaker its going to have even more bass…
and at max volume its only going to be good for up to 3 hours of playback time.
Or if you want to extend the battery life on the Soundboks 3 the you can use it while
in its indoors EQ.
While in its indoors EQ the Soundboks 3 isn’t going to have as much bass… but at max volume
it is good for up to 7 hours of playback time… and if you were to use the indoors EQ on the
Go, its good for up to 14 hours of playback time.
But its going to sound very flat and bright.
But obviously the Soundboks Go is going to have a longer lasting battery than the Soundboks
3 cause the Go has one less woofer to power… but this also means the Go has significantly
less bass then the Soundboks 3, and we’ll address in a minute.
But whether you decide to go with the Go or the 3… both of these speakers have the same
removable 99.84 watt hour battery.
And this is good for two reasons…
first off this is going to extend the life of your investment.
Cause if you battery dies on you like mine did on my soundbox’s 3 after three years…
you can just get a new battery.
Or if you’re going to be off grid… you can
get multiple batteries and keep the party going.
But now we have to talk about the ports on these speakers…
cause they are very different here.
Now the Go only has an audio jack… now you can still use its with a wired connection…
but that’s it.
And to be honest, the port set up on the Go is very disappointing.
Where as with the Soundboks 3… it has an audio in jack and an audio out jack…
so if you want, you can always daisy chain a speaker to this speaker and have them play
in sync.
But the Soundboks 3 also has 2 XLR inputs and there’s also 2 quarter inch inputs.
So this means that with the Soundboks 3 you can plug in a microphone or instrument into
this speaker… or you can even use this speaker with a mixer if you like to DJ.
So the port set up on the Soundboks 3 is way more versatile than the Go.
If the Go had an audio out jack and a single XLR slash quarter inch input…
I would have been happy.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity on these speakers… both of these speakers
are using bluetooth 5.0… however both of these speakers can only be connected to one
device at a time… and they’re both only using SBC.
However latency is not an issue with either of these speakers.
So if you plan on watching a video with either of these speakers…
your audio and visual will be in sync.
But before we talk about sound…
there is one petpeeve that I want to point out about both of these speakers.
Now with both of these speakers you can control the local volume of these speakers.
But you can’t actually control your music playback directly from the speakers yourself.
You gotta do all either from your phone or whatever media source you’re using.
But now lets talk about sound…
regarding speaker set ups the Go has a single frontward firing woofer and a single frontward
firing tweeter.
But the really important thing here is that the Go has frontward firing exhausts port
that are found around the woofer.
Which means that you can’t place this speaker up against a wall and amplify its bass.
Where as the Soundboks 3 has 2 frontward firing woofers and a single frontward firing tweeter.
But there are some major differences to keep in mind here.
First off you can amplify the bass on the Soundboks 3 by placing it in a corner cause
its exhaust ports shoot out the sides.
But also… with the Soundboks 3… its top woofer handles the mids and mids lows… and
its bottom woofer handles the lows.
Now even though the Soundboks 3 still leans towards a brighter sound signature…
since it has a woofer that focuses on the lows, the Soundboks 3 still has a good amount
of physicality in its bass at lower volumes.
Making it usable while both indoors and out doors.
Where as with the Go… this is a very hard speaker to use while indoors.
The Soundboks Go really like to put its tweeter to work cause it handles the highs and a good
amount of the mids as well.
So at the lower volumes that you’ll want to use this speaker at while you use it indoors,
it can sound very bright and flat.
Now you can go in and make your own EQ, and I went in and raised the bass on the this
speaker and lowered the highs… but even still at lower volumes the bass on this speaker
can be underwhelming and it can sound narrow.
So for this reason, I would only recommend that you get the Soundboks Go if you plan
on mostly using it while outdoors.
And when I say mostly outdoors, I mean like 90% of the time.
Where as the Soundboks 3, you can thoroughly enjoy your music whether youre indoors using
your speaker at lower volumes or while you’re outdoors and have the volume cranked up.
But with all of that being said, we’re going to jump into the sound test.
Both of these speakers are playing while in their Power EQ… but the Go is playing at
75% volume where as the Soundboks 3 is playing at 63% volume.
So like I said, both of Soundboks’s speakers do lean towards a brighter sound signature.
However, the Soundboks GO has a brighter sound signature than the 3 cause its tweeter is
putting in over time and it has less physicality in its bass.
Where as with the Soundboks 3… since it has that woofer that is mostly focusing on
the lows…
its has way more physicality in its bass but it also sounds more balanced and more open.
So overall, if you want the better sounding speaker here… then the Soundboks 3 is the
obvious choice here.
And besides simply sounding more balanced than the Go… you can also use the Soundboks
3 at lower volumes and still thoroughly enjoy your music while indoors… which is something
you can’t do with the Go in my opinion.
And when it comes to max volume performance…
the Soundboks 3 also manages to get louder than the Go.
Now both the Go and 3 manage to get dangerously loud and they’ll both result in a visit
from the cops.
But the soundbox’s 3 does get noticeably louder than the Go.
Now the Soundboks go also gets super loud and its get louder than lets say the Partybox
310 or Sony XP700… but that’s mostly cause of its brighter sound signature…
Even though the Go gets louder than both the Partybox 310 and Sony XP700… it doesn’t
have as much physicality in its bass.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up to one another.
Now you can pair a Soundboks Go up to a Soundboks 3 and you can have up to 5 speakers wirelessly
paired to one another which I feel is plenty.
And overall Soundboks’s speaker pairing protocol is pretty good… its easy to use,
you can do everything from the App itself, you can choose from your different EQs and
you can also assign whatever channel you want to these speakers.
You don’t need to have two of the same speakers to get left and right stereo sound going like
you do with other brands out there.
But like I mentioned earlier, the Soundboks 3 does have that audio out jack.
So you can always daisy chain another speaker to it and get them to play in sync.
So the Soundboks 3 is a little more versatile and plays nice with other speakers… where
as the Go just doesn’t do this.
But with all of that being said… if you’re looking for a super durable and super loud
Bluetooth speaker that’s going to have no problem keeping up with you… then either
of these two Soundboks’s are good options.
However, if you want the more durable and more portable option then the Soundboks Go
is the way to Go.
Now even though yes, the Soundboks 3 is fairly portable and easy enough to carry around…
its nowhere near as convenient as the Go.
But keep in mind… if you decide to pick up the Go, this is a speaker that better suited
to be used while out doors and at higher volumes… cause at lower volumes its bass can be rather
lacking.
But if you’re looking for the Soundboks here that you can use while both indoors at
lower volumes or while outdoors at higher volumes… then the Soundboks 3 is the better
option.
Simply put, the Soundboks 3 just sounds much better than the Soudboks Go thanks its extra
woofer and less reliance on its tweeter.
But also, the Soundboks 3 is way more versatile than the Go thanks to its port set up.
You can plug in a microphone, a guitar or plug it into a mixer if you want.