So believe it of not, spring 2021 is almost around the corner. Which means a lot of people
are going to start having cook outs especially now that restrictions are finally getting
lifted. So some people will might start looking at getting a mid sized box speaker. Now this
really isn’t an apple’s to apple’s comparison… but price wise the JBL PartyBox 100 and Sony
V13 are very similar. Now over all the Partybox 100 is the better speaker here performance
wise… but if you’re someone that absolutely needs that CD player… then maybe you’ll
want to go with the V13.
Regarding pricing, the JBL PartyBox 100 has a retail price of $350. But since this speaker
is almost 2 years old now it can typically be found on sale these days for $280. And
personally I do expect that we’ll see the Partybox 110 some time this year. Where as
the Sony V13 was released in September of 2020 and has a retail price of $250. Long
story short, if you can get the Partybox on sale then its a solid deal cuase I does perform
way better than the Sony. Personally I would only recommend that you go with the Sony if
you really need that CD player.
Now when it comes to the design of these speaker, both of these speakers are vertical standing
speakers… but the Partybox is noticeably smaller than the V13. Now both of these speakers
have mostly plastic bodies but the Partybox is noticeably heavier than the V13 weighing
in at 21 and half pounds where as the V13 weighs in at 17 pounds. Now the partybox is
denser than the V13 mainly cause it does have a built in battery where as the V13 doesn’t
and the Partybox also has a secondary woofer. Nonetheless both of these speakers are easy
enough to move around the house but the partybox is a little more compact.
Now size aside, something these two speakers have in common is that they both have light
features… but these two light features are in two completely different leagues. The V13
has a single strobing LED that illuminates its woofer and you have a few different lighting
modes to choose from. And from Sony’s fiestable App you can somewhat customize your light
feature. But plainly said this light feature isn’t super impressive and it can be rather
hard to see even in a dimly lit room. So personally I don’t really bother with the light feature
on the V13.
Where as with the partybox on the other hand… this light feature looks awesome. It is much
brighter and you have a few different lighting modes to choose from. Now you don’t have
as many customization options as lets say the V13 or Partybox 310… but nonetheless
the light feature on the Partybox 100 simply blows the v13’s out of the water.
But now lets talk about tech specs… now the second biggest difference between the
Partybox and the Sony V13 is that the Partybox has a built in battery where as the V13 doesn’t.
So you can only use the V13 while its plugged in. Now with that being said the Partybox
100 ha an advertised battery life of 12 hours… but thats with this speaker playing at 50%
volume, with its light feature turned off and and with its bass boost feature turned
off as well. And quite frankly battery life on this speaker really depends on how you
use it. This speaker sounds fine with its bass boost featured turned off, but it does
sound a little flat.
Now the bass boost feature on this speaker has two levels to it… personally I prefer
using this speaker while its in bass boost level 1… but if you really wanna get the
walls shaking then Bass Boost level 2 will might be more your speed. However just keep
in mind bass boost level 2 is going to drain your battery faster than bass boost level
2.
Now with all that being said, real world use with this speaker playing at 80% volume, with
its light feature turned on, and while in bass boost level 1… the Partybox 100 is
good for around 5 maybe 6 hours of playback time which is not bad at all just given the
amount of sheer bass this guy is pumping out and how loud it gets.
Regarding connectivity, both of these speakers are using bluetooth 4.2 but more importantly,
it can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ and
this speaker has zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone
whether you’re using and iPhone or android device. But when it comes to audio codecs…
the partybox only has support for SBC and AAC which is fine… but
the V13 also has support for Sony’s on LDAC.
However two things the V13 does have over the Partybox is that first off there’s that
built in CD player… which really made my parents super excited when they saw that.
So there’s that. And the V13 also has an attachable FM radio antenna which really didn’t
get them excited. But all jokes aside if you’re someone thats looking for a speaker that has
support for legacy mediums… then maybe the V13 is more your speed.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these speakers… regarding
setups the V13 has a single frontward firing woofer with dual exhaust ports shooting out
the front and dual frontward firing tweeters up top. But personally I don’t really like
when speakers have frontward firing exhausts ports like on the V13 cause you can’t increase
the bass on you speaker by simply placing it against a wall. Where as the Partybox has
dual frontward firing woofers and its exhaust port shoot shoots out the back and it also
has dual frontward firing woofers. Now the Partybox already has way more bass than the
V13, but thanks to is rear exhaust port you can always increase its bass by just placing
it up against a wall. Now when it comes to EQ, the V13 allows you to choose from a few
remade EQ’s or you can make your own. Now in general the V13 is a very bright sounding
speaker but ive found that Chill out is the warmest sounding EQ here. But also the V13
has this mega bass button… but even with this buttons turned on this speaker still
doesn’t have a lot of bass. Where as with the Partybox… you can’t customize its
EQ like you can with the Sony. All you can do is switch between the two bass boost settings
on this speaker. Now personally I think the Partybox sounds best while in bass boost level
1 cause it sounds balanced… but if you want more bass then you can always just switch
it over to bass boost level 2 and place it up against a wall. Now we’re going to jump
into a sound test… the V13 is playing with its Chill out EQ and with mega bass turned
on cause I feel this is where the V13 sounds its best. Where as the Partybox is playing
while in bass boost level 1 and while its unplugged.
So like you may have just heard, the V13 is a very bright sounding speaker and it also
sound fairly narrow. Now having a bright EQ isn’t all bad… a brighter EQ is good for
out doors use cuase it makes you’re sound travel out farther… but if you’re looking
for a speaker thats going to shake your walls then the V13 aint it. Where as with the Partybox
on the other hand… it clearly has way more bass than the V13. But more importantly the
Partybox sounds much more balanced. Vocalists on the Partybox aren’t over emphasized like
on the V13 and the Partybox also sounds much more open. So to me the Partybox easily out
classes the V13 when it comes to sound. But also with the partybox if you were to use
it while its plugged in you’ll get a performance boost out of it. It’ll get louder and it’ll
pump out even more bass. So sound quality wise the Partybox is a no brainer.
But finally lets talk about wirelessly pairing this these speakers up with other speakers.
With the Partybox, you can only wirelessly pair a Partybox 100 with one other Partybox
100 and get them to play in left and right stereo. But you can’t mix and match different
partybox’s and you also can’t pair the Partybox 100 to JBL’s other speakers that
are either using party boost or JBL connect plus.
But at least the Partybox 100 does have that Audio out jack that I mentioned earlier so
you can always just daisy chain it up to any other speaker and get them to play in sync
as long as you’ve got a spare audio cable lying around.
Where as the V13 is using Sony’s wireless party chain. So you can wirelessly sync up
the V13 to any other Sony speaker using Wireless party chain. You can even sync up the V13
to sony’s smaller speakers like the XB41, XB32, XB22 and so on cuase they’re also
using wireless party chain. So sony does let you mix and match speakers which is pretty
cool.
However just keep in mind you can’t sync up the V13 to Sony’s newer speaker using
Party Connect like the Sony XB43, XB33, or XB23. So just keep in mind there is a little
bit of fragmentation to look out for on both of these speakers. But sony does do a better
job of giving you more options.
But with all that being said… even though the Sony V13 does have its pro’s like allowing
you to mix and match speakers you can pair with it, it has that built in CD player and
optional FM antenna and it also has a fully customizable EQ. Sound quality wise the V13
does leave you wanting more. This speaker sounds very bright and its bass is very flat
relative to its size. Where as the Partybox 100 sound much more balanced and open, and
if you want this thing can rattle your walls. But sound aside the Partybox also has the
better build quality here, its light feature is on a whole other level, and it has that
built in battery. So if you’re looking for a box speaker for summer 2021 and if you can
get the Partybox 100 on sale for $280. Its a pretty solid deal.