So a few weeks ago we checked out the Partybox 310 and the Partybox on the go. And over all
I really like the partybox 310 cause it has some significant upgrades from the Partybox
300… where as the Partybox on the go… im not the biggest fan. But I thought hey
lets give the Partybox 100 some love. And over all yeah, this guy is pretty solid as
well.
Regarding pricing, the Partybox 100 has a retail price of $350… but it can routinely
be found on sale these days for $280 which is a solid deal. Now this partybox has been
out for almost 2 years now and given that the 310 has already come out, I wouldn’t
be surprised if the Partybox 110 comes out sometime in 2021. Now I’ll discuss what
I expect to see from the Partybox 110 later on in this video… but for now if you want
to pick the Partybox 100 up it’ll be linked down below.
Now first let's talk about the design of this speaker. Now the partybox 100 is just shrunken
down version of the Partybox 310. We’ve got a mostly plastic body and a grill on the
front. Now from a portability standpoint we’ve got 2 built in carrying handles and this speaker
weighs in at 21 and a half pounds. Which isn’t too bad if you want to take this speaker on
the go with you either to different places around the house, to a friends house or to
a park.
Now from a durability standpoint, yeah the partybox is using stiff plastics which can
definitely take a beating… but the partybox is going to collect way more stretches than
lets say your boombox that has a mostly fabric body. But more importantly when it comes to
water resistance… the Partybox 100 isn’t IPX4 certified like either the Partybox 310
and Partybox on the go.
Now that’s primarily cause the ports on the back are fully exposed on the Partybox
100, where as with the Partybox 310… they’re sealed off. Now I wouldn’t be too worried
if the Partybox 100 gets caught out in a slight drizzle… but you defenetily don’t want
the exposed ports on the back to get drenched.
And this is the first major upgrade that I would expect to see from the Partybox 110
when it comes out. I think JBL will seal off the ports on the 110 like they did on the
310 to make it at least IPX4 certified. Now as to whether they’ll add wheels and a retractable
handle to the 110… I hope they do. Now even though it is frail easy to carry the Partybox
100 around… having wheels would just make it even easier.
But now lets talk about the light feature on this speaker. JBL makes a pretty mean looking
light feature. Now there are a few lighting modes to choose from but keep in mind you
can only cycle between these light features by pressing the lighting mode button on this
speaker. Unlike the Partybox 310… the 100 doesn’t connect to JBL’s Partybox app.
So first off you’re not going tone able to remotely control this light feature…
you’re also not going have as many lighting modes to choose from, and you’re also not
going to be able to customize this light feature. Nonetheless the light feature on the Partybox
100 is very impressive… but I would expect to see app support on the future Partybox
110.
But now lets talk about tech specs, the Partybox 100 has 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.
Now when it comes to connectivity… the Partybox 100 is 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. And when it comes to audio codecs,
this speaker is strictly using SBC and AAC.
But if we were to look at the ports panel on the back, there’s a mic and guitar input
and you can play around with the gain with the knobs on the back. Now you can add an
echo to this mic… but personally I wouldn’t bother.
Now the part box 100 also has a USB A port so you can play music off of a USB drive if
you wanted to… but you can also use this USB A port to charge your own devices. Now
this USB A port isn’t going to fast charge your devices like those newer 20 watt wall
adaptors… but at least its something.
But personally I hope that with the Partybox 110, JBL throws in a USB C port as well so
that you can charge your own devices cause a lot of phones these days are starting to
come included with USB C cables instead of USB A cables.
Now next to the USB A port you’ll find your audio in and audio out jacks. So if you want
to use a wired connection you can use the audio in jack… pretty straight forward.
But thanks to the Audio out jack, you can daisy chain any other speaker to this partybox
and have them play in sync.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with this speaker, regarding speaker
set ups the Partybox 100 has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port shooting
out the back and dual frontward firing tweeters up top. Now when it comes to output, the Partybox
100 has an advertised out put of 160 watts… but thats when this speaker is plugged in.
When its running off of its internal battery the Partybox 100 has an out put of 100 watts.
So if you want to get the most out of this speaker than you’ll want to use it while
its plugged in. When its plugged in this speaker will get louder and its bass will punch harder.
But while its running off of its internal battery the Partybox 100 still gets impressively
loud and has more than enough bass to make most people happy. Now we’re going to jump
into a sound test… the partybox is going to be playing off of its internal battery
with its bass boost turned off and with bass boost set to level 1. And Im also going to
be throwing in the original boombox for comparison, but its going to be playing while its plugged
in cause just like partybox it also gets a performance bump.
So like you may have just heard, the partybox sounds very flat when it has its bass boost
feature turned off… but with its bass boost featured turned on I think the Partybox sounds
great. Specifically it sounds very balanced, vocalists are well pronounced, there’s a
good kick to the bass and this speaker sounds fairly open. Where as if we were to look at
the boombox… the boombox does sound a little brighter than the partybox and it does sound
a little more narrow. Now like ive mentioned in the past, the thing about both the Boombox
and Boombox 2 is that once you start increasing their volume past 80% really only the mids
and highs get increased but the bass stays the same. So at higher volumes both boombox’s
do start to sound nasally. Where as with the partybox it does a much better job of linearly
increasing its bass as you increase its volume. So the partybox continues to sound balanced
even at those higher volumes. The only thing to keep in mind here is that JBL still doesn’t
allow you directly customize the EQ on their speakers like you can with other speakers.
But personally I don’t mind it cause I think the Partybox sounds just fine while in bass
boost level 1. But if you want more bass than you can crank it to Bass boost level 2 and
place it up against a wall.
So over all I really don’t have any complaints about the sound quality of the Partybox 100.
It sounds balanced, it gets decently loud and it has an ample amount of bass for its
size. But looking forward to the Partybox 110… I do expect the 110 to keep the same
sound signature but get a little louder, have a little bit more bass and sound a little
more open than the Partybox 100. Cause these are the sound quality differences that we
saw when we compared the Partybox 300 to the Partybox 310.
But
with all that being said, im not mad at the Partybox 100… im actually more mad that
it took me so long to cover this speaker. Sound quality wise the Partybox 100 sounds
well balanced while in bass boost level 1 with well defined vocals, a good kick in its
bass, it sounds fairly open and it get decently loud. And if you want to get more out of this
speaker you can always use it while its plugged it. The real world battery life on this speaker
is decent but keep in mind it really depends on how you use this speaker. Having bass boost
level 2 and the light feature on this speaker turned on is going to take its toll
on the battery.