Are you wanting to have a great time and be nostalgic, or perhaps you are just trying to drown out all your issues with loud, bass-pumping music? JBL has your back with their ever esteemed boombox!
The boombox is the party maker and problem diffuser of the speaker world. Yes, the boombox, for any 80’s fans out there, is a great way to reminisce on the days of baggy pants, afro hairstyles, and flattened cardboard boxes with people busting moves on them.
Be warned, do not allow your nostalgia to take you too far into the past. You might not want to carry the Boombox around on your shoulder, like its predecessors, as you will be rendered deaf almost instantly. This Boombox also comes in at a retail price of $450, meaning you might not have any money left to get your ears checked.
Check the price for the Boombox 2 on JBL’s website Here.
It is JBL after all, and the JBL company is known for their amazing range of high-tech quality headphones and speakers. JBL has been around since 1946, and in that time has made more than 3,000 other products that have been throwing sound at many of the world’s biggest musical, athletic, social, and political events.
They are also in the same ranks as Beats Electronics and Marshall Headphones. In essence, JBL has established a well-known, reliable brand name that is trusted around the world to perform.
With all that being said, the price should build your confidence in knowing that you are getting a quality product. JBL outdid themselves from their latest money maker (the JBL Xtreme) by just making it a whole lot bigger and giving it a few extra features.
It is a higher-end product, as mentioned earlier, so let us begin the expected nit-picking and fact-flaunting process a highly anticipated product like the JBL Boombox deserves.
Table of Contents
Advantages and Disadvantages
Weighing up the pros and cons proved to be the difficult part of the review, simply because an experienced company like JBL appears to produce almost flawless headphones and speakers. A closer inspection of this boombox does reveal some mild impracticalities that the customer should be aware of.
Solidly built speaker
24 hours of playtime
IPX7 waterproof
Long range Bluetooth connectivity
It is expensive
It weighs 11.5 pounds
Does not have fancy lights
Takes long to charge
Check the price for the Boombox 2 on JBL’s website Here.
Alright, now that that is out of the way let us get to the fun part.
Design
Living up to its name, the JBL Boombox is bulky and built like a tank. The device has a height of 10.02 inches, a width of 19.49 inches, and a diameter of 7.7 inches, making it a difficult task when trying to save luggage space.
Although quite large, it does have a sleek design that is appealing to the eye. It has a smooth handle arcing over the top for easier lifting and carrying.
There are also two power-pumping, 4-inch woofer speakers, uncovered on each end, which are encircled with a smooth thick black rubber ring, and also stylishly branded with the iconic JBL logo.
It has a fabric mesh grill all around its tube area, with the orange JBL logo set right in the center front of it to make sure people know you have a JBL speaker.
After all, if you’re going to pay for the brand name, you might as well show it off. Having almost the entire speaker covered in the mesh serves practically as protection, lowering the possibility of it getting any scratches from all the wild parties that you will be hosting.
The Boombox has two 0.8-inch, high-performance tweeters in the front, enabling it to compliment the booming bass with a clear and crisp sound. The buttons on the front are straightforward but are very enjoyable to press. This might not seem like an important fact to mention, but if you have ever purchased a speaker with unsatisfying buttons, then you will appreciate the JBL button design.
The play/pause button on the right can also be used for voice assistance. The volume up and down buttons can be found on either side of the power and JBL Connect Plus buttons. Then there is the obvious Bluetooth connecting button. At the back, the Boombox also has an indoor/outdoor button, which we will discuss in more detail later.
There are, unfortunately, no speakers built into the back of the Boombox, which prevents it from having a 360-degree sound effect. There are, however, some other features hidden in the back that customers may not be initially aware of.
Behind a waterproof seal, there are two USB charging ports, a micro-USB port, that is dedicated to only updating the firmware of the Boombox, and an audio input slot.
JBL has cleverly put a short string of LED lights to indicate the level of battery power the Boombox has left. These discreet lights contribute to the sophisticated design as well. These lights are located right at the bottom of the Boombox, so you can get a good arm workout when you want to have a look at how much music time you have left.
If you do not want to worry about running out of battery power, then you can always use the Boombox wall power adapter for long jamming sessions. The Boombox comes with an excessively bulky charging cable as well. It might be awkward to carry around, but don’t worry about that because it has a battery that allows it to play for close to 24 hours.
Overall, the design of the Boombox is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but not at the cost of strength and durability.
Wirelessly connect up to 2 smartphones or tablets to the speaker and take turns playing impressive stereo sound. And need more? Amplify your listening experience and rock the party by wirelessly connecting to additional JBL Connect+ enabled speakers.
Features
The Boombox has a few really unique and attractive features. To start, it is waterproof to an IPX level of 7. What does that mean? It means that this tank can turn into a submarine, as the Boombox can be submerged in water as deep as 3.3 feet and for as long as 30 minutes.
The Boombox is part of the JBL Connect Plus club, meaning that it can connect to other JBL Connect Plus compatible speakers. The Boombox can connect to up to a hundred or more other speakers to be exact.
To enable this feature, all you have to do is press the JBL Connect Plus button. If you do not have any other JBL speakers, then it will most definitely be a useless function to you, unless you get all your friends to buy JBLs too. Other JBL Connect Plus compatible speakers are:
- JBL Flip 4
- JBL Xtreme 2
- JBL Pulse 3
- JBL Charge 4
It was mentioned earlier that the Boombox speaker claims to have a 24-hour playtime. How accurate is this? If the speaker is played non-stop at 50% volume, it lasts for just over 20 hours. The 24-hour playtime is a slight exaggeration on the part of JBL advertisers, but 20 hours is still a long time.
The other really appealing feature is the indoor/outdoor mode. This is designed to enhance audio quality depending on the environment that the Boombox is in. The brilliance of this feature really comes to the fore when used at beach parties, parks, and occasionally when irritating the neighbors from your rooftop.
Check the price for the Boombox 2 on JBL’s website Here.
The Boombox has a strong, reliable Bluetooth connection, being able to reach your phone at up to 80 or 90 feet. Just by way of precaution, you might not want to be that far away from a $450 item in public. No amount of Bluetooth strength will be worth bragging about if your speaker gets stolen.
The Boombox is voice assistant compatible, unlike many other speakers on the market. This feature enables the user to activate Google Assistant or Siri with a simple voice command. That means that you can instruct the speaker to play a certain song without having to touch your mobile device.
Another really practical feature is that the Boombox has a built-in power bank that is strong enough to charge two devices at the same time. So, the music never has to stop because your mobile device runs out of battery power.
Check the price for the Boombox 2 on JBL’s website Here.
Setting Up
Bluetooth
Setting up a Bluetooth connection with the JBL Boombox is quite straightforward and user-friendly. First, make sure your mobile device’s Bluetooth is on, and then press the Bluetooth-shaped button on the front of the speaker. Wait a few seconds for the connection and then you are ready to jam.
Speakerphone
This is also really simple to set up. All you have to do is wait for a call on your mobile device to come through and then press the play/pause button on the speaker. This will enable your call to be played through the Boombox.
Voice Assistant
The user can also set the play/pause button as an activation button for Siri and Google Assistant. You would first need to install the JBL Connect app onto your mobile device, and then tap the “Voice Assistant” option. This will automatically set the play/pause button to a voice assistant button.
Performance
The high-performance speakers can be heard from up to 70 feet away, playing at 50% volume, and up to 140 feet away, playing at 100% volume, in outdoor mode.
Even when set in indoor mode, the Boombox can be described as overkill, unless you really enjoy the bass rattling effect on your window frames, then you have spent your money wisely. The audio signature emitted by the Boombox is amazing, emphasizing almost every beat even from specific genres such as EDM, Pop, and Hip-Hop.
If you plan on hosting an indoor event and pumping the Boombox at full volume, then the bass does get distorted. The clarity of the sound does get lost when aiming for a louder music experience indoors. If the user were to go outdoors, on the other hand, and place the speaker at a slight distance from the party, the distortion will not be a noticeable issue.
In outdoor mode, the midrange frequencies become pronounced, not a lot, but enough to hear the difference. On the topic of midrange frequencies, that being the vocal performance where most instruments are heard by the human ear, the Boombox is great at moderate volumes, producing a clear and detailed vocal performance, enough for you to appreciate it.
Higher tones from instruments, such as cymbal crashes, snare drums, and fast-paced EDM, do get a bit raspy at the higher volumes.
The Boombox is certainly loud and demands attention in a crowd, but it does get the job impressively done when hosting an event, whether it is indoors or outdoors.
Maintenance
The manufacturers at JBL say that one should not press in the woofers at any given time. Never dunk the Boombox in water when there are cables connected to it, or when the waterproof seal at the back covering the ports is not closed properly.
For the JBL Boombox to be fully charged, after it has been completely drained of battery power, can possibly take up to 7 hours, meaning that you have to prepare the way in advance before you want to use it.
Who Should Get This?
A Boombox is designed for those wanting to have a good time, for a long time, or for those who are willing to spend whatever it takes to get a high-quality speaker.
The Boombox is great for the people hosting massive gatherings such as beach parties, house parties, functions in large venue halls, sporting events, and park events. If you are in the mood to get your feet tapping to an excessively loud beat, then this is for you. It is made for the young at heart, who want to have a loud and fun time.
If you want to have your music heard by many and from far away, and you have a really long playlist, then this is the speaker for you.
The Bottom Line
The JBL Boombox is a well-rounded speaker at the top of the price range. It gives you everything you would ever want in a speaker. It can stay alive for an incredibly long time; it has the possibility of running longer than your phone. That will never be an issue because you can use it to charge your mobile device to keep the good times rolling.
You can take the Boombox anywhere you would like without having the fear of the Boombox breaking when it falls off the table. The Boombox is so well constructed that all the pieces are, in a sense, hugging each other. If it gets wet, not a problem the Boombox can handle that as well. That being said, it is rather cumbersome to have to lug around long-term.
The JBL sales pitch regarding the 24-hour battery life is what is most disappointing with the Boombox, but where the sales team lacks inaccuracy, the JBL Boombox makes up for in clear, crisp, and enjoyable sound.
If you feel that the price of the Boombox is too high, then do not worry. There will seldomly come a time when you will need it to play at its highest volume, and if you are not planning on blowing your friends’ ears off, or blowing your budget, then the JBL Xtreme will do just fine. In short, the device is the perfect speaker for those looking to party on a budget.
It will keep up with the modern partygoer’s needs and you might just become JBL’s biggest fan. The JBL Boombox is a brilliant piece of work and is worth every dime spent on it. It will keep up with you for many good times, no matter where those good times maybe.
Wirelessly connect up to 2 smartphones or tablets to the speaker and take turns playing impressive stereo sound. And need more? Amplify your listening experience and rock the party by wirelessly connecting to additional JBL Connect+ enabled speakers.
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I like this web site so much, saved to my bookmarks. “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.” by Peter De Vries.