Sony SRS-XB100 Bluetooth speaker review

Price: $59 Colors: Black, blue, light grey, orange Size: 3. 43 x 4. 41 inches Weight: 9.

7 ounces Battery life (rated): 16 hours Playback range: 131 feet Durability : IP67 The Sony SRS-XB100 proves that Bluetooth speakers don’t need to have a big body and price tag to deliver impressive performance. For less than $60, Sony’s most portable speaker provides a personal, on-the-go listening experience in a grippy can-shaped package. While there is no shortage of budget Bluetooth speakers, I’d consider very few of them among the best Bluetooth speakers overall.

The Sony SRS-XB100 is one that makes up for power with its compact size, durability, and long-lasting battery life. Whether you want music for bopping through a round of golf, kicking back during a beach day or singing along in the shower, the XB100 has the most to offer for the price. But is it the best choice for you? Read my full Sony SRS-XB100 review below to find out.

The Sony SRS-XB100 is available now for $59. It’s the smallest and most affordable speaker in the current-gen Sony speaker lineup, replacing the Sony SRS-XB13. Although the Sony SRS-XB100 is a generally simple-looking speaker, the design prioritizes portability in clever ways.

It’s shaped like a short soda can and features a color-matched fabric strap, so you shouldn’t struggle to tote it around. The 3. 43 x 4.

41-inch, 0. 6-pound speaker came with me everywhere I went for a few days, fitting in even my smaller bags. Available in four colors — black, blue, light grey and orange — the XB100’s exterior has subtle ridges that help with grippiness.

A special UV coating means the colors shouldn’t fade much in the sun either, while the IP67 protection means the speaker can survive accidental submersion if, say, it’s dropped in the pool. The power button, Bluetooth pairing toggle, pause/play and volume controls are wrapped horizontally toward the bottom, just above the cut-outs. These cut-outs hollow out part of the speaker, giving the bass a bit more breathing room.

The Sony SRS-XB100 is engineered in a way that maximizes performance when the speaker is placed upright on a table. A small driver, passive radiator and sound diffusion processor work together to produce more powerful sound than you might expect. Listening to “Piano Man,” Billy Joel’s keys and iconic harmonica diddy sounded infectious, even in the open environment of my backyard.

Although the instruments didn’t sound intentional enough to feel concert-quality, I didn’t hear obvious tinniness and enough nuances are preserved. It doesn’t get as loud as the UE Wonderboom 3 or offer the same sound sophistication as the Sonos Roam , but the XB100 audio quality is truly impressive for its size. What’s more, it battled environmental noises well, still carrying sound throughout my windy beach encampment.

If I had two XB100 speakers, I could stereo-pair them to split left and right channels for better performance, too. In terms of battery life, the Sony SRS-XB100 is rated for 16 hours, which is two hours longer than the Wonderboom 3’s battery life. I found that the speaker lasted at least that long, if not more.

With a few hours of use every day, I only needed to recharge the speaker once a week. But charging is probably my biggest complaint. It takes 4.

5 hours to recharge via USB-C, which means there’s not really the option to quickly juice it up before you head out. Plus, the included charging cable is shorter than I’d like. I ended up using my own third-party cable to keep the XB100 charged.

Charging woes aside, the Sony SRS-XB100 is a pretty exceptional speaker considering it costs just $59. You can’t get many great devices for that price these days, without making some major trade-offs. It might not have many bells and whistles — no EQ and voice controls, for example — but the XB100 is everything most people should want from a portable Bluetooth speaker.

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