The era of AI-based smart speakers
has already begun, and India seems to be the new breeding ground for them. But while AI speakers aim to get the work done instead of focussing more on the bass and the audio performance, the non-AI based speakers stay the go-to audio devices for many of us. And one of the brands that come to nearly everybody’s mind while choosing a powerful speaker is JBL. The Harman
-subsidiary that has Samsung as its parent company, recently introduced its JBL 
Boombox speaker, catering to the needs of those bass lovers who want to make their rooms a mini party place.With Boombox, JBL
plans to make carrying a powerful speaker around easy. It is bulky, but the performance is something that can be its deciding factor in the market. In India, you get JBL Boombox at Rs 34,990, which is not a price tag that forces you to think twice before spending but then what all do you get at the given cost? Here’s our review.Design
Talking design, JBL has played on the same old design that it has shown off in several other of its speakers as well. The tube design is something we have seen in Flip 4, Pulse 3 and even Charge 2+ but if you are aware of the entire line up, the device looks like a slightly bigger version of the JBL Charge 3 along with a handle to carry it around easily.
You won’t get a premium look per say but the finishing makes it worth appreciating. Although it’s not the usual speaker design that you get, it sure is durable and perfect for those poolside parties. The build is durable as the Boombox flaunts an IPX7 water resistant body and resist those tailgate parties. It has a hard plastic handle as well and is designed to be placed horizontally. It can also be placed vertically but then it won’t be ideal as you will be blocking one of the woofers from giving the required audio output.
Nonetheless, the tube design is made of hard plastic and fabric in a dual tone colour look, making it look robust. To keep it firm on a surface, the Boombox even has a rubber stand at the bottom. It is heavy at 5.2kgs but then it's understandable given the size of the cylindrical-designed speaker - 254.5 x 495 x 195.5mm.
Making it easier to access the playback and connectivity options, the JBL Boombox has a few buttons up front to tune on the unit, connect it with Bluetooth via JBL Connect+, increase or decrease the volume and play or pause the audio. At the back you get an area covered with a rubber flap. It includes all the connectivity options including a couple of USB out ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, a Micro USB port and a power socket. Besides that is a button that lets you switch between the indoor and outdoor EQ modes. Although we’ll talk about what it does in a bit, it could've been appreciated if the button was with others at the front.
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Audio performance
The Boombox makes sure the party animal inside you gets the perfect mix of beats, treble and the required thump from the two woofers on either side. The audio performance of the speaker turned out to be better than what we expected. It gets impressively loud while keeping the audio highs, mids and lows in control. We tested the speaker both indoors and outdoors in multiple environments and found the Boombox taking care of the distortion at high volume. It also did a decent job in separating vocals from the rest of the audio. Even the audio coming from percussion instruments are crisp. So no complaints there. What could’ve been a plus point is the stereo separations. However, for non-audiophiles the mono setup too will do the job. You get a bit of soundstage as well but it shouldn’t be a major issue.
To get the specs out of the way, JBL Boombox has 80dB signal to noise ratio, 50Hz-20KHz frequency response, dual 4-inch woofers and two 20mm tweeters.
Another highlighted feature of the Boombox is it's indoor and outdoor EQ modes in the speaker. As we mentioned above, the device has a dedicated button to switch between the indoor and outdoor EQ modes. By default it will be on the indoor mode. On switching to the outdoor mode you will hear the overall audio getting louder and the bass level going high. But unfortunately, these two are the only EQ levels you can find in the JBL Boombox.
Setting up a JBL Boombox is no rocket science. In fact we found it easier than some others in the market. All you need is the JBL Connect+ app, which is available on both Android and iOS, to get started. The Bluetooth range is around 30 feet, which is on the positive side.
Battery
Battery performance for the JBL Boombox turned out to be impressive. Being a beast when it comes to music, the speaker can easily play for over 24 hours on a single charge, something not usually seen in large bluetooth speakers. This is because JBL has thrown in a massive 20,000mAh battery in its Boombox so even if your connected smartphone’s battery goes out, it can still be left with enough juice to get connected with another source device and continue playing music.
Talking about your smartphones dying in front of the Boombox, JBL’s Bluetooth speaker has dual USB ports so you can even charge your handset by connecting it with the audio device. Don’t expect a fast charging tech with this but still it is a useful feature. As expected, since the speaker has a large battery, it will take time to get charged as well. During our usage we found it to take around 5-6 hours to get fully charged. This means you can play it for over 24 hours or for few hours every day and charge it overnight.
Verdict
JBL Boombox will surely blow the roof because of its clever balance of bass at high volume. It has a good audio clarity and balance between different audio and vocals. The design is not bad but still something that may not be attractive for most people. Even the EQ modes are not much. But then all the flaws are overshadowed by the IPX7 rating build, portability and the massive battery backup. What makes it an even better proposition is the price at which it comes - Rs 34,990.
The audio speaker is not good enough to replace your home theatre speakers but if you want a speaker that goes insanely loud and has all the basic features, the JBL Boombox may just be your knight in the shining armour.
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