These days pretty much everybody has a portable Bluetooth speaker of some kind, so the party is never too far away. However, there’s a huge variety in the speakers available. In recent years, we’ve seen the growth of these speakers to also accommodate DJ equipment, while also being loud and punchy enough to make a real party anywhere you go. One well-known brand that has expanded into this category is JBL with its Partybox line of speakers. However, it has seen strong competition from a newer name in the market. We were lucky enough to get a Soundboks 4 speaker to test out, and we absolutely loved it. The company also has a smaller and more portable Soundboks Go, which is about half the size of the full-sized model.
Soundboks is a Danish audio company renowned for its high-performance, portable Bluetooth speakers built for extreme loudness and durability. Founded around 2015 by three young friends in Denmark (Jesper Thiel Thomsen, Christofer Nyvold, and Hjalte Emilio Wieth), the company originated from their desire to create a speaker powerful and rugged enough for the Roskilde Festival. After a successful Kickstarter campaign for their initial model, Soundboks officially launched, focusing on battery-powered speakers that deliver concert-level volume. Their main products include the flagship SOUNDBOKS speaker (currently in its 4th generation) and the smaller, more compact SOUNDBOKS Go, both emphasizing powerful sound, long battery life, and robust design ideal for parties and outdoor events.
Right before Miami Music Week, we were sent a Soundboks 4 to test out, which is the latest version of the large party speaker. We put it through its paces during pregames and then we also purchased the must-have Backpack accessory to take the speaker into the wild for some portable partying. Here are our impressions!
What We Like
When the speaker arrives, you can discern the quality right away from the packaging alone. The packaging is smartly designed and very secure. It’s not too heavy and the speaker itself is absolutely gorgeous. It is simply looking but serious, so you know it’s designed to get the job done without extra gimmicks.
The Sound is incredible! It’s loud and punchy, with plenty of rumble to rock whatever space you happen to be in. This speaker is not only solid for indoor pregames and parties, but we also brought it to South Beach and plopped it in the sand for an impromptu beach party, and the speaker worked like a charm. This speaker quite literally allows you to bring a concert-like party experience anywhere you go.
The setup requires you to use the speaker’s app, but is relatively straightforward. From there everything is pretty smooth, and the speaker has cool options to link up with other speakers using the Team Up feature.
The battery is quite interesting. It’s a small, removable battery that packs a lot of juice. The speaker is rated for 40 hours of use, blowing away the JBL Partybox 310 I have. The nice thing is that the speaker is charged with a USB-C cable, so you don’t need to lug around a proprietary plug to use this one. The only weird thing is that the way the battery is set up, you can only use the speaker while charging if you use the official Soundboks charger (sold separately) or a USB-C PD compliant charger capable of supplying 65W (that’s like a laptop charger). So there’s a good chance that your out of the box setup would not allow you to charge and play at the same time. Don’t let the battery get too low before heading out.
The speaker is truly portable, so that means it’s also splashproof. You don’t want to submerge it, but it can withstand splashes, rain, etc. The speaker can be transported using an extra cost Backpack. It costs approx $150, but for a $1000 speaker that’s a drop in the bucket. With this accessory you can take it anywhere and bring the party with you. Other speakers use wheels, but those wheels won’t work well in sand. This speaker is a great beach toy that will instantly make you the king of the beach.
Of course, this is a serious speaker in addition to a Bluetooth one. It can plug and play with your DJ peripherals and can be manually connected to another speaker using a cable.
What We Don’t Love
As discussed above, the battery situation is partly good but partly confusing. You will have to think ahead and make another purchase (of either a spare battery or a particular charger) in order to play the speaker when the juice has run out. If you don’t plan ahead you might be stuck letting the battery charge before you can play again. However, this gives you the opportunity for hot-swapping of batteries if you buy a second one. Then you’d pretty much never run out during a party session.
While the backpack makes the speaker very portable, it does not come this way out of the box. Unless you buy a backpack accessory, the speaker is not very portable and is not the easiest to move long distances without help. There is no top handle so you need to hold it from the side handles.
The app is pretty nifty, but this speaker relies on it more heavily than you might be used to. You’ll basically want to use the app for your initial pairing and setup, and also during use. The initial setup required me to read the instructions as there is no obvious bluetooth pairing button on the speaker itself. Once you get setup and registered through the app, things are a breeze.
This speaker is expensive at $999 plus tax. While it may be pretty amazing at what it does, even compared to other speakers, the price is definitely steep and maybe prohibitive for some. The comparable JBL Partybox 1000 is larger, more powerful, and has a subwoofer, however that speaker is not designed to be portable. Even the cheaper Partybox 710 is going to be a bit more powerful but is not portable. Compared to JBL’s portable Partybox, the Soundboks is superior in terms of sound and power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Soundboks 4 establishes itself as a truly solid portable party speaker, delivering the impressive volume, long battery life, and rugged build quality the brand is known for. Its performance is tailored for energetic gatherings and outdoor use where maximum sound is key. While its capabilities are undeniable, the significant price tag means it represents a great buy specifically for those who prioritize this level of powerful, portable audio and have the budget to accommodate its premium cost.
The post SOUNDBOKS 4 Is the Modern Day Boombox appeared first on EDMTunes.
Recommended Comments