The new range of Bluetooth speakers comes with various improvements such as ‘X-Balanced Speaker units’, durability and more portable designs. Although the Extra Bass branding is clear, Sony continues to use it’s unfriendly product naming system. These new boom boxes are called the SRS-XB23, SRS-XB33 and SRS-XB43. The new models have an IP67 rating meaning you can use them around water without worry. Unusually, they are even protected from salt water and the dustproofing means these are perfect for the beach. They have also undergone extensive shockproof testing so dropping one by mistake shouldn’t be an issue.
Unlike a traditional speaker, the X-Balanced Speaker units have non-circular drivers. Sony says this is to maximise the size, therefore sound pressure for punchy bass. Sony says the 33 and 43 models have Live Sound which brings a “3-dimensional sound experience as if you were at a live venue.” Like previous Sony speakers you can connect up to 100 together over Bluetooth for likely the most insane sounding party of all time. The 33 and 43 models even have multi-colour lighting that you can customise from your phone and can flash in time with music with the Fiestable app. Here’s the availability info for the new speakers:
SRS-XB23- £100 / €120 (IE) from August 2020 in black, blue, red, taupe, green.SRS-XB33 – £150 / €180 (IE) from August 2020 in black, blue, red, taupe.SRS-XB43 – £200 / €240 (IE) from August 2020 in black and blue.
Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
