Once again, the new JBL Boombox 3 is said to be characterised by particularly rich sound, whereby the manufacturer speaks of an even more powerful performance than the previous generation. JBL Boombox 3 with JBL Original Pro Sound Though it costs more than Tribit's Stormbox Blast, the 11.7-pound Rave Party 2 is a more attractively designed speaker and arguably sounds slightly better. Its two 4-inch woofers and two 2-inch tweeters deliver aggressive, punchy sound with enough volume to fill larger rooms (the Tribit's bass goes a little deeper, but I was pretty satisfied with this speaker's low-end capabilities). For even bigger sound, you can wirelessly link multiple Rave Party 2 and other Soundcore speakers that support the company's PartyCast 2.0 feature. The sound capabilities of the Boombox 3 are excellent. With its 2 x tweeters, 2 x midrange speaker and subwoofer setup, this is a speaker that can get loud. It’s the loudest portable speaker JBL offers. On the classic side of transducer technology, the JBL engineers leave no stone unturned: The Boombox 3 is designed as a 2.1 configuration. A central, approximately rectangular subwoofer with the amazing membrane size of 19 x 11.5 cm is supported by the passive membranes installed in the sides. 80 watts are available for the subwoofer path alone. Next, I listened to The National Anthem by Radiohead. This is a good song to test the tonal qualities of the speaker. The Boombox 3 was very good here, also. All the sounds were clear and resonant without muddying each other or becoming overbearing.

It’s not surprising that the Boombox 3 is power-hungry and requires a mains connection for battery charging as well as for maximum power operation. Nevertheless, it needs a whopping 6.5 hours until an empty battery is full again. The manufacturer promises that the new JBL Boombox 3 will provide music enjoyment for the whole day, because the integrated lithium-ion battery ensures a playing time of up to 24 hours. And that’s not all: the new JBL Boombox 3 can even be used as a so-called power bank for charging smartphones, for example. Prices and availability In terms of design, the JBL Boombox 3 features a noticeable upgrade from the previous JBL Boombox 2 and looks sleeker and more modern with a nice metallic finish. It also comes with a sturdy metal handle with silicone grips which makes carrying this speaker around outdoors much easier. When we compared both the JBL Boombox 3 and Boombox 2 side by side, we felt that the JBL Boombox 3 looks much more sleek with nice curvy angles and a rubberized base to keep the speaker in place. Both speakers come with passive bass radiators at the side which pumps out massive bass and you can see the radiators moving while playing music which is really neat. The Verdict? At 48.2 x 25.7 x 20.0cm, the Boombox 3 is long and combined with its weight; it makes for a relatively cumbersome device. It takes up a lot of space and is heavy to carry. Most of the time, I just left it in one spot. It isn’t designed for taking everywhere and is better suited to the occasional change of position. While this speaker isn't fully waterproof and can't float like some speakers can, it's splash-proof, with an IPX4 rating, and has a microphone input with discrete gain and reverb controls (no microphone is included). In the companion app for iOS and Android, you can customize the sound profile and light show. Battery life is rated at up to 16 hours, but that number will drop if you crank the volume.Features: water/dustproof according to protection class IP67, JBL Party Boost, powerbank function, equalizer, integrated power supply unit Harman International Industries describes the new JBL Boombox 3 as a solution with JBL Original Pro Sound and thus establishes the connection to its solutions in the pro audio sector, even if in the final analysis it is still a portable Bluetooth speaker.

The latest generation of the JBL Boombox, which Harman International Industries is now presenting in the form of the new JBL Boombox 3 at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, is said to offer pure, powerful JBL Original Pro Sound. The Xtreme 3 improves charge time to just 2.5 hours, down from 3.5 hours for the Xtreme 2 (both have 15 hours of battery life) I was impressed with the sound quality, which measures up well against a few more expensive -- and some larger -- speakers on this list. You can tweak the sound profile (with EQ settings) and upgrade the speaker's firmware in Anker's Soundcore companion app for iOS and Android. I tended to go with the bass boost engaged -- there's a button on the speaker to activate it -- and found that the speaker delivers full sound with good clarity in the mids and highs and good bass definition. For its size, the speaker is able to put out a lot of sound and mostly manages to avoid distorting at higher volumes (I tended to keep the volume in the 50-75% range). Midrange and treble are classically reproduced in stereo by a pair each of 9 cm midrange drivers and 1.9 cm domes. For this, two times 40 plus two times 10 watts RMS are added. Makes a nice total power of 180 watts in total. Namely, RMS, which is the most conservative power rating besides sine wave power. Other manufacturers would probably write twice as much in the spec sheet without shame. JBL even states in the spec sheet that the power is somewhat reduced when running on battery power, namely to 136 watts RMS. Power hungry JBL provides specs for both AC and battery modes. If you plug it into AC, you get 80 watts (W) for the sub, 40W for the midrange drivers, and 10W for each of the tweeters. On battery, power decreases slightly: 60W for the sub, 30W for the midrange drivers, and 8W for each tweeter. Meanwhile, the subwoofer expands the frequency range to 40Hz-20KHz (up from 50Hz-20KHz on the previous model). As we discuss later, this additional range makes an appreciable difference.

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JBL claims the Boombox 3 has a 24-hour battery. These claims are pretty accurate, and it’s very impressive. Sound For outdoor use, I like the design of the Boombox 3 better than UE Hyperboom. The portable Bluetooth speaker is easier to carry around and just looks more like an outdoor speaker. It's also fully waterproof and dustproof with an IPX67 rating (the previous model was waterproof but didn't have a dustproof rating).

Like the UE Hyperboom (see below), this has a USB-out port that allows you to charge external devices like your phone, and there's also an analog audio input if you want to go wired and connect a device without using Bluetooth connectivity (the Hyperboom adds an optical digital input). The JBL Boombox Series has been one of the most important products in the line-up of portable Bluetooth speaker systems from Harman International Industries for years, and this is also to apply to the new JBL Boombox 3, which the company presented at CES 2022 in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year.It’s a portable speaker that can deliver a massive sound, and it delivers it well. The audio is crisp, clean, and precise and the bass booms. The battery lasts a massive 24 hours, and the IP67-resistant design allows you to take the speaker anywhere without worrying about it.

To ensure this, the new JBL Boombox 3 has a particularly robust design. The JBL Boombox 3 is IP67 certified and therefore resistant to water and dust, so in principle it can be used in any environment and in all weather conditions.

We tested the speaker in both the AC and battery power modes. Although the AC mode enables a little more punch, its performance in battery mode still thoroughly impressed us. The drivers output real bass at high volume levels in both modes. The Boombox 3 is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and supports the SBC codec, but not AAC or AptX. Sonic fidelity is less important outdoors, but we expect higher-end codec support in light of the premium price. Again, this doesn't really affect the powerful bass or impressive volume output, but anything to help with audio clarity over Bluetooth is welcome. The Hyperboom also is the better-sounding portable Bluetooth speaker overall. It has a wider soundstage with slightly more bass and clarity. It also sounds a little more natural. The new JBL Boombox 3 already uses the new Bluetooth 5.3 standard, which is said to have advantages in that the connection to the source devices is more stable and this standard has once again been optimised in terms of energy consumption, theoretically leading to longer battery life. One of the main features of a portable JBL speaker is its simplicity. Turn it on, connect via Bluetooth, and you’re away.