The Sony SRS-XP700 is major. It is potent. It is pricey. These are not the sort of words you’d commonly associate with a transportable wireless speaker, and however, right here we are. Clearly, it is no ordinary speaker.
The SRS-XP700 is one of 3 new higher-finish speakers that Sony has launched in India lately, the other two being the SRS-XG500 and SRS-XP500. The entry-level SRS-XB13 is also element of the exact same line-up. It was launched in India in June. The SRS-XP700 and SRS-XG500 expense the exact same, i.e., Rs 32,990, but they couldn’t be more various. The SRS-XP500 meanwhile, is a watered-down SRS-XP700 that tries to bring a lot of its features and styling to a fairly more inexpensive cost point.
Before even diving into every thing the SRS-XP700 can and can not do, it is crucial to address the elephant in the area. The cost. I am going to defend it right here, just a tiny bit, mainly because I am pleasantly shocked by Sony’s approach. The SRS-XP700 India cost is quite almost identical to its US cost – $450. That’s major coming from Sony, a brand notorious for exorbitant pricing. This also offers it an benefit more than its direct competitor, the JBL Partybox 310 which is priced larger at Rs 37,999. So, there’s a lot to like right here if you have been eying a item like this to commence with.
With that out of the way, let’s jump on to the item now, shall we.
Design, ergonomics
The very first point to know about the SRS-XP700 is that it is a major speaker. Like genuinely major. It is a towering monolith. Like the PlayStation 5, it is going to be quite tricky to not see it wherever you place it. These points are not developed to blend in anyway. Rather, they are supposed to stand out and break the ice, get the party began if you will.
The simplest way to describe the look of the SRS-XP700 is to assume of a trash can. Encased in metal rails, the speaker has two handles, one at the major and one more at the bottom. Lifting it up one-handed is a job, perhaps even not possible for some mainly because it weighs very a bit, 16.9 kg to be precise. A silver lining is that the Partybox 310 weighs even more. Almost 20kg. But the JBL speaker tries to get about its beefier proportions by providing a suitcase styling with a telescopic deal with and actual wheels.
Where the SRS-XP700 tends to make robust comeback is via its versatility. It has bumpers at the bottom as effectively as on the side so you can prop it up either vertically or horizontally, like a boombox. The kind follows function also, which is to say, Sony has gone the added mile to make sure the SRS-XP700 performs effectively in either orientation. The focus to detail is immaculate. Just like the rest of the speaker. It is quite effectively made.
The controls are all up major (switching more than to the side when the speaker is placed in landscape). In addition to the usual array of energy, Bluetooth (version 5.) pairing, play/pause and volume up/down, Sony has also thrown in a button to dial up the bass straight from the panel itself.
The ports are all on the back, concealed behind a protective flap that is not loose or flimsy. The choice is hefty with two USB-A ports for plug and play/charging mobile devices, two 1/4-inch microphone inputs with committed volume knobs one of which can be used to plug in a guitar (turning the speaker into an amp), a 3.5mm audio jack and energy socket.
There’s a row of 3 more buttons above this compartment. One referred to as party connect lets you pair many Sony speakers, the other is a toggle for battery care. The third is a switch for the speaker’s party trick – LED lighting.
The SRS-XP700 has two set of LEDs. One at the major and one more at the bottom of the speaker grille. It’s a good tiny setup that does not genuinely glare at you, rather it stays out of the way most of the time. Sony also offers you sufficient pre-sets to selectively tweak it per your mood via an app. Though what ever the setting, the common undertone is calm, soothing and aesthetically more pleasing than the Partybox 310’s front-row lighting scheme. I guess the Sony speaker fits as effectively in a party as it does in every day use.
For a speaker like this that is attempting to be a jack of all trades, it is tiny surprising that it is only IPX4 rated. The IP66-certified SRS-XG500 can survive harsher environments.
Performance
The SRS-XP700 does not pull any punches as far as core hardware is concerned. But more than the hardware itself, it is the engineering that is impressive. The speaker is stacked with two 6.6-inch woofers and 3 2.3-inch tweeters, all forward-firing. Only two of these tweeters work at any offered quantity of time based on how the speaker is placed. This is for consistency. There is also a fourth rear-facing 1.9-inch tweeter (next to the manage panel) that fires up only when the speaker is placed in vertical orientation. This is for what Sony calls “omnidirectional” sound stage. Think surround sound.
The woofers, also, are a tiny unconventional for a speaker like this. They have a non-circular diaphragm so the speaker unit can push more air than a circular driver could in the exact same space. That’s just fantastic acoustic sense – at least on paper – but the point about fantastic audio is, it is difficult to get it ideal. Even more so when you opt for to fiddle about with the status quo. Luckily, Sony has had years of encounter generating speakers, fantastic-good quality speakers, so you can be sure, there is a process right here. Question is, does the SRS-XP700 supply a cohesive encounter with all that potent hardware. Yes and no.
Let me begin by saying this. It’s exceptional how this speaker can pull so a great deal energy off battery. While it is advisable to have it plugged in anytime you can, the efficiency is not restricted or toned down when it is not. It fires on all cylinders no matter the scenario.
Coming to the sound signature, Sony has constructed a reputation for itself as a brand that usually likes to favour the reduced frequencies more than the mids and the highs but that is not the case with the SRS-XP700 for some cause. Sony’s promo components might promote major sound with deep, punchy bass but the SRS-XP700 is not a one-trick pony. It can deal with the mids and the highs as simply, providing probably one of the most balanced and satisfying genre-agnostic output I have come to encounter from any Sony speaker so far. It gets loud and does not distort a lot at peak volume, even though probabilities are you will not will need to blast this point at max at all. So that is good.
But here’s the point. Unlike most Sony speakers, the SRS-XP700 does not provide chest-thumping bass you’d presumably want from a party speaker of this class. There is a mega bass selection to amp up the sound, and it performs surprisingly effectively, but I have heard the Partybox 310 – vert briefly – and JBL holds a clear edge when it comes to genuinely owning these reduced frequencies. That’s also one more point about speakers. Most of them sound fantastic in isolation. At least, the SRS-XP700 types do. Only and only if you have some frame of reference will you be in a position to figure out a distinction. That distinction also, in this case, is only marginal.
So, extended story quick. The SRS-XP700 is what you ought to get if you are hunting for an all-rounder. For particularly more bass, you ought to possibly check out the Partybox 310 after just in case.
Where the SRS-XP700 holds a clear edge is the battery life. It is rated for playback for up to 25 hours. The Partybox 310 caps out at 18 hours. Obviously, this is below perfect circumstances, but the distinction is by no indicates smaller. The Sony speaker also charges more quickly with the proprietary cable providing you 3 hours of usage on a 10-minute charge.
Sony SRS-XP700 final thoughts
The SRS-XP700 is a fantastic-hunting, effectively-constructed speaker that is bustling with tech and features but what I like most about it, is the positioning. The party speaker category is not a extensively contested category at the sort of cost point we’re dealing with right here. It’s someplace in the middle of these passive radiator-powered entry-level speakers for home and a club PA that technically has no cost ceiling. This also tends to make it a difficult category.
So, regardless of whether or not you’d want to obtain a speaker like the Sony SRS-XP700 in the very first location, will rely on your ultimate use case. What I can inform you is, in its space, the SRS-XP700 delivers terrific worth. Not just in sound good quality but what genuinely sets it apart from other people which includes the similarly priced SRS-XG500 is the versatility element. There’s just so a great deal more you can do with it, I have certainly no difficulty in saying, the SRS-XP700 punches above its weight and thoughts you, it weighs very a lot.
Pros: Premium look and really feel, Balanced audio, Custom LEDs, Good battery life, Lots of ports
Cons: Big and bulky, Only IPX4 rated