Sony SRS-XB12 Mini Bluetooth Speaker Loud Extra Bass Portable Wireless Speaker with Bluetooth -Loud Audio for Phone Calls-

At the age of 71, I know a thing or two about music and what it should sound like coming from a speaker. I also know what it should NOT sound like. Music should sound lively and fun. The melodic and rhythmic tones should not be buried behind a sinister dark curtain that turns it into a sloppy, murky mess. I wanted a small portable speaker to toss into a travel bag. The Sony SRS-XB12 got me there, but not until after a long and exhausting journey. YouTube is a good place to audition speakers. Use headphones and keep in mind the sad state of some of the home microphones being used. A speaker this small has obvious limitations. I am amazed at the clarity of vocals and instruments, as well as the natural tones of the bass. Keep in mind that bass tones are made by plucking the strings of a bass guitar. Even synthesized bass sounds better when it comes through clearly instead of muffled. Sony's previous model of this speaker, the XB10 has too much of that nasty, muddy sound. And here's another important note. Even the young hipsters of today's generation should appreciate quality when they listen to recorded noise that one might hesitate to call “music.” If a rapper is ranting about killing police or which drugs are the coolest, it probably would help his fans if they could clearly hear the lyrics. (Or maybe not). Either way, the Sony engineers nailed it on this little gem of a speaker. Whether you prefer the mellow joyfulness of Dean Martin's “Magic Is the Moonlight” or rocking to the Ventures’ 1962 knockout rendition of Sandy Nelson's “Let There Be Drums,” this speaker will handle it superbly. Even some of the crazy modern stuff that doesn’t make sense actually sounds lifelike and fun on this speaker! And, get this. To pair a device with Bluetooth, all you have to do is turn it on and press the power button for 3 seconds. A blue will blink and immediately pair with your device. You even get a choice of several nifty colors. Read more

I had a small JamBox speaker that I used for business travel and camping for about 5 years and it bit the dust. I had demo'd this Sony at Target and was impressed by its sound - much better than JamBox in just a slightly larger form factor. I've had it now for about 2 months and really like it. Pros: - Great battery life - I am going on 2 days without charging it, streaming via bluetooth about 8 hours per day mix of from phone and an echo dot, and still going. I want to see how long it will really go. Impressive! - Fairly full sound if you have it near a wall or corner. Cons: - Out in the open it looses some of the sound quality. Like most of these small speakers it needs something to bounce the sound off of. - It has a push button on/off. When I travel I am afraid it will get pressed in and will turn on and I will end up with a dead speaker upon arrival at the destination. This has not happened yet with 3 trips. The Jambox had a slide on/off. Unknown: - It has a mic so I think I could use this for phone calls when paired with my phone but I have not tried it. - Can also pair with a second one for stereo sound, also not tried. Well worth the money. UPDATE: I had this outside with me a little farther than the distance I used my Jam speaker at. The Jam speaker at this distance was spotty via Bluetooth. This Sony has better Bluetooth range by far. Read more

This speaker sounds good. It isn't going to blow you away if you're looking for studio quality sound, but if you are, why are you looking at a bluetooth speaker that is about 2.5" in diameter and 3.5" tall. Let's be honest, this is meant to be a bluetooth speaker that you can bring with you easily, sound quite decent, and play music/audio for a small room. I use it in place of the tiny laptop speakers, and for that it excels at. I keep the volume typically 50% which sitting on my desk offers enough to hear the highs and lows well. My go-to test is Bohemian Rhapsody, and this plays it well, especially compared to a tiny internal laptop speaker. It sounds equally well at 90% but is barely audible at 10% in a room with minimal ambient noise (think refrigerator, window open, etc). It won't fill a room with sound, or play over a bunch of talking individuals. Battery life is typically two full work days, ~8ish plus hours. Pairs easily. Apparently can have stereo sound, but I didn't purchase two. Looks easy to set those up as well. I wouldn't pay MSRP for it, but on sale, I think it is worth it. JBL flip sounds better, is louder, but is bigger and more expensive. I can easily toss this in a small bag and take to the beach without bothering those nearby. Would I buy it again? Yes, it sounds well for its intended purpose, but be realistic with your expectations for such a small speaker. Read more

This is a nice little speaker with crystal clear audio, the extra bass sounds pretty good. it's not so much that it interferes with the sound quality allowing you to hear the lyrics clearly. I wasn't sure because of how small the speaker is but when I received it I was really impressed with the build and sound quality. The best thing is the features like syncing multiple together and using them as a speaker phone for conference calls or just using them as a mini surround sound for the office desk! The only thing I don't like about the speaker is it uses mini usb to charge the device instead of type C but that's not that big a deal I guess. Overall it's a great product and I'm very happy with the two I purchased. Read more

Awesome little speaker. Great bass. I have 2 so now I can link them. Read more