SONY XB-23

amazon SONY XB-23 reviews

Perhaps among the 2020 eXtra bass speakers, I feel the most interesting is the XB-23. All other product lines have significant upgrades, but the XB-23 series miraculously ‘changes shape’; instead of following the same horizontal speaker design as before, it has become a pillar-shaped speaker.

Is this speaker still worth buying, worthy of being the highest p/p product among the eXtra Bass speakers like other XB-2x predecessors? We will find out in today’s post,

Like the speaker, the box of the XB-23 is made in a vertical shape like this.

The kit is also simple, and like every year, nothing has changed: the user manual and the USB Type-C charging cord.

This speaker, as mentioned, has a vertical cylinder instead of a horizontal one. The edges are also completely round, not rough, so it is easy to put in the side compartment of any backpack. Therefore, although this speaker is not small, it still retains high mobility, quite interesting.

The whole speaker body is still covered with braided fabric, it doesn’t look durable, but it is incredibly durable when equipped with IP67 dust and water resistance. IP67 means that the speaker can resist even fine dust or be submerged in water for 30 minutes, ‘flashing’ regardless of weather and terrain!

This speaker is also equipped with a small padlock, something we have seen in small speakers like the XB12 or XB01. The supplied wire looks quite high quality, made in the same color as the speaker (which we have is black – gray).

Right below that are the control buttons placed vertically. This speaker still retains the ability to pair to play stereo or play music in a chain, and we have two separate buttons to control these features. You can buy 2, one for yourself and one for a friend, for example, and then when two people go out, have a picnic together, pair the speakers together to create a higher quality system.

Some other parameters of the XB-23 include 12 hours of use (not outstanding but also in good form today), Bluetooth 5.0 standard to reduce latency to the maximum to help watch movies and play games without delay being annoyed by the ‘image before the sound.’ We lose the LED strip around the speaker body, something that previously the Sony XB-2x series had; now, we need to upgrade to XB-33 or XB-43 to get it.

Surely you will wonder, when switching the speaker shape from horizontal to vertical, will it affect the sound quality or not. Like previous XB-2x generations, the Sony XB-23 is equipped with two dome-shaped (non-circular) diaphragms, not 1; this time, the company also named the diaphragm quite monumental “X-Balanced Speaker Unit” “Also, it’s pretty cool. In addition, we have two passive diaphragms to support; when playing music, we can see them vibrating at the top and bottom of the speaker.

But no matter how you change the name, you can easily guess the sound quality of this speaker when the word ‘eXtra Bass’ is already in its name. That’s right; it’s not surprising that the XB-23 has a slightly dark sound, more in favor of the bass range to serve vibrant music, Pop music, and Dance ‘flicker’. The bass of this speaker is indeed very good, not lacking even to place it in open spaces.

Even once using the speaker in the bathroom, the bass of this speaker is so resonant that it sounds like a big-capacity speaker, so we are not afraid of missing this range. Listening to songs like Close to the sun by The Fat Rat is really ‘earned’; the bass is always thick from sub-bass to mid-bass.

The singer’s voice, when standing next to such a powerful bass, is also slightly affected. The low-mid part is bold, masculine vocals like Johnny Cash in the song Hurt emerge strong, full of strength. The high-mid segment, as well as the treble, will be the segment where the Sony XB-23 in particular and the Sony eXtra Bass speakers, in general, are somewhat ‘weak’ compared to the XBoom GO speakers from LG.

LG tunes the sound quality in a bright direction, bringing these sounds closer to the user. If you win one, you lose the other; LG’s speakers can’t have the ‘legendary’ bass of the Sony eXtra Bassline; each company has a different musical taste, so it’s hard to say who better, who is less, they are simply different.

It is worth mentioning that switching the speaker arrangement from horizontal to vertical will affect the soundstage problem. As you can probably guess when placing the speakers on both sides, each speaker will take care of 1 left and right ‘channel,’ thereby creating a better horizontal soundstage effect, and this is the point that the XB-23 has not done be perfect.

The speaker has a horizontal sound coverage inferior to the previous XB-2x speakers or the more advanced eXtra Bass 2020 products. One way to improve this problem is very simply that you put the speaker across and listen, be careful not to let it roll away, or leave it in dusty places; it will dirty the braided fabric on the speaker’s body!

Simple yet effective

The XB-23 is an interesting eXtra bass speaker when it is placed vertically instead of horizontally and removes a point that has contributed to the name of this speaker line, which is the color-changing LED. I like this speaker because it is designed like a water bottle to be taken anywhere with the bag.

In the next generation, I want the company to continue producing a speaker with this shape; upgrading the addition of LEDs and upgrading the high range will be comprehensive!

where can you get a SONY XB-23 online

Sony SRS-XB23 EXTRA BASS Wireless Portable Speaker IP67 Waterproof BLUETOOTH 12 Hour Battery and Built In Mic for Phone Calls, Light Blue (SRSXB23/L): Buy it now

Sony SRSXB23/G Extra BASS Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Renewed): Buy it now

Sony SRSXB23/B Extra BASS Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Renewed): Buy it now

Sony SRSXB23/L Extra BASS Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Renewed): Buy it now

Sony Extra Bass Portable Bluetooth Speaker Black- SRS-XB23/B (Renewed): Buy it now