I’ve had the pleasure of using quite a few Bluetooth speakers over the years, with some of my recent favorites being the Marshall Kilburn II and Tribit StormBox Micro. So when JBL offered to let me review its new PartyBox 320, I was interested, but not necessarily ecstatic. That started to change once I began digging into the specifications and realized just how monstrous and powerful this speaker could wind up being. My suspicions were confirmed when this 36-pound monster arrived in the mail.
While unboxing the JBL PartyBox Stage 320, I couldn’t help but smile. Looking back, I think it’s because I knew that the size and heft meant that this thing was going to pack a punch. Seeing the actual speaker helped seal the deal too, with loads of easy-to-access controls, plenty of inputs around back, and wheels along the base paired with a handle up top that make it easier to roll it from one place to another. I couldn’t wait to start trying it out, so keep on reading to hear about my experience unboxing, pairing, and using this powerful speaker.
Unboxing the JBL PartyBox Stage 320
Unsurprisingly, unboxing any device of this size is going to be a bit difficult. Thankfully it didn’t take long to get the speaker and its charging cable out of the box. I was pleased to see that it relies on a C7 non-polarized cable for charging, which is commonly used for TVs and the like. I have several of extras in my cord collection, so folks won’t have to worry about misplacing the cable and needing to buy something proprietary down the road.
JBL kept extras to a minimum, with the speaker and cable being the only thing really in there to unbox outside of the typical quick-start guide, safety instructions, and warranty card. The speaker itself was wrapped in a protective sleeve with Styrofoam in the middle and outside edges of the speaker. Overall it was well-packaged and a tight fit, so there’s really no concern of the speaker taking damage during shipment. This was certainly the case with my unit, with everything looking spotless upon getting it unwrapped and out of the box.
Features at a glance:
- Powerful JBL Pro Sound: Two 6.5″ woofers that deliver clean, precise, deep bass even at top volume and a pair of 25mm dome tweeters that produce crystal clear highs. Loud enough to fill a space the size of a tennis court with music.
- Futuristic lightshow: Take all that sound and add a thrilling lightshow featuring starry lights, cool light trails, and strobe light effects—all synced to your beat.
- Up to 18 hours of play time: Party from dusk till dawn with up to 18 hours on a single charge. Not enough? Swap out the replaceable battery* and keep on dancing. 10 min fast charge gets you an extra 2 hours of playtime.
Size, weight, and other specifications
The speaker stands 26.3 inches tall, 13.3 inches wide, and 15.2 inches tall. As mentioned earlier, it weighs in at 36 pounds, well, 36.38 pounds to be exact. In terms of power output, you’re looking at 240W, which blows away the 36W Marshall Kilburn II and 9W Tribit StormBox Micro that I usually turn to. JBL touts an 18-hour battery life thanks to its 9,444mAh capacity, but what’s neat here is that the battery is user replaceable. This ensures you can swap the battery when it wears out, or just because you ran out of juice and want to keep the tunes going by using a backup that can be purchased for $100.
In terms of connectivity, the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 is no slouch. It’s outfitted with Bluetooth 5.4, multi-point for quickly switching between wireless inputs, and Auracast for easily creating a wireless stereo pair. There’s also plenty of ports for wired connections. This means you can hook up a guitar, a couple of microphones, daisy-chain multiple speakers, connect an audio source using 3.5mm/AUX, and even charge it thanks to an integrated USB-A port that supports 10W charging speeds.
Pairing and using the JBL PartyBox app
Once I had the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 out of the box, I pressed to power button up top and went to the Bluetooth settings on my smartphone. It instantly showed up there, I tapped it, and was playing music in a matter of seconds. While there are dedicated buttons and dials up top that let you tweak some settings on the fly, the JBL PartyBox app allows you to customize how they all function and is definitely worth downloading.
I used the app to adjust the party buttons, disable a couple of the default light shows, and test out various equalizer settings. Everything worked as expected, there were even more features in there that will let you tweak microphone effects, mess around in the Effect Lab, and even create your own sound using a custom equalizer.
Performance
First things first: I’m not a loud person, I live in the city, and have a small yard. I set all these things aside as much as possible to really put the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 through its paces, and I have loved every minute of it. One specific time that comes to mind is when I power washed the patio and pergola in our yard. I knew that it had an IPX4 water-resistance rating, so I had no concerns about the mist that would hit the speaker as I worked, so I turned it up and had a blast while doing my yard work.
The speaker had no problem overpowering the sound created by my power washer, which is something that the smaller speakers I have would not have been able to do. Best of all, I only had to turn it up a little over half of the way. More importantly, I was able to feel the music thanks to the immense amount of bass this thing puts out. I found the default setting to be more than sufficient, but there’s a dedicated Bass Boost button on top of the speaker and in the JBL PartyBox app you can tweak it to be either “deep” or “punchy.” I can only imagine the power using Auracast to create a stereo pair or even daisy-chaining even more speakers using 3.5mm/AUX.
Pricing and availability
The JBL PartyBox Stage 320 Speaker launched a few months back and has a list price of $599.95. However, it just so happens that the price fell a couple days back and it is now on sale for $549.95 at Amazon. There’s no doubt that is a big price tag, but there’s also no concern that this is a speaker that will be with you for years to come. It also is packed with so many features that most folks will need time to grow into using them. That arguably makes it more future-proof when compared with a wide variety of other tech products out there.
Buy the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 Speaker
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