Yes, Bluetooth speakers with multi-color LED effects can be downright annoying. You have to admit, though, having one in your stash is really helpful for those times you’re throwing a party and need some lighting effects to help build that party atmosphere. If you’re looking for one, Sony is set to release their newest “mini-party speaker” in the form of the Sony SRS-XB41.
Yes, we hate model names that just sound like random letters and numbers strung together, too. In this case, though, XB stands for Extra Bass, which is the outfit’s line of portable Bluetooth speakers. We have no idea what the 41 stands for, but maybe you can just call it the extra bass speakers and be done with it. As in, “We’re having a party? I’m bringing the extra bass!”
The Sony SRS-XB41 is a Bluetooth speaker measuring 11.5 x 4.1 x 4.25 inches (width x height x depth), which makes it a bit large to squeeze into your pockets, but portable enough to carry in hand. It even has a built-in grip to help with that, allowing you to carry it from the car to the party with little chance of slipping. Two active 2.28-inch drivers crank out your favorite party tunes, while a passive radiator situated between them helps to deliver that thudding bass sound. According to Sony, the drivers are all carefully tuned to deliver a three-dimensional experience that creates “festival vibes” anywhere you set up.
For the lighting, it comes with multi-color LEDs along the entire edge of the speaker’s front panel, on the two speakers inside, and on each end of the speaker, so this thing will bring a full light show to really perk up a party. All three are designed to sync their light patterns to the beat of the music, with multiple effects available, so you can find the lighting that perfectly captures your mood. When you grip the speaker in your hand, by the way, you can tap it in different places to create random percussion sounds, so you can act like you’re tapping on a hand drum while grooving to the music.
The Sony SRS-XB41 can be wirelessly daisy-chained with up to 99 other speakers, so you can have dozens of these things pumping the exact same tunes to really get the party going while you control the playlist straight from the Sony Music Center app. All the lights and the various DJ effects, by the way, can be controlled only via a separate app (Fiestable), which is kind of annoying, but an extra app to launch doesn’t exactly make things all that difficult.
Since it’s designed for use at parties, the speaker is completely waterproof and dustproof according to IP67 standards,, all while being rustproof, so you can take it to the beach without any worries about saltwater messing with your speaker. It comes with a battery rated at up to 24 hours of operation with the lighting effects off.
Want one? The Sony SRS-XB41 is available now.
- BOOST THE BEAT: Get ready to hear the bass drop with the speaker's Extra Bass enhanced low-end tones