Sony SRS-XB40

The Sony SRS-XB40 is a portable Bluetooth speaker armed with some serious bass response and a built-in LED light show.

MSRP
$249.99

  • Pros

    Intense audio performance with adjustable bass and EQ. Controllable LED lights flash and glow. Water resistant.

  • Cons

    Poor speakerphone functionality. Not for listeners seeking accurate, flat response.

  • Bottom Line

    The Sony SRS-XB40 is a portable Bluetooth speaker armed with some serious bass response and a built-in LED light show.

By Tim Gideon

Turn the Sony SRS-XB40 on, and the speaker cones become suddenly aglow in pale LED light while a band of varying colors dances around the grille. It's a cool trick, but when the glory of these lights finally fade, does this Bluetooth speaker sound good enough to warrant its $249.99 price? It does—if you love intense bass response. The lows here aren't quite on par with a bulky, subwoofer-armed system, but there's plenty of thump, as well as the ability to adjust the overall EQ in the SongPal app. Throw in the fact that it's water resistant, and the SRS-XB40 is a fun, capable speaker that certainly isn't lacking in the bells and whistles department.

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Design

Despite its built-in light show, the SRS-XB40 is rated IPX5 for water resistance against moderate pressure from jets, provided the cap covering the connections panel is closed. Available in matte black, blue, or red plastic, the 4.0-by-11.0-by-4.3-inch (HWD) speaker weighs a hefty 3.3-pounds—it's portable, but it'll weigh down totes and backpacks over time. Behind the grille, dual 2.5-inch drivers deliver the audio with the help of forward- and rear-firing passive radiators to enhance bass response.

The top panel houses a relatively straightforward array of controls. From left to right, these include Extra Bass, Phone Answer/End (which doubles as a battery life indicator), Play/Pause, Add (to create a stereo pair with another SRS-XB40 speaker), Volume Down and Up (these work in conjunction with your mobile device's master volume levels), and a Power/Pairing button. A covered rear connection panel houses the 3.5mm aux input, a pinhole Reset button, the AC adapter connection, and a USB port for charging your mobile devices using the speaker's battery.

Sony SRS-XB40

The speakerphone mic is poor. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, on multiple tries, we could scarcely understand what words were recorded. You're far better off fielding calls on your phone.

The SRS-XB40 connects to two separate apps—Sony SongPal and Fiestable. The SongPal app allows you to pair multiple speakers (up to 10) with the same device (which can also be achieved by pressing the Add button on the speaker itself), as well as adjust the EQ using faders for bass, mids, and treble. The Fiestable app allows you to set the LED band to a custom color, or to put it in Party Flash mode (or turn it off completely). Neither of the apps is essential to using the SRS-XB40, but the EQ in SongPal allows you to fine-tune the audio in a way that can't be controlled on the speaker itself.

Sony estimates battery life to be roughly 24 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels.

Performance

First, a word about the LEDs: They seem to do a reasonable job of syncing to the beat when it's prominent, or at least appearing as if they do, although if the beat is not pronounced, the flashing becomes more erratic. The lights can be pretty intense—dual bright LEDs on either side of the grille trade turns flashing on and off, while the colorful outer band switches hues more or less to the beat, and the drivers themselves illuminate.

As for audio, on tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the SRS-XB40 delivers a solid thump. It's worth noting that the speaker can get exceptionally loud, and while the bass doesn't distort at these high levels, there's definitely some digital signal processing (DSP) in play as the bass response seems to thin out a bit when things get really loud. At loud, but slightly lower, volume levels, the bass sounds more intense. Of course, pressing the Extra Bass button adds on another layer of thick low-end, and while the SRS-XB40 still doesn't distort at high volumes with the bass boosted, it also doesn't quite sound like there's a subwoofer hidden somewhere either. Passive radiators do a solid job of creating a sense of more bass, but it's never going to rival the sound of a powered driver delivering deep frequencies.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass, gives us a better idea of the overall sound signature. With Extra Bass off, the drums on this track sound fairly natural—full, but not exaggerated in the lows—while Callahan's baritone vocals have a pleasant low-mid richness to them. Turning the Extra Bass on gives the vocals and drums far more bass depth. Some listeners will love this, but many other will find it murks up the sound a bit, or at least leans the balance too far in favor of the lows. There's at least a strong high-mid and high frequency presence here, so the percussive hits and guitar strumming have a crisp presence.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack gets plenty of high-mid presence, allowing it to slice through the layers of the mix. Enabling the Extra Bass mode beefs up the drum loop significantly—you get more of the thump and sustain of the beat than the attack, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat get a lot more body. Vocals in both modes retain a crisp, clear presence, but again, the Extra Bass mode tends to make the lows the center of attention.

Conclusions

Booming bass, a flashing LED light show, and a water-resistant design—the Sony SRS-XB40 isn't light on features. Audio performance is strong for the $200 range, but it's not the absolute best we've heard for the price, so some of this speaker's cost is paying for those LEDs.

If you enjoy the light show, you're unlikely to be disappointed by the speaker's audio performance. If you just want to focus on the audio, however, the B&O Play Beoplay A1 and the Bose SoundLink Mini II deliver superior sonic performance. And if you're looking to save $100, the Sony SRS-XB3 and the JBL Charge 3 deliver top-notch sound quality for the price.

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Tim Gideon By Tim Gideon Contributing Editor, Audio

Contributing Editor Tim Gideon has been writing for PCMag since 2006. He specializes in reviewing audio products, and is obsessed with headphones, speakers, and recording gear. More »

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