![]() ![]() Should You Buy One? The Sony XE300 is pretty big Cory Gunther / Review Geek I’m just glad more speakers are finally coming with USB-C charging. Thanks to USB-C quick charging, you’ll get 70-minutes of playback after 10 minutes on the charger, which is great for last-minute adventures. Still, that’s better than many others at this price point. ![]() If you blast it around 75% volume, crank up the EQ, and add more bass with the Sony Music Center app, don’t expect it to last over 20 hours. Of course, battery life will vary depending on listening levels, and I used it for several hours three days in a row during a long weekend and still had 46% battery remaining. Speaking of battery life, Sony promises up to 24 hours from a single charge. This will reduce the bass and extend battery life. I didn’t read the manual, naturally, but by accident, I found a “stamina mode” if you press and hold the battery level button. Then, you can customize everything in the app, tone down the treble, adjust EQ levels, or enable the ClearAudio+ feature that adjusts the output to its surroundings. The XE300 delivers excellent bass for the size, solid mids, and highs, and it has a pretty balanced sound profile out of the box. That said, as long as you’re not standing behind it, you’ll still enjoy the sound experience. Honestly, it sounds a bit flat, without much soundstage, unless you’re standing right in front of the speaker. For me, the speaker has a pretty narrow sound, and you can hear a big difference in sound quality as you walk past the speaker. The unique non-cylindrical design and small speaker grills are by choice, but I’m not sure I’m sold on that. “Inspired by the audio systems used at professional concerts, Sony’s unique Line-Shape Diffuser creates line source and distributes the sound energy evenly, across a wide sound front, to better fill your space with audio.” Sony explains the balanced speakers and its “Line-Shape Diffuser” technology this way: ![]() And while the bass doesn’t boom or shake a table, it’s a good solid bass level. The Sony SRS-XE300 packs two non-circular “X-Balanced” speakers and dual passive radiators for less distortion and more sound pressure, which delivers plenty of bass and high-quality sound. So, how does it sound? Well, it sounds pretty good, but it could certainly be better. Perhaps the most important aspect of any speaker is the audio quality. How Does it Sound? Cory Gunther / Review Geek It’ll take up a lot of room in your backpack or beach bag, that’s for sure. Sony says the pentagon design makes it easy to “grab and go,” but it’s roughly twice the size and heavier than many cylinder Bluetooth portable speakers I’ve used over the years. However, Sony says it doesn’t need a big grill thanks to its “Line-Shape Diffuser” technology that claims to deliver a wide listening area down the entire length of the speaker front and a full 180 degrees, but more on that in a minute. I also wish the design had more fabric for sound output rather than almost the entire device covered in rubber. However, it’s designed as a stand-up speaker. At first, I wasn’t sure if I should stand it up or lay it horizontally for listening. The shape makes it pretty hard to hold with one hand compared to most speakers in this size and price range. While I love this thing’s durability, the pentagon shape is a bit odd. ![]()
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