Sony SRS-XB13 Wireless Portable Compact Bluetooth Speaker, 2021 Model, Black

Got this because I needed a new small portable Bluetooth speaker I can easily fit in my bags for trips to the park or staying over in hotels etc. This definitely ticks the portability box nicely. Aside from this I also have a Sony SRS-XB10 and a HomePod Mini around the house. The HomePod Mini is similarly small but not designed for portability (no battery) and of course only works with Apple products. But I’ll use both as comparisons for sound quality as they’re both small wireless speakers, keeping in mind the other Sony cost around the same as this one being a previous version of the same model, while the HomePod Mini costs £100. Photographed in this review are both the black XB13 and the white XB10 for a visual comparison. The main change you’re likely to notice is the strap which is now a more rugged material on the XB13 whereas the XB10 has a thin cord connected to a piece of plastic. The casing of the speaker itself feels more “solid” as well, more substantial. It’s not so thick that it’s heavy - not at all - but it still feels better suited to brave the elements. So if you plan to travel outdoors with one of these, the XB13 is certainly an improvement over the XB10. The XB13 cost me just a little over than £40 here on Amazon brand new. The sound, and in particular the bass response, is noticeably better than the XB10 although definitely sounds more “muddled” than the HomePod Mini and can be described as “tinny” at higher volumes. This is to be expected however as not only are both much cheaper, but the XB13 is limited to SBC or AAC codec only. No others are supported. It would have been nice for Sony to add support for their own LDAC codec which would allow much better support for lossless music and I doubt the hardware would need much if any change to add this support as it’s a simple receiver. I’m guessing they reasoned it wasn’t worth adding for a low budget speaker. Still it’d have been nice to have with all the streaming services releasing lossless options and all modern Android phones having LDAC support built in. Connectivity - the XB13 has no AUX support, so it’s Bluetooth via AAC only. Ditto for the HomePod although it uses WiFi rather than Bluetooth and will soon have lossless support. The XB10 does have AUX input as well as Bluetooth. However the XB13 and HomePod Mini both use modern USB-C for power while the old XB10 uses micro USB. With USB-C rapidly becoming the latest universal standard used by everything from Android phones, iPads, laptops, and indeed Sony’s own latest Bluetooth headphones, this is a welcome addition. It means if you’re travelling with an Android phone, iPad, laptop, or other device that uses USB-C you can use the same charger for this speaker too. Fewer cables to lug around is always welcome and most other low budget Bluetooth speakers and accessories of all types are still using outdated micro USB so Sony did good here. Battery life seems good for the XB13. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to show a battery life indicator on the unit itself or on my phone like my Sony headphones do. Neither does the XB10. Seems like a strange omission given how easy it is to transmit battery level via Bluetooth to the paired device. But at a guess I’d suggest it does roughly live up to claimed 16 hours of battery life depending on how loud you push it. For an experiment I tried playing Dolby Atmos music from my iPhone. As you’d probably expect it didn’t sound like spatial audio. It still played fine but didn’t produce the effect it does on Atmos supported devices like the HomePod Mini. I can’t really give the XB13 a ding for this as it doesn’t claim to have such support to begin with. I also connected it to an Android phone and a Sony Walkman A45. Pairing was easy, fast, and flawless with no lag or disconnection. I would have liked to use the LDAC support on my A45 when connected to this speaker but that’s the only small complaint I have. Overall impressions: this is a great little speaker that does the job well. I’d like to see support for LDAC added to a future model as it’s Sony’s own codec and it’s very good at playing lossless audio via Bluetooth. Other than that I don’t have much to really complain about. Initial pairing is fast and easy. Bluetooth connection is reliable. Sound quality is much better than you’d likely expect from a small low budget bluetooth speaker such as this. If portability is a top priority this is your go to. If you plan to keep it in one place, perhaps look at the HomePod Mini if you use Apple gear. If you don’t mind lugging around a big speaker, larger higher end models can offer louder, high quality sound with better codec support. But if you want exactly what this is - a cheap small speaker you can throw in your bag and play music anywhere - it’s the best in its class.

This is a great speaker. The sound quality is superb and clear. The volume does to a decent level and you can clearly hear throughout a room. It is easy to set up, charge and connect phones to. I think it is great value for money and would highly recommend. I take this away on holiday or weekends away and it’s brilliant. It’s very small so easily fits into luggage

I find earbuds/phones physically irritating and wanted some quality tones from my shonky old netbook. I ordered a single unit, same day delivery. I`m old school and like a better than average sound from my systems but this was mostly for the bedroom(at first). Simple BT connection in under a minute I was ready to try. I watch a lot of music videos and streamed movies but laptop speakers are mostly awful so I was delighted at beautiful round bass tones and a crisp top end. So delighted I hit `purchase again` and ordered a second one within minutes. There`s decent stereo separation between channels but these speakers will expose poor quality low fidelity sources on sites like Youtube. I fix this with a free audio equaliser app from the Playstore. Test them out on `audiophile` or Hi Fi streams, Movie audio from streamed sources also sounds excellent. Buy one(or a pair) Great sound for the money. A quick edit. There is a noticable difference in audio quality depending on how old your device is ( to do with coding on older bluetooth devices). I paired them with a newer device and got even more bang for my buck.

I ordered this speaker as a cheap fix for the intermittent malfunction of the speakers in my car. The speaker arrived less than 16 hours after placing my order. It had some charge in it upon opening the box, so I was able to test it out immediately. It easily paired with my iphone, and played from my music streaming service upon launching the app. I was really impressed with the sound quality (caveat...I am easily pleased!!) - it definitely exceeded my expectations. The volume controls are excellent - allowing a very low volume to be achieved (great if you want to use it to help sleep); but also loud enough to be able to hear the music and satnav over the noise of the car engine. I haven't tried to use it for phone calls yet, so I cannot comment on how good the microphone is; and I also don't intend to use it in the shower. I ordered the blue speaker, which is a good mid-blue colour (lighter than navy blue, but still pretty dark). The strap is more of a denim blue colour. The speaker is a bit shorter than a standard fizzy drinks can, but roughly the same width - it just about fits in the drinks holder in my car, although with the strap, I can hang it from the handle on the drivers door, with the speaker sitting in/on the pocket in the door. Clearly, if you want amazing sound, or to be able to play music really loud, then this is not for you; but for approx £40, reasonable quality and very portable, I don't see much to complain about so far.

Dit is nu de 2de speaker van Sony gekocht voor de zoon. Heel goede kwaliteit, ook de muziek klinkt heel mooi, robuust en waterdicht wat belangrijk is (wordt hier veel gebruikt in badkamer en buiten soms ook) Heel tevreden van.

I have a few Sony speakers and again I was not let down! I really enjoy this speaker it goes in my shower it is small enough to go in my bag to go to work and yet as loud enough to have some fun! Love it!

Perfect for a bit of music wherever you go. Small. Portable. Battery is long lasting and the sound defies its compact size. Sounds more bassy than you expect from a small package. It’s never going to light up a party, but then you knew that before buying this. Great for a bit of ambience. Surprisingly loud for its size with good balance.

نقاء صوت تحفة و بيز حلو اوى. صوت ٣٦٠ بس للاسف صوتها واطى

📝 DESCRIPCIÓN Altavoz inalámbrico portátil con bluetooth y autonomía de 5h En Amazon tienes otra versión muy similar: https://amzn.to/3TpGddR 🧾 ESPECIFICACIONES * Medidas: 76 mm de diámetro x 95 mm de altura * Tamaño del altavoz: 46 mm * Protección IP: IP67 (sumergible en agua 💦 durante 30 minutos a una profundidad máxima de 1 m) * Conectividad: USB-C * Autonomía: Hasta 16 h * Tiempo de carga: ~4h * Bluetooth 4.2 (alcance máximo 10 m) * Función manos libres: Sí * Puerto USB-C de alimentación * Peso: ~253 g 💶 PRECIO 1 de Septiembre de 2023: 34,99 € 📦 CONTENIDO 1 - Altavoz 1 - Manual de usuario 1 - Cable USB-C 🟢 PROS * Buen sonido, nítido y limpio * Bonito diseño * Resistente al agua 💦 * Buena duración de batería * Diseño resistente y con protección IPX7 * Fácil emparejamiento * Tiene función de manos libres 🔴 CONTRAS: * No incluye ranura de tarjetas microSD * Tiempo de carga 4 horas * No tiene salida de audio Jack 3.5mm. Para ello necesitarás un adaptador de USB a Jack. * Viene con bluetooth 4.2 9️⃣ VALORACIÓN Este altavoz Sony SRS-XB13 es uno de los mejores altavoces portátiles compactos que puedes encontrar en Amazon, en su relación calidad/precio. La calidad de audio es buena, pese a ser un altavoz compacto tiene una buena potencia de sonido, un sonido limpio y nítido. A pesar de ser unos altavoces compactos, ofrecen un sonido nítido y limpio, con un enfoque especial en los graves con buena potencia. Este altavoz es capaz de conseguir una buena difusión del sonido con efecto Surround gracias a su tecnología Extra Bass que potencia los graves, lo que lo hace ideal para diferente estancias en interior y exterior. Gracias a su diseño compacto compacto, son cómodos a la hora de llevar contigo. Es un altavoz resistente a impactos y a la lluvia, que lo hace ideal para viajar o actividades al aire libre y poder llevar la música siempre contigo. Es sumergible hasta 1 m de profundidad durante 30 minutos. El altavoz de JBL está protegido con una rejilla metálica de gran resistencia ante la presión y que cubre todo su cuerpo. Así se mantienen los altavoces debidamente protegidos con el agarre firme de nuestra mano o en el caso de algún impacto. Además, el acabado de trenzado de hilo sintético repele el agua. Viene con la superficie de apoyo con una goma anti deslizante para apoyarlo sobre cualquier superficie. En la parte superior de altavoz cuenta con los siguientes botones: * Encendido * Play * Vinculación Bluetooth * Control del volumen (+ -) Este altavoz cuenta con un micrófono incorporado te permite disfrutar de llamadas con manos libres directamente desde el altavoz. En la parte de atrás encontramos una tapa con un puerto USB-C para carga y una correa ancha y resistente para poder colgarlo. 🕹 CONTROLES Pulsando el botón de play una vez pausaremos la reproducción; y si lo pulsamos dos veces podremos saltar a la siguiente canción. ✅ CONCLUSIÓN Un altavoz con una buena relación calidad/precio. De los mejores en este rango de precios. 👍 RECOMENDABLE ✳️ Espero que mi comentario ✍️ te haya podido servir de ayuda 😃