For many years, Sony has enjoyed a strong grip on the audio products market with its headphones, music systems, and soundbars that give your home movie watching an altogether different experience. Growing up in the eighties, I remember that a Sony deck music system or Walkman were prized possessions in any household; devices that stood out for their top-notch sound quality and advanced features.
Innovation is key to sustaining success and Sony is acutely aware that it needs to innovate and update its products to stay ahead of the competition. Its new wireless party speaker, SRS
The SRS-XV800 has an extremely portable design and comes with built-in wheels and handle for convenient use. Being omni-directional, it carries powerful sound to every corner of the room. The design of the X-Balanced Speaker Units produces deep, powerful bass and vocal clarity, even when you turn up the volume.
Five tweeters in the front and rear of the speaker deliver clear high-frequency sound all around.
Here’s my take:
This Sony system provides a powerful, spacious sound whether you’re listening indoors or outside, by yourself or with a group of friends.
Moving further, the SRS-XV800 has features such as karaoke, guitar input, intuitive touch panel, IPX4 rating and Bluetooth connectivity. It comes with a massive battery life of 25 hours and just 10 minutes of quick charge provides three hours of playtime. As soon as you switch on the system, the Bluetooth Fast Pair feature detects and connects to your mobile phone in no time.
There’s more. This wireless speaker offers indirect illumination which produces ambient light. Essentially this means that whenever you are playing music through the speaker, the lights will automatically sync to the beat and rhythm of the music, creating a captivating display of colours.
The SRS-XV800 is easy to plug into your TV for an improved sound. Its two rear tweeters and X-Balanced speaker units boost your watching experience by enhancing the deep bass and realistic high-frequencies. Basically what happens is that the sound waves bounce off the walls to surround you with sound. Additionally, the TV Sound Booster function lets you enjoy the enhanced sound of audio-visual contents, such as live performance videos and movies, and ensures an immersive experience.
Let me list some of the things I liked about this speaker. Design-wise, it is extremely portable yet feels sturdy and apt for outside parties. It’s IPX4 rated so it can handle light water splashes. The controls on the top of the unit are easy to use, offering quick access to change inputs and adjust the volume and bass levels. There’s also a USB port on the back to charge your phone, in case the need arises.
I primarily used the Bluetooth connectivity to stream music wirelessly and I was pretty satisfied, no matter what I was listening to – English or Hindi movie songs, compositions from the Greek composer Yaani or AR Rahman, etc. I reckon this Sony creation serves its primary purpose as a portable speaker quite admirably, hence it finds a strong mention.
SPECIFICATIONS
Speaker type: 2-way, bass reflex
Water protection: IPX4
Number of speaker: Tweeter unit 3, Woofer unit 2, rear Tweeter unit 2
Bluetooth version 5.2
Compatible apps: Sony/Music Centre/Fiestable
Battery life 25 hours (approx.)
Estimated street price: `49,990 (best buy)
What’s hot: Great sound, portability, multiple input options
What’s not: Somewhat big in size
