Customer Ratings & Reviews

There was excitement in the air when our new Insignia™ Wireless Party Speaker with LED lighting & Auracast™ Broadcasting Model # NS-PSL320 arrived. My husband was like a little kid on Christmas as I opened the plain cardboard box to reveal the speaker’s colorful packaging. He couldn’t wait to open the box and get the speaker out. Out of the box, we were surprised to see how tall the Party Speaker was out of the package at about 2 feet high with the handle down an a little over 3 feet high with the handle extended, but the width is about one foot and the depth is a little over a foot making the speaker a very reasonably compact package. Upon inspection, we were struck by how thoughtfully designed and well-built the Party Speaker was with its two impressive 5.25” woofers and two 2” Tweeters in the front behind a handsome black, curved-cornered protective screen. This Party Speaker has built-in roller wheels and a sturdy telescoping suitcase-like handle, clearly laid-out controls on top, a recessed area to securely place your cell phone on top, and in the back, there is an IPX4 specification water-resistant sealed compartment containing ports, switches and volume controls for the 3.5mm Line-In jack, ¼” Microphone jack, ¼” Guitar jack and USB-C drive inputs. We quickly checked the provided Insignia Party Speaker Quick Setup Guide and followed the directions to plug in the provided AC power cord into a standard US 120V power outlet to charge the speaker’s internal rechargeable LiON batteries. Depending on usage of the speaker, these batteries are rated to provide over 12 hours of usage. As of now, after more than a week’s usage, (we have been using the unit for hours per day) and we have not run out of battery power. After fully charging the Party Speaker, we followed the Quick Setup Guide to turn the unit on and Bluetooth pair both my husband’s and my phones to the speaker. It was a quick and simple process and worked well. Then the music and lights began. My husband chose his favorite playlist off his phone’s application and we proceeded to have fun and dance around for over an hour with the Party Speaker’s LEDs dynamically changing color and pulsing to the music as it played. Such fun! And the sound was great – rich and full with good bass! We were both impressed by how good the speaker sounded, even though we could not turn the volume up high. We live in a townhouse and it is not considerate to blast music without inviting the neighbors over, so we keep the volume down. It doesn’t matter with this speaker, since the sound is great even at lower volume. I was eager to utilize the microphone and guitar jacks built into this unit. We don’t play, but our best friends’ daughter plays guitar and sings and we invited her and her parents to come over and bring her electric guitar and microphone. She has her own professional amp setup and I invited her to test out this Party Speaker and compare. The day she came over, we quickly got her setup and plugged into the Party Speaker’s guitar and microphone inputs and easily adjusted their volume levels. Wow! She really got to show us her incredible talent. And the Party Speaker got to show us how well it can handle singing and guitar playing, which was extremely well from the audience point of view. We all enjoyed the consistently smooth but full-toned sound from this impressive modestly-priced speaker as she played and sang beautifully. Her opinion on the Party Speaker was that the Insignia really made a great party speaker, but didn’t come up to the level of her professional amp. But the Insignia Party Speaker wasn’t designed for that purpose. For what it was designed, we feel it meets and exceeds its purpose. It sounds great, has multiple uses, multiple inputs and outputs, and brings fun color and life to the party. And with its great battery life, let the music play on and on and on…

If you spend time outside and wish you had music without putting on headphones/earbuds, a Bluetooth speaker might be what you're looking for. My only other experience with a larger speaker was a friend’s JBL PartyBox 110, which they connected to a projector for a backyard movie night. It was infinitely better than pushing sound through tiny projector speakers outdoors. However, I’m not looking to host huge yard parties or blast thumping music that disturbs the neighbors. I just wanted clear audio for music and podcasts while doing yard work or grilling on the deck. The Insignia NS-PSL320 seems to be a great fit for my needs, offering a generous set of basic features: Battery & Power: The rechargeable battery claims 12 hours of life, which is plenty for my use case. Output would likely be decreased with a greater load that is put on the speaker. I don't plan on running it all day, but it’s great to know it can also stay plugged in via an extension cord. Versatile Inputs: I took the speaker to an outdoor drive-in theater, we setup tailgate-style, and played movie audio from a portable radio using the 3.5mm jack. It was clear enough for our group to hear without cranking the volume high enough to disturb nearby cars, and it handled the movie on battery power effortlessly. It also includes USB-C inputs and two 1/4" jacks for microphones or a guitar. Portability & Build: The telescoping trolley handle and wheels make it easy to roll around without having to lug it by hand. It also has IPX4 water resistance, so it won't be affected by light rain or splashes. Don't have to heave it up to carry it away, it can quickly be wheeled away like rolling luggage to it out of the rain before getting soaked. Expansion Options: Auracast allows for two-speaker stereo pairing and multi-device connection. Switching devices over Bluetooth is seamless—once paired, the speaker automatically switches audio based on whichever device starts playing. As far as sound goes, the bass is more than sufficient for casual listening and far better than smaller, cylinder-style Bluetooth speakers. While you shouldn't expect chest-thumping bass outdoors, I doubt I would want to or need to push it to maximum volume anyway. Overall, the Insignia Wireless Party Speaker hits the sweet spot for room filling or outdoor audio. It delivers clear sound, convenient portability, and simple connectivity features that handle all my backyard and tailgate needs while knowing I didn't drop several hundred dollars on it.

At first glance, the hulking and colorful Insignia Party Speaker comes across as a pretty amazing deal. It looks much the same, and has similar features, as a competing speaker made by one of the big name electronics companies. But costs less than half as much. Such a deal.... Ah, but what's the old saying? You can't always judge a book by its cover. When it comes to sound quality, it's what's inside that counts. And on that front, this Insignia Party speaker falls a bit short of the competition. That's because it not only lacks the punch and clarity of more costly party speakers, it does not get as loud. This is not to say this party speaker is bad. It actually delivers pretty good sound for this price, especially when it comes to pumping out strong, solid bass (the bass boost button adds even more). But you have to crank up the volume about three-quarters of the way or more -- using a big retro rotary dial on top -- to get the kind of extra-loud party volume many probably expect from a speaker like this. And at those levels, the sound gets a little unbalanced. Bass dominates to the expense of everything else (as you would expect from a party speaker). But midranges fade into the background and highs get a little harsh and distorted. That's why this speaker probably is more suited to a living room or bedroom than a big open pool deck or the beach. While it may suffer a few shortcomings in the sound department, this party speaker proves to be very versatile in terms of music inputs. In addition to the always popular Bluetooth option, you can also get music from tunes stored on a USB-C flash drive or via a device that supports a 3.5mm auxiliary cable. (Sound quality improves a bit with these direct connections) If that is not enough, there are two phono plug inputs for microphones (if you need this to be a mini PA system). And one of those has an adjustment option so it can be used for an electric guitar. (The sound quality and volume on that front is not great for that but it does work.). A button top is used to change inputs, which are announced via the built in voice function as you cycle through them. One problem here is those buttons and dials on top are the ONLY way to control what the speaker is doing. There is no app, which means there is no way to remotely control the songs being played or the volume. (Unless you are using Bluetooth or other device that allows it). With flash drive, the only option is to play the songs in alphabetical order (of the song or artist, depending on the songs are saved). Buttons on top allow you to skip back and forth, but that's it. No random shuffle option. Lights also cannot be controlled except by a single button on top, which just cycles through the various options. Like most of these big portable party speakers, Insignia's model runs off a rechargeable battery that is rated for up to 12 hours of use. (Expect less running with lights at high volume) A direct AC connection cord (included) is required to recharge the battery. Unfortunately there is no way to tell how much charge remains at any given time since there is no power gauge and, as mentioned before, no app to provide that info. So it is probably best just to keep it plugged in until you need to run it on battery power. Because this speaker is pretty large and a bit heavy, you will be pleased to find that Insignia designed it to be moved easily and quietly, like a piece luggage. Soft wheels and retractable handle on the back make rolling it around pretty effortless, as long as you are not trying to drag it across a beach sand or a bumpy lawn. If you do have to lift it to carry or reposition it, there is a big hand grip built in to make the job easier. One big plus with the Insignia Party Speaker -- where it beats the competition hands down -- is the light show. When you turn it on, the entire front of the speaker explodes into color. Stepped, curved, linear lights frame all four corners, and the big rings around the two woofers illuminate. These LED lights, along with two small, bright white flashing strobes, begin to dance when the music starts and remain in near constant movement, even after the music ends. You can cycle through a remarkable collection of vivid color combinations and animations by simply touching the light button on top. (Or turn off the lights if you would rather just concentrate on the music.) I wish there was a way to just turn off the strobes, which I find annoying. But it's all or nothing with this light show. All light options include the strobes. Unlike some of its competitors, this party speaker is not waterproof but it is advertised as "water resistant." That means its OK if it gets splashed a little by the pool, or has to deal with a little rain, but you don't want to throw it into the pool. All said, this is not a bad party speaker for the money. The sound quality is pretty good for a small party environment, the light show is mesmerizing and there are enough audio inputs to provide the audio flexibility you might need for your next social gathering. And given the relatively low price, if you really need to add volume or improve the sound profile, you can do so by just buying two of them. They are designed to work together and can deliver music in full stereo using Insignia's TWS mode. Two of these should cost less than one large party speaker from the big name-brand competition.

The Insignia Wireless Party Speaker is a rechargeable portable bluettooth speaker. The speaker is about as tall as an airline carry on bag and 2/3 as wide. It has wheels and a telescoping handle. There are a pair of main speakers that appear to be about 5 inches (could be about 7 inches, it's hard to tell with the surrounding lights) and a pair of small tweeters. The speaker has bluetooth connectivity which includes Auracast and the ability hook up to an identical speaker (TWS). On the back side there is a 1/4" microphone connection, another 1/4 inch connection with a switch to switch between connecting a guitar and a microphone. The second 1/4" port also has a gain control knob. The back also has a 3.5 mm input, power connection and a USB C port that allows playing music from a USB C thumb drive. When bluetoothed to my phone, the speaker has a nice balanced full sound. There is a Bass Boost button that adds bass and is a nice addition at low to average volumes. At high volume the bass boost isn't really needed and can make the sound a bit muddy. At high volumes there can also be a bit of distortion. Overall, the speaker has a nice full balanced sound at all of the volume levels that I would normally use. I only mention the high volumes because the kid in me always wants to see just how far it will go. My wife and I both love the way this speaker sounds. We have played it for around 8 hours on a charge with plenty of the claimed 12 hour battery life left. My only negative for this speaker is about the party lights. While both of us enjoy the color changing, beating to the music colored LED lights, the pair of flashing small bright lights are bothersome to my wife who suffers from occasional migraine headaches. Bright flashing and strobing lights are a well known migraine trigger so I can't use this feature around her.