The Sony XB22 wireless portable Bluetooth speaker is an update to the XB21 speaker. It is a surprisingly powerful unit with very nice sound quality and some great bonus features. Compared to the alternatives available it is one of the best values on the market. This year Sony once again upgraded its line of wireless Bluetooth speakers with a family of three new units: XB12, XB22 and XB32. These have some similar features (Extra Bass, Live Sound mode, water and dust proof case, inter-speaker connectivity, lighting effects) but differ in speaker size, battery life and price. The largest (XB32) is 9.4 inches long, weighs 2 pounds and has two 48 mm speakers. The midsize (XB22) is 8 inches long, weighs 1.2 pounds and has two 42 mm speakers. The smallest (XB12) is 3.6 inches long, weighs 9 ounces pounds and has one 46 mm speaker. The XB32 costs about 1.5 times the XB22 and the XB12 costs about 40% less than the XB31. There are advantages to each but this review will concentrate on the XB22. After extensive testing of the Sony XB22 speaker in a wide variety of applications my conclusion is that this very compact unit has a superb combination of features, power and sound quality which surpass the vast majority of its competitors in its price range. First, consider that the Sony XB22 is packed with a great set of features and specifications: • It is very compact, 8” wide, 2.9” tall and 2.7” deep • Weight: 1pound, 3 ounces and feels very solidly built • Shock-resistant: Survives 4 foot drop test • IP67 rating: Water proof in up to 3 feet of fresh or salt water for 30 minutes • Dust proof and easy to clean • Two 42 mm (1.7 inch) Mica Reinforced Cellular speakers plus two passive radiators • Amplifier provides 4 watts of power for each speaker (at 4 ohms) • Frequency range: 300 Hz to 15,000 Hz • Total Harmonic Distortion of just 1% • Sensitive microphone for use as speaker phone • Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity with 33 foot range • NFC for easy connections • Mini jack (3.5 mm) input (to connect other sources) • Power supply: lithium ion battery, micro USB recharge cable included, full charge time 4 hours • Battery life up to 12 hours (6 hours at maximum volume level) • Lighting effects can be turned off entirely to extend battery life • Sony Music Center app may be used to control most speaker functions • One year parts and labor warranty The XB22 differs in a few respects from last year’s XB21. It is slightly longer and the exterior has a fabric grill surface over the front speaker area. The rest of the exterior has a rubberized surface compared to the all fabric surface of the XB21 with the “Sony” name more prominent. The sides are flatter than the XB21 making vertical placement more stable. It also has a separate control for the “Live” DSP setting. The back has an open grill which seems to improve the performance of the passive radiators and deepens the bass. The sound produced by this speaker is distortion-free and steady at both low and very high volumes. The twin speakers are slightly angled toward each other to increase the stereo effect and it has a DSP for a “3D Live Sound Mode.” The XB22 has considerable bass due to the passive radiators employed. It also has a feature called “Extra Bass” which increases the bass significantly which you can activate if you really want to emphasize the deep tones in your music but I found that the normal setting produced a better overall sound for most music. The Bluetooth connection was effortless and solid from every device I tried (phone, tablet, laptop). It held the connection steady up to about 35 feet from my music source. One nice bonus feature is the ability to connect a chain of up to 100 Sony speakers which can extend your music throughout a large home or provide multiple sound sources in the same room. Another use for the speaker is to create a high quality speaker phone by linking it to your phone – much better sound than using your phone’s tiny speakers for conversations. The built-in microphone was very effective for this purpose. The bottom line on this sturdy, waterproof speaker is that is provides excellent sound quality from a very compact body at a very affordable price. I endorse it without reservation!

Needed a speaker for my solo parties on the patio. Great purchase price! Sound is good and I can here the bass in the songs. Light show is a nice added feature.

The Sony SRS-XB22 is a great little portable speaker. This new model is pill shaped and you can stand it on its end or side. It fits easily in your hand and its light and very portable. The sound is great as well, Sony really knows how to make these things sound a lot bigger than they are. The extra bass feature does make a difference as well. I was a little disappointed that the lights are only one color and on my black model they are white. The party booster feature is included in this model and it allows you to hit different parts of the speaker with your hand and it will make different sounds. You can program what sounds and which areas will make them using the Sony Music Center app. I also have the previous generation of this model of speakers, but they are the bigger siblings, the XB31 and XB41. I was able to link them using the Music Center app and that allows them to all broadcast the same song and you can link up to 100 speakers in total. I found the app to be useful for most things and it was very easy to pair the XB22 speaker using the NFC chip that is built in. Once I had it paired up I was ready to create a Wireless Party Chain. I have had mixed success with this though. My biggest issue was a syncing issue with the music. At first they will all play in perfect sync, but after a few minutes one of the speakers would be a half second behind the others. My only fix was to stop the grouping and re-group them again. This seems to happen quite often so maybe this can be fixed with an update from the app. I have the latest version at the time of testing. Overall, this speaker is a very good and I am very happy with it. IP67 rating also makes this the perfect companion to just about any outdoor adventure and the 12 hour battery life makes sure that you won’t run out of tunes anytime soon.

Sony - SRS-XB22 Portable Bluetooth Speaker packaging is excellent. It came with speaker and charging cable. The design is very unique and well built. Setup is quick and easy. I was able to connect using Bluetooth and NFC options without any issues. It has micro USB port and Stereo mini jack. I was amazed with sound quality and clarity after playing a song from my iPhone. The color changing LED lights are really cool while playing songs. The extra bass is really good as well from this speaker. Battery life is really solid and came around 12 hours. It took around 5 hours to charge fully. I was playing a song with full sound and fill the entire living room with great sound quality. The ability to connect more than 100 speakers is a great feature and it will help to place speakers in each room. I already own SONY SRS-XB31, SRS-XB41 and able to pair with SRS-XB22. The quality is much better and wide in SRS-XB22. Live Sound is an amazing feature to get 3D sound experience. This speaker is dustproof and can be used in beaches and outdoor. It is totally washable and waterproof and can be used in swimming pool. The design is great and speaker can be used horizontally and vertically. I have installed the SONY Music control and it has tons of features to control music. The call quality is great with this Bluetooth speaker. SONY built a very solid Bluetooth speaker with better sound quality with bass. The price is reasonable as well. My kids are using this speaker very regularly due to the color lights and party mode. SONY always make better products in TVs, Cameras and they have entered in audio space with quality products like SRS Series Bluetooth speakers. Well done SONY and it is another outstanding speaker!

This has Good Sound with Bass as it says on box;however, this is my second one now since initial purchase due battery problems Unfortunately. This second One started out Fantastic lasting like near what it supposed to on the box said to 11.5 to 11 hours of run time, but now it barely lasts 9.5 hours tops and this is plugged into the wall for stability. Unsure if bad groups prodduct or what? Totally Unlike Sony..