Customer Ratings & Reviews

These speakers are awesome, they look very cool and there are just so many features and customizations with the app it’s really a great speaker. But within 3 months or so of use I felt like it just wasn’t loud enough anymore, still loud don’t get me wrong, but not as it used to be.

Review Sony - SRS-XB31 Portable Bluetooth Speaker – Blue Pros: - Attractive - Unique Lighting is fun - Bluetooth easy connectivity - Multiple light modes - Ultra-portable - Rear cover hides controls and external audio input - Cool fabric like texture and a great presentation - Washable - Water and dirt resistance - Great for outdoors and portable party time Cons: - Needs a tweeter - Muddy mid-range and constrained highes - The Party boost mode can inject too much base - The microphone is not sensitive enough for a quality speaker phone - Not for an audiophile Starting with the positives. The speaker is very small, has a great visual presentation, the lighting effects are very well executed, and the volume can get loud enough to drown out a small room of party goers. The speaker does allow multiple ways to connect: physical stereo mini-jack, Bluetooth, and NFC. The physical connections are hidden behind a water resistant, rubberized door. In addition to the stereo mini-jack, there is a USB out that is labeled DC only (charge your phone from battery), a USB-C type connection for DC in (charging), and buttons to check battery level, WPC, and to add the speaker to a network of other Sony speakers for a stereo setup or multi-room audio experience. There is also a recessed reset button. The speaker is water resistant and dirt/dust resistant. Sony states that you can run the speaker under an open faucet to wash the dirt off. However, the user’s guide states that the warranty is void if you use this in a shower. The unit does have the texture of an exfoliating sponge which should encourage me to shower with it. But, whatever… The speaker I picked up is the blue version. It is more like a dark teal than actual blue. Setup of the unit was super easy. I did find that I could still use the Sony App with this speaker while I had another device, such as my laptop, connected to the speaker via stereo cable. The light shows are slick; especially if the room is dark. The top and bottom of the unit have a transparent strip that runs the length of the unit. They can be bright but not blinding. There are also two white lights that flash and/or strobe. I haven’t figured out if there is any real pattern to these lights. They sometimes seem to time to the beat and sometimes not. Over-all, the different lighting patterns do allow flexibility for the kind of ambiance you wish to set with your music. There is also an option to turn off the lights. Finally, I have not taken the opportunity to hold this unit under the faucet. I haven’t gotten it dirty since I bought it. So, you will need to seek out other reviewers for their experience washing this unit. The user’s manual does state I can do this without voiding the warranty. And yet, no shower… I do like that I can set the unit to tell me the battery charge percentage. Nice feature to have since there is no other indicator on the unit of how much power is remaining. There are several things that I think Sony can improve upon. I was able to play my music very loud. I can see the allure to using a device like this for a dorm room party. Anything with base will really shine with this compact unit. However, you will be disappointed if you expect an accurate reproduction of your music. I found that CD quality or higher music got very muddy. For example, “Go All the Way” by The Raspberries (found on the Guardians of the Galaxy CD) has a lot of base and guitar feedback. Driving this song through this speaker sounded like I was trying to play the song underwater. I did play a whole range of music such as, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, Meghan Trainor, Lady Gaga, Idina Menzel, Loreena McKennit, Enya, Mozart’s Requiem. I played both CD Quality music and low quality, compressed music from Spotify. In most instances, the music sounded compressed and muddy. I did find that a hard-wired connection to my audio source slightly improved the speaker’s performance. Enya sounded pretty good for some odd reason. She was the rare exception. There is a party mode, beat the snot out of your speaker, mode. I simply don’t get this. If I turn it on, then when I hit the speaker, hard, in certain places, the speaker will make a noise. Why am I being incentivized to beat the snot out of my speaker? What got my attention is how hard I needed to hit the speaker. If someone at my party is wailing on my speaker, then I’m probably escorting them out of my party. Plus, it adds zero value to owning this speaker. Making music loud with a light show I get. And the speaker does this very well. Just don’t beat on my speaker, please. Or, if you are a speaker masochist then a Geek Squad replacement plan should be part of your purchase. This speaker does have a microphone. The microphone is not sensitive enough to capture my voice from a foot away. Unless Sony adds a more sensitive microphone, or the ability to adjust the microphone’s sensitivity, then this is a useless feature. Overall, I think the speaker does meet its use case of an ultraportable sound system that will travel to a party and play music loud. The lighting effects are cool and will add fun to any social gathering. The beast part is that you do not need to play the music loud to get the cool lighting. You will need to look elsewhere If you are looking for a music system that will reproduce your music with fidelity. I believe if Sony added a tweeter to the unit then the music reproduction would be better. This way the mid-range wouldn’t have to play double duty playing mids and highs. I do like that you can wash the dirt off this unit. That way, if you get sand, sawdust, or other particulate matter on the unit, then you can simply wash it off. Would I recommend this product to a friend? That depends what they were looking for. If they wanted a party style, outdoor speaker that can play compressed audio from a cell phone, then, yes. I would even recommend this for a collage dorm room, kids bedroom, or a workshop. But, if you work and live by your music, then no, you need to look elsewhere.

I bought this for my daughter and really don’t know that much about it! All I know is that she loves it and uses it a lot! Never heard anything objectionable about it!!

While the lights do not really sinc up well with the music, it is an interesting feature. It has a very decent amp built in, but it doesnt come with a charge plug, just a cable. Haven't figured out how to get my home theater to sinc with it as yet, but still happy with it.

I got this as a Christmas present for my mother almost 2 years ago. She still uses it daily with her portable devices. Probably one of the most successful gifts ever!

This speaker is quality. My only critique with this one, since I also own the XB41, the next grade up, is that there is a slight vibration in my speaker calasing when the volume is louder.

The speaker is 100% water proof and even floats. The sound is good but has a long break in period and if you use an app like Spotify and have a eq on it’s doesn’t handle well at higher then 50% volume and even without it you can blast the music otherwise it gets distorted.

I've never own a speaker before, so I don't know what to expect. I guess I'm disappointed. It dies really fast if the volume is turned up. Doesn't stay on for more than 4 hours. The sound is clear, I like that.

Overall I would say this is a good purchase. And I will purchase another one to see if they work together as one. Only issue is the charge life of the speaker. When playing at a above average volume the speaker sound will drop greatly at or around two hours.

Sound is amazing. Color LEDs are cool but the white flashing LEDs are awful- like having a strobe light flash in your face. They are just what you need to induce seizures if you were doing a neurological exam.

Everywhere use this speaker people are always amazed at the clarity, the base and how loud they are. I bought the SRS-XB41 fo myself and loved so much I bought SRS-XB31 for a friend

Cool speaker with nice little lights. The beat box thing is entertaining once you figure it out. I don't like that you need to get the app to play with the settings but whatever. It's nice

Just what I wanted for my granddaughter The help in your Orange, Ct store was amazing They went out of their way to order it for me Would definitely recommend this store to everyone

I DID ALOT OF REVIEWING BEFORE I BOUGHT THE PRODUCT AND DID LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS IT'S JUST THIS ONE PARTICULARLY ITEM KEPT MY ATTENTION SO I'M GLAD I WAITED WHEN IT WENT ON SALE

This little speaker has such amazing sound to be so small! The bass is great also! And if you buy more than one you can connect them and play the same mucus throughout your home!

Bought this speaker to connect to the same brand one step down. Can get it connected pretty easily, but seem to have to re-connect it every time....still trying to figure that out.

This portable speaker is really nice. It sounds great and delivers deep base. One of the features I like about this speaker is that its battery acts as a USB charger. You can charge your phone while you play music and it has pass through charging as well. The battery lasts about a day if you toggle the lighting effects lighting off and don't use it as a charger. It claims to be water resistant... but who wants to test that. And it weighs about 2 lbs. I actually took a call with it on and it sounded ok. I wasn't too sure if it was my friends phone or the speaker that made the difference. I highly recommend this if you're in the market for an affordable bluetooth speaker.

This is my second sony speaker and like this even better than the first. Still have the first one, but hubby upgraded to this one for my B-Day. The lighting effects are cool at night.

This thing sounds great. The waterproof really works! I can go to the beach and rinse it off no hassle. Only thing semi distracting is the lights but it works really well for parties!

I gave this product as a gift to a friend. She is very pleased with it and is enjoying the quality music that it plays. She commented that the set up was smooth and easy.