Sony - EXTRA BASS Compact Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Black

Sony’s XB13 is here, and it is tinier than ever. It’s half the size of a mechanical pencil! The XB13 is an ultra-portable mini speaker that packs heavy bass for the size. Along with the portability, the XB13 is waterproof/dustproof so it is great for taking it out to the beach or camping. I have used the XB13 for a couple of days now and am satisfied with my experience so far. *TLDR at the bottom ============================================= IN THE BOX/SET-UP The box the XB13 comes from is tiny. I have other mini speakers and the XB13 is the smallest one I have owned by far. Along with the paperwork, you also get a tiny USB-C charging cable. Kudos to Sony for going with USB-C. I’m not a fan of the size but fortunately, I do have other USB-C cables laying around my home. Set-up is as simple as taking the speaker out of the box and turning it on. No account or waiting for firmware updates required. Sony says the XB13 comes with “Fast pair technology,” but from testing how quickly the speaker connects to my phone, “fast” is too exaggerated. While my phone does detect and connect to the speaker without going looking for it in Bluetooth settings, there is still a bit of a delay present. Not too big to annoy someone but enough for it to be faster compared to other devices. ============================================= DESIGN: I seriously enjoyed the simple yet aesthetic design of the XB13. The material used on the outside is soft to the touch and overall seems like it will last with everything I put it through. The strap doesn’t feel cheap and I am sure it will last as well. I like how Sony included a way to better disperse the sound by adding the slots at the bottom. Buttons are well placed and can easily be distinguished in dark places. Right next to the buttons is the charging port which can be revealed by lifting the port cover. There is no AUX on the speaker. AUX is dying but I still would’ve liked it implemented onto this speaker in case I need to better conserve phone battery or to limit random disconnections. But overall, I enjoyed the well-built design of the XB13. ============================================= SOUND QUALITY: Sound is adequate. I was expecting a louder sounding speaker but turning the sound up I noticed it didn’t get as loud as I expected. The XB13 still sounds good for the most part, but if you are looking to use the speaker in a large space, you might want to find a different one. Lows, mids, and highs are balanced pretty well too. This speaker is perfect for small areas such as a room, camping site, or next to you by the beach. But what did surprise me was the bass. Sony is known to have bass-heavy speakers and this one is no different. I found the bass to be excellent. Of course, you won’t be getting the EXTRA bass-heavy sound like in a bigger speaker but for the size, the bass is certainly remarkable. ============================================= OTHER NOTES: • I was hoping that this speaker would work with the Sony Music Center(for EQ stuff) app but unfortunately, I could not get it to work. I don’t think Sony has added this speaker to their app just yet. • The XB13 sounded great on the music genres I tried it out with. Hip-Hop, EDM, Rock, Metal, Latin, Pop. • The XB13 can be paired up with another XB13 for a stereo sound. • The XB-13 has a 16-hour battery life which has managed to last me a couple of days before needing charging. • The speaker also contains a mic for hands-free calling. ============================================= CONCLUSION/TLDR: Overall, Sony has done an excellent job with the XB13. Sound is not as loud as I was expecting but the bass was certainly surprising and did bring that bass-heavy sound that most Sony speakers have. The XB13 would work best with smaller spaces such as a room, camping site, or beside you on the beach. Some of the notable features are the 16-hour battery life, waterproof/dustproof, and the ability to be paired up with another XB13 for a stereo sound. If you are in the market for portable a small speaker that is waterproof and contains an overall good sound, I do recommend you try this one out.

This little speaker has some of the best sound I've ever heard from a bluetooth speaker at this price range. The driver Sony employs is of a very high quality. The sound coming out of this diminutive speaker is very satisfying and can get quite loud. The bass is quite good, highs are clear, and mids are solid. Of course it's a small speaker so I'm not expecting it to sound like party. It's a great sounding mini speaker, considering how small it is. It is loud indoors. Haven't yet tried outdoors so not sure how it is out there. Bluetooth connectivity is a breeze. Battery life is good. The main selling point for this little guy is it's portability and durability. Nice rubberized texture button press is good. Sony engineers nailed it on this little gem of a speaker. The buttons are easy to push and well laid out. I have been listening to this with music and movies for the past few hours while charging it at the same time. I like the cute little carry handle, never seen that feature before. There is a small rubber ring at the bottom to keep the unit from sliding around. This is the same exact speaker as the Sony XB10 with few minor changes. The waterproof rating got upgraded to IP67 which is negligible unless you really, really want a speaker able to be submersed underwater. It’s very handy with its handle that’s hanging down. It comes with a USB-C charging cable. Battery life is also great. I am going on 2 days without charging it, streaming via bluetooth about 3 hours per day from phone, and still going. I want to see how long it will really go. Impressive! Also it can be paired up with another XB13 for stereo sound. The volume can continue to be increased on them even if the volume on the source reaches it's limit, just by using the plus or minus signs on the side of each speaker to turn them up or down individually; or if the speakers are paired, only one speaker needs to be turned up for both speakers to increase/decrease in volume. Get two or more in this compact and portable size for great surround-sound and functionality! This is an excellent product for the price. It's made by Sony, so you are going to get what you pay for. Extremely affordable. Thank you Sony so very very much for living up to your name!!! They may not be top of the line, expensive speakers, but they are definitely the next best thing. No distortion at all at full volume and nice, rich bass. Not sure what the folks who complained about the sound were expecting, but I have zero complaints about the sound. Yes, this is not a speaker that you are going to use in a dancehall for a party. It is perfect for your home or patio. It can be too loud for certain circumstances, but then you can just adjust the volume down. For the price, none better can be found! All in all, I like the speakers and recommend them.

The Sony SRSXB13 bluetooth speaker is super portable, simple to use, and sounds good. This is a very small cylindrically shaped speaker with a small footprint that almost looks like a small coffee mug. It has a single speaker at the top and a passive radiator at the bottom. The buttons are located along the side and provide controls such as power on/off, bluetooth/stereo connection, play/pause, and volume up/down. It comes with a strap to allow you to hang the speaker. In the box you’ll also find a usb-c charging cable and the instruction manual. This speaker easily fits in a bag and is very lightweight. I hung it on my bicycle handlebars and listened to tunes while riding around town. Then I hung it on the shower caddy while I showered. With an IP67 rating, you can take it anywhere with you without worrying about moisture and dust. What I like about this speaker is that it is simple to use, without needing to connect to an app. In fact, there is no app to connect this speaker with. You just pair it via bluetooth and you’re done. No app to fiddle with. This speaker sounds good for its size. The small mono speaker at the top combined with the equally small passive radiator manage to squeeze as much sound out as they possibly could. The bass is decent without being overly emphasized. The mids are clear. At max volume, it is fairly loud, but not loud enough to use for a larger setting when there are many people speaking in a room such as during a party. It is better used in a smaller gathering. Even running my table fan, the speaker at max volume had difficulty overcoming the noise. If you want more volume and separation, you can purchase another SRSXB13 speaker for a wireless stereo pair. Battery life is rated at 16 hours, which is plenty for a day of listening. It takes up to 4.5 hours to fully recharge the battery which is quite long considering such a small speaker. When watching video, I noticed a very slight audio/video lag. The speaker has a microphone and can be used as a speakerphone. I tried this out and folks on the other end told me that I sounded far away, like my voice was coming from the background somewhere. In summary, the Sony SRSXB13 is great for those who want a bluetooth speaker that is lightweight, ultraportable, easy to use, and still sounds good. It’s a capable speaker for small gatherings, but can easily get drowned out since its max volume doesn’t get very loud.

Sony SRS-XB13 portable rechargeable Bluetooth speaker is filled with impressive bass for its size. It’s all due to the passive radiator that work with speaker to enhance the low-end tones for its extra bass. What’s in the box: Sony XB13 speaker, USB Type C short cable, Quick start guide Sony XB13 measures approx. 76mm diameter and 95mm tall. Weighs approx. 255grams. Setup is very simple. Charge it for few minutes with the included USB C cable. No power brick included, so use your phone charger if you have latest android fast charger for quick charging. Turn on the power button and discover devices on your mobile devices. If you own an android device, simply turn the device on, and your phone will prompt you to connect as this device has fast pair technology that requires no pin or complex pairing. For iOS devices, just go to settings and Bluetooth option and select this device to complete pairing. This uses Bluetooth 4.2 and has max range of approximately 33 feet. Comes in 4 different colors (Blue, Black, Cream and orange). I got the blue color and it’s so cool that matches my backpack. All the buttons (power, Bluetooth, play/pause, volume + -) and charging port are at the back. Skip option is supported by tapping the play/pause button twice and back option by three times when hearing music. Same play/pause button is using to answer the phone call for handsfree function. Battery is advertised at 16 hours but it depends on the volume that it is set. If the volume is set at 100% then on our testing it was around 8.5 hours of continuous use. 16 hours may be around 45- 50% volume level. But this little speaker sounds great and has the punch at 60%. Takes 4 hours to fully charge from 0%. Speaker comes with a multiway cool strap (not cheap lanyard) that comes handy to attach it to backpack during travel and makes carrying around very easy due to its small size. Base of speaker is rubberized and sticks well on glass table and does not move on high volume settings. Speaker is IP67 rated for both water and dust and can be used in the shower room or in swimming pool. This speaker can withstand up to 3.2feet of water depth so if you accidentally drop the speaker in pool, nothing to worry as long as the charging ports are sealed and is not left for more than 30 minutes. It does float when dropped in water so you can immediately pick it up and wipe off. Sound quality is great for the small portable speaker. Its due to its downwards facing speaker and sound diffusion processor with DSP Technology. Also, supports hands free calling so if you receive a call while listening to music just answer the phone with its inbuilt microphone. Call quality is clear and both parties can hear loud and clear with no issues during testing. If you need stereo sound for parties this model supports multi speaker connection/ Stereo Pairing. Just add another XB13 speaker for stereo sound. To add, just hold down the Bluetooth button for 3 seconds on one speaker and stereo pair light will go on. Just go to the other speaker do the same thing, add it to the phone and both will be paired to stereo pair mode. Pros: +Affordable portable speaker +Extra bass +Great Battery life +Stereo Pairing/Multi speaker connection +IP67 water and dust proof +Smart home compatible with Cons: -Missing sleep mode or automatic power off mode Overall, great little portable Bluetooth speaker with extra bass that won’t disappoint anyone.

I've already got the X12 and love it, and this is the updated version. Compact little speaker packs a good punch for it's size. (see soup can pic for reference) I've thrown it into the kids bathtub and still works great. Its perfect for cup holders, so if you're into boating/kayaking/etc where you want music to be secure and its ok to get wet, then this kind of speaker is for you. The strap is quite strong and versatile so you can mount it off most things with confidence that you won't lose it. I personally put it in my kayak cup holder and then have the strap around a loop on the boat so if i were to capsize i won't lose it. Battery life is really great and phone range is quite good. I've put my phone on the table, and tossed the speaker onto my lawnmower and took it all over the yard without issue. Easy to pair to the phone, and if you've got 2 of them you can link them together to have stereo sound. Unfortunately, while they seem basically the same, you cannot link it to the x12 or other similar Sony speakers. I don't understand why this is, because the only real change i can tell between the X12 and X13 is it went from micro USB connector to USB-C. So if you've already got the older one, don't really need to upgrade and you are better off getting another of the same one, so you can go into stereo mode. That being said, if you do not have one already, pick up a couple of these because with phones and more devices going USB C these days, you can reduce the amount of cables you need to carry around

Awesome, strong powerful compact speaker. Bass is everything. Also love the color

PROS: Excellent build quality, aesthetics, portable design, controls, battery life, multiway strap, and audio is crisp and clear for multimedia watching as you can easily hear what people are saying even at 2x speed. Music is also solid, which is a step above good, but below great. CONS: Despite the marketing boasting about EXTRA BASS it is very poor. Especially, if you are a bass head. It does better when placed on a hard object over a soft one. Sound quality for music is solid but can come across slightly tinny. But that is also what I expect for something this size and is still better than you’d get from your tablet or phone. Also, when in a loud environment it doesn’t do as well as the max volume does get loud but you lose out on some of clearness of the vocals. But it isn’t peaking or anything like that. SOUND QUALITY: The sound comes across as open and fills the room nice. We can thank the DSP for that. It is relatively well balanced. Voices are forefront, then instruments, and I would say that mids are the most pronounced followed closely by highs and bass being about equal. But in general, everything sounds about equal. Which is good. Bass itself isn’t going to blow your socks off. Especially, if you are a bass head. I wouldn’t classify it as poor, but closer to adequate. Bass is semi-accurate and is enough to add to the music without detracting from it. But don’t believe the EXTRA BASS marketing. Mids and highs sound great and comes across as quite accurate with good texture and depth. Which was very surprising to me and why I think it does so well with multimedia. I noticed a very mild amount of bloat but no congestion, muddiness, or brightness. Things at times could sound a bit tinny. I found putting it on a hard surface did better than when it was on a soft surface due to the way it emits sound. All sounds were very crisp, but especially spoken content which again makes it great for vocal centric songs and multimedia. Imaging was minimal. Where I could pull out vocals and instruments. But I couldn’t tell their locations. For the most part sounds were natural but slightly processed, especially instruments. Soundstage was small. My first impressions weren’t great. But after putting it through the paces I found it did a good job. I found that for multimedia use that it did better than for music. I could hear people talking, even when a lot is going on, and pull apart individual people. Which usually just blends in. But I would miss out on some of the nuances of sound. I’d rate the overall sound as a 7.5/10. CONTROLS: As mentioned, before they are located on the back of the device. Starting with the Power Button. When you first power it on, by just tapping the power button, the LED light above the power button will turn green, and then it will automatically go into pairing mode denoted by flashing blue LED’s over the Bluetooth button. Then you just go into your Bluetooth settings and select the XB13 and it will give a small chime telling you you’re connected. It’s extremely easy. If you press the power button it will turn off without a chime. If you power, it on after it is connected to a device you will see the power LED illuminate, the bluetooth button will flash, and then you will hear a chime when it is connected. This process takes about 6 seconds on an iPhone. It does support fast pair but that is for Android only. And I don’t own an Android so I can’t test that. Next is the Bluetooth button. If you quick press it will go into pairing mode denoted by flashing blue LED’s. If you hold it will go into ST pairing (stereo pairing) so you can connect it to a second device by doing the same thing. Pretty simple stuff. Third is the play/pause button. If you press it once it will play/pause. If you double press it will skip forward. If you triple press, it will go backward. If you have a call coming in and press it once it will answer the call and if you hold it when a call is coming in it will decline the call. Fourth and fifth, you have your volume down and volume up buttons. Hopefully no explanation is needed there. Last, you have the little rubber port to access the USB C charging. It creates a good seal and has a rubber string, so it should be breaking easily. The battery is rated for 16 hours and total charge time is 4.5 hours, as per their spec sheet. I didn’t have enough time to fully test how accurate this was. On your smartphone you can see how much battery is left. Which is a nice feature. When I tried, I could NOT connect it to the Sony Music App. I thought it was supposed to be supported. Which means A. I was wrong and it isn’t supported. B. I tried before the app was updated to support it. Or the longstanding C. I wasn’t smart enough to add it. I’ll let you decide which. All I know is that my Sony SRS-SB43 can connect to the Sony App which gives you greater customizability and adjustable EQ but costs like a lot more and just figured with this being the SRS-SB13 that it would also work the same? Overall, controls are very intuitive and work every time. The only “issue” and I use that term lightly here is that sometimes there is some mild delay between pressing a button it and fully registering on my phone. That is usually a side effect of Bluetooth in general. I can’t think of anything they could add to make it better outside of an adjustable EQ since people go crazy for those things. Personally, if it doesn’t sound good stock to me then it just doesn’t sound good. I shouldn’t have to adjust the EQ. I find this sounds good and that isn’t needed. So I’d give the controls a 10/10.

I am really happy that I decided to purchased this speaker. His ambiance is wonderful