So after checking out the Sony XV900 and being very pleasantly surprised, I was very excited to checkout the Sony XV800. Now sony has defentily made some major changes. Overall, I like the sony XV800, and if you’re looking for a more mellow bass from your box speaker, this is a good option, but I still have some critiques about the XV800.

Regarding pricing, the XV800 has a retail price of $650, and just knowing sony, I expect this speaker to go on sale on a regular basis. Now the XV800 is not a replacement for the XP700… the XP700 isn’t going anywhere… but long story short, yes the XV800 is better than the XP700. Nonetheless, if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down below.

Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. Size wise, the XV800 is about the same size as the XP700… but the XV800 just looks slimmer and sleeker. Now just like Sony’s other box speakers, the XV800 has a mostly plastic body which can be a scratch magnet if you try to transport this speaker, and it also have a metal grill on the front which can get dented rather easily. Now this speaker weighs in at 40 pounds… but thankfully sony has gone ahead and added wheels to this speaker… which makes transporting this speaker a little easier. The only problem is, these wheels are a little small. So if you try to roll this speaker on rough asphalt… you’re going to have a bad time. So these wheels are going to be better on a smoother surface. Overall, I just wish that sony would add some more rugged wheels on their speakers. But the good thing is, this speaker has a lot of carrying handles built in, so carrying this speaker is a little easier. But as with most other box speakers, the XV800 is rocking an IPX4 rating, so if this speaker were to get rained on or if a drink gets spilled on it, it’ll be perfectly fine just as long as the port panel on the back is covered. But one significant design change about the XV800 is that it now has capacitive buttons up top, and these buttons actually light up. So controlling your media on this speaker is a little easier now especially if its dark. The only thing that I need to point out here is that this speaker doesn’t have a speaker stand mount on the bottom like with some other speaker out there.

But next up there’s the light feature on this speaker. The XV800 has your typical sony light bar up top and down below. Overall this light feature is better used while at night or indoors. And personally I am a little disappointed that the XV800 doesn’t have floor lights like the larger XV900. I really thought that Sony’s new line of speakers was going to differentiate itself from other speaker by having those floor lights. Regardless, you definitely shouldn’t make your speaker purchase decision on the light feature of your speaker… and also, if you do decide to use this light feature, its going to take its toll on the battery life.

Now when it comes to the battery life of this speaker, the XV800 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… but this advertised battery life of 25 hours is with this speaker playing at 30% volume, which is a decent listening volume… and that’s with the mega bass turned on, which is good but that’s with the light feature turned off.

But real world use with this speaker playing at 65% volume… which I feel is a reasonable volume to use this speaker while you’re with friends… with the mega bass turned on and with the light feature turned on… its good for a solid 10 hours of playback time. And sony claims that if you were to use this speaker at max volume its good for 3 and half hours of playback time.

Now just keep in mind, if you were to use this speaker while in stamina mode, where its mega bass feature and light feature is turned off… you’ll be able to extend the battery life of this speaker. But stamina mode makes this speaker sound rather flat. But in general, battery life on large box speaker really varies depending on how you use them. If you use them at higher volumes that’s going to drain your battery life faster.

But also, I want to quickly address the fast charging on this speaker. Now Sony claims that if you were to plug this speaker in for 10 minutes from a dead battery you’re going to get about 3 hours of playback time. But those 3 hours of playback time is while this speaker is playing at 30% volume, the mega bass turned on but with the light turned off… and that’s if you have the battery care feature on this speaker turned off as well.

Now when it comes to connectivity, this speaker can be connected to 2 devices at the same time, so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency isn’t an issue, so you can use this speaker to watch videos on your phone, and when it comes to audio codecs, this speaker has support for SBC, AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio codec. Just keep in mind that if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC… and if you do decide to use LDAC, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life.

Now when it comes to the ports on this speaker just as you’d expect, there’s still an audio jack here, so you can use it with a wired connection. Now I know this sounds basic… but I have to point this out cause in their infinite wisdom, LG removed the audio jack on their XBOOM XL7… I think that was dumb… but unfortunately, there is still no audio out jack on this speaker.

However, something that this speaker does have is that it has an optical port and it comes included with an optical cable… so you can connect it to your TV. Now it think that this is a nice feature to have, cause it makes this speaker a little more versatile, and it makes it easier to justify buying this speaker… cause if you don’t already have a sound bar… and you just need something to watch the game with, the XV800 can come in clutch.

Now the XV800 also has 2 quarter inch inputs and you can use two microphones for karaoke or you can plug in a guitar. But unfortunately, you can’t adjust the sound of your microphone, but you can add an echo… but I don’t like adding echos to my mic. But interestingly enough… if you plug in a microphone into this speaker… you can change the key of your music… but this key change isn’t going to change your microphone. Overall, this speaker is a good option for karaoke, but I wish you could adjust the bass and treble on your microphone.

But now lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set, the XV800 has two frontward firing woofers, with an exhaust port that shoots out the front… and this thing has a total of 5 tweeters on it. There are 3 on the front and there’s two on the back. Now when this speaker is standing up right, it’ll use these two tweeters and the two on the back… and when you have this speaker laying on its side, it’ll use these two tweeters and the two on the back as well. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. The XV800 is playing at 75% volume, and we’re going to be using it with it mega bass turned on, we’re also going to use it with its mega bass turned off and we’re also going to use it while its plugged in and with with mega bass turned on.

Now first I want to address max volume performance on this speaker. Now while its running off of its internal battery, the XV800 gets decently loud for its size, it gets a little louder than the XP700 and I feel that this speaker is adequate for a 20 person party. However, if you were to use this speaker while its plugged in, you’re going to get a noticeable performance boost out of it. Its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. So if you want to get the most out of this speaker, you want to use it while its plugged in.

Now when it comes to the actual sound quality of this speaker… I really like the changes that sony has made here. First off, the XV800 sounds a lot more balanced now especially when compared to the XP700. The XP700 has always leaned towards a warmer sound signature. Where as the XV800 has a more balanced sound signature. Now this speaker still has a decent amount of bass, and it doesn’t sound as bright as lets say the JBL Partybox 310… But the important thing as that the mids on the XV800 actually have room to shine here. So vocals are a lot more pronounced here when compared to the XP700. But one of the most important changes here is the bass on this speaker. Now the XV800 has a frontward firing exhaust port now, unlike the XP700 who’s exhaust port shoots out the back. And as a result, the bass on the XV800 is different from the bass on the XP700. On the XV800, the bass here isn’t as physical as the XP700, its more on the audible side… but more importantly, its much cleaner and smoother. Now don’t get me wrong, by no means does this speaker sound flat, and the bass on this speaker still has a good amount of physicality to it… but the bass on this speaker isn’t as wall shaking as with some other speakers. Overall, I like how the XV800 sounds, but this is going to come down to a matter of taste. With the XV800 you’re going a more balanced sound signature out of it and the mids are more pronounced than the XP700… and the bass is much more mellow and more on the audible side. Now you can still feel the bass with this speaker… but if you want something with more bass, then you’ll might want to go with something else. Nonetheless, like I have said multiple times already, I like how this speaker sounds and even though you can go in and adjust the EQ on this speaker… personally I think Sony got right this time with their stock mega bass EQ.

But now lets talk about pairing this speaker up with other speakers. So the XV800 is using Sony’s party connect. And if you have two XV800 you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, or you can pair it up to other party connect speakers like the XV900, XV800, XP700, or XP500 and you can get them to play in sync and you can have up to 100 speakers playing together.

But the cool thing about Sony’s Party connect is that you can pair your large box speakers to Sony’s smaller speakers that are also using party connect like an XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200, XB43, XB33, or XB23.

Now even though Sony’s party connect is very accommodating, and it gets the job done, sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle to use. Sometimes it take awhile for your speakers to get connected. Sometimes all of your speakers don’t get paired on the first try so you’ll have to go through the pairing process multiple times… and sometimes skipping does happen. Now this doesn’t happen all of the time… but this is just a heads up as to what to expect.

But with all of that being said, the Sony XV800 is a step in the right direction for sony. From a sound quality standpoint, I really like the much more balanced sound signature coming out of this speaker. Sony’s really using all of those tweeters cause the mids are a lot more pronounced and as a result the vocals are much easier to here on this speaker. And the bass is very smooth as well. The battery life on the XV800 is also very good. The optical port also helps make this speaker a little more versatile if you need a little more umph for game night. The battery life on this speaker is also fairly impressive, and personally I like the sleeker design of this speaker. Now im glad to see that sony added some wheels to the XV800, cause it helps make life a little easier… but I wish these wheels were larger. And even though I am indifferent about the light feature on the XV800, I really wish it had floor lights like the XV900. But nonetheless, the XV800 is a solid pickup, especially if you’re looking for a more mellow sound signature.