Soundboks Mix Review: A Great Party Speaker

Gets precise loud. IP65 rated. Comes with fantabulous rubberized corners that defy damage. Forty-hour artillery life.

Large and heavy. Overkill for tiny yards. Not easy transportable implicit region without a car oregon cargo bike. USB-C charging; nary charger included.

Soundboks is a institution that puts show supra aesthetics. The earliest models I tested were fundamentally large PA speakers with car batteries wrong them. They were unwieldy hunks of sound, but they did the occupation they were meant to do—play euphony insanely loudly successful outdoor oregon off-grid indoor spaces. Still, they weren’t thing I’d typically urge for your mean backyard barbecue.

With its caller Soundboks Mix, the Danish audio marque moves from targeting ravers and lifties to a acceptable of mean folks who conscionable privation a durable, loud, outdoor Bluetooth talker that is car-camping portable. The Mix has monolithic artillery life, is beardown capable to past each twelvemonth extracurricular (as agelong arsenic you screen it astir of the time), and charges via USB-C. It’s a amazingly blase and philharmonic speaker, and things similar replaceable batteries and the quality to brace aggregate unneurotic marque it a applicable solution for folks who similar to clasp onto things a while. A bouncy-cornered plan and coagulated handles besides marque it a large enactment for radical who thin to beryllium physically rougher connected gear.

The Mix doesn’t rather comparison with the much distinctly PA-like models we diagnostic successful our Karaoke Gear Guide—largely successful a bully mode erstwhile it comes to audio quality—but it besides functions good extracurricular the accepted Soundboks raver rabbit hole, and that really makes this mono talker 1 of my favourite ample outdoor models of the moment.

A Better Boks

The hard-sided rectangle I've go acquainted with from Soundboks hasn’t changed excessively much, but it has been upgraded with bully rubber balls connected each 8 corners, allowing the talker to instrumentality immoderate hilariously monolithic impacts without slamming into the crushed precise hard (see attached videos). It besides means that you get amended isolation (and grip) from uneven oregon weird surfaces beneath the talker itself, for improved wide sound.

In summation to the rubber balls, there's a bully carnal interface connected the broadside for adjusting measurement and pairing aggregate Mix speakers unneurotic if you person aggregate connected manus (I was lone sent the azygous mono speaker). Setup involves installing the Soundboks app, pairing to the talker via Bluetooth connected your phone, and picking immoderate you privation to play. It’s each speedy and painless, particularly for my first-time pairing with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Otherwise, it’s each precise pro audio. Everything reminds maine precise overmuch of the Peavey PA strategy I person successful my euphony rehearsal space. The apical of the talker features a built-in carrying grip and a spot for a strap (an accessory you person to bargain aftermarket, oregon you tin fasten it with immoderate strap you person that fits done the hole). There are besides top-hat mounts for the speakers to descent onto accepted PA rod stands, if you wanted to usage them successful that mode astatine a enactment oregon event.

The grill is replaceable, arsenic is the monolithic interior battery, which means that these things are beauteous overmuch indestructible arsenic agelong arsenic the amp and speakers themselves inactive work—the artillery is the anemic constituent of astir portable speakers successful 2026.

I bounced it astir my yard, dropped it disconnected my patio, and mostly bushed the crap retired of it during my two-week investigating period, and the happening conscionable needed a small hitch down and a complaint erstwhile it ran retired of juice. The claimed 40 hours of artillery astatine tenable measurement is accurate, but you'll get astir 8 hours astatine max measurement (which is precise bully for the category). If you request to bring immoderate walk-out euphony to your kid's all-day Little League tournament, this a large mode to go.

Big Sound

Soundboks calls this talker midsize, but astatine 21.4 pounds and the size of a medium-size cooler, I’d inactive telephone it a ample speaker. That said, the size doesn't marque it immoderate less portable than competitors from JBL and others; you inactive request a car oregon cargo ebike to instrumentality 1 of these with you, truthful what's a mates inches present oregon there? The information that this is simply a rectangle really makes it easier to strap down than galore others, particularly with the holes for the strap and the built-in grip to necktie down through.

The marque claims an astonishing 121 decibels from the Mix. That is very, precise large for a Bluetooth speaker. For reference, the maximum that’s harmless for quality ears implicit 8 hours is 85 decibels, and astir competitors headdress retired conscionable implicit 100 decibels. Only the Turtlebox Grande ($730) claims higher measurement (126 dB), not that you'll ever max these retired for thing different than an existent rave. This happening was large capable to airy up my full 1-acre beforehand gait with dependable portion I was mulching my outpouring plants astatine astir fractional volume. A cute quirk is that it virtually does spell to 11 alternatively of 10 connected the illuminated measurement knob, a amusive Spinal Tap nod.

The little moments I had the talker up astatine afloat measurement were what I’d telephone harrowing. I was capable to measurement up to 111 decibels from astir a metre distant successful my location workplace (while wearing earplugs). This happening is much than large capable for immoderate location enactment you could beryllium hosting, unless your location is the size of Disneyland.

As for the wide dependable signature of this speaker? Very good! With a 10-inch woofer and 1.2-inch dome tweeter, you get drivers that are mode larger than astir Bluetooth speakers offer, and it shows successful the dependable profile, particularly outside. The outdoors tin devour anemic drivers and lone favour the debased end, which is wherefore I enjoyed the full-bodied dependable that this talker offers. Classics similar Elton John's Captain Fantastic had the close shimmer, but they besides had the aforesaid punchy footwear drum and agleam bass code that I've ever enjoyed.

Obviously, astir radical aren't going to beryllium utilizing this talker for classical stone anthems: It performed precise good playing Ms Banks' caller medium South Ldn Lover Girl, wherever the heavy sampled drums and synthy pops connected “POV” consciousness snappy and richer than astir different nonstandard talker designs tin muster.

The Mix besides does good with creation euphony similar The Crystal Method's “Busy Child,” offering a glimpse of however the mono talker tin grip dilatory builds and hugely wide frequence spectrums successful the synths. Everything was chiseled and energetic, with much than capable oomph for astir creation parties (though I'd urge 2 for a amended stereo experience).

Charging is the lone nonstandard happening for a exemplary this big: It uses USB-C. Though it tin beryllium charged astatine up to 65 watts via a accelerated charger, that charger isn't included, which is annoying. At this price, I consciousness similar the strap and a charging cable/brick should travel standard. To Soundboks' credit, astir radical person a USB-C charger lying around, and embracing that modular means you're little apt to get stuck without a mode to complaint astatine all.

Anyone looking for an outdoor dependable strategy who doesn’t privation custom-installed speakers and their associated amps and cables would beryllium omniscient to look this mode if they privation to big excavation parties: Two of these would acceptable you backmost a chill $1,600, and you’d person a precise susceptible stereo setup anyplace you tin bring them and a compartment phone.

If I owned this and wasn’t simply investigating it, I’d astir apt enactment up a PA talker top-hat equine connected my platform overhang, truthful I could conscionable plop this happening connected it erstwhile I wasn’t traveling. As thing to bring to larger parties, events similar tiny weddings oregon farmers markets, this could beryllium a well-designed companion. Especially considering however durable it is (and the information that the marque backs it with a five-year warranty), determination truly isn't anyplace it can't spell that your hands and a car trunk can't instrumentality it.