30-second review For years, the Sony SRS-XB12 was Sony’s go-to budget Bluetooth speaker. For $39.99 (£39, AU$48), it had been a reasonable entry point into portable audio with performance that was surprising for its size – but now that torch will now be carried by its successor, the all-new Sony SRS-XB13. It’s slightly costlier at $59 (around £40, AU$80), however with better sound dispersion, Sony designed the speaker to supply 360-degree audio in order that everyone at the party, beach or bonfire can hear the music wherever they sit. For outdoor enthusiasts, it’s got an IP67 rating that makes it water and dust-resistant.
Plus, Sony claims it’s improved the interior microphone for phone calls as well… though, we wouldn’t recommend using it for that purpose. Having put Sony SRS-XB13 through its paces, we expect it is a fine ultra-budget option if you can’t possibly stretch your budget any longer than $60, but the sound quality, low max volume, poor call quality and long charging time are all major pain points.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist during a vacuum and it’s worth spending a touch more to urge the genuinely great Sony SRS-XB23 from last year instead – it’s typically just $79.99 on sale and therefore the sound quality is significantly better. However, if you’re crazy with the shape factor, we recommend the waterproof UE Wonderboom 2, too. Sony SRS-XB13 price and release date The Sony SRS-XB13 will replace the XB12 starting in June 2021 with some retailers already starting to make the swap. In terms of price, the SRS-XB13 starts at $59 (around £40, AU$80) but that price may drop when the speaker goes on sale later this year during events like Black Friday 2021.
For a Bluetooth speaker, that price is really pretty reasonable – it’s not the most cost effective price we’ve seen on a Bluetooth speaker but it’s tons cheaper than the competition that often sells for around $100 (£80, AU$150). That said, we do desire you’re making some compromises to urge a speaker this cheap: the only driver on top of the speaker doesn’t offer the clearest or loudest sound in its class, and you’ll got to devour a second speaker to urge true stereo sound. While the Sony SRS-XB13 price is extremely compelling, most people follow Sony’s smaller speakers because they’re lightweight, compact and straightforward to hold around. This year you’ll also add on their IP67 rating that creates them dust-proof and waterproof, too. The shape is actually a portly can – it’s a touch wide, round and short. It can probably slot in a cup holder in your car, but because of the strap it can definitely hang off your backpack. At the highest of the speakers may be a grille that guards a typical 1.5-inch driver while on the underside you’ve got a passive radiator for better bass response.
Controls are located along the side and that’s where you’ll find the hidden USB-C port that charges the speaker. At rock bottom of the speaker may be a rubber bass and little gaps within the plastic base to permit sound to undergo – a design feature Sony’s taken directly from its 2020 speaker lineup.
That said, if the Sony SRS-XB13 seems like a speaker you’ve seen before, you would possibly be thinking of the UE Wonderboom and UE Wonderboom 2. In fact, the planning is pretty similar, but the Wonderboom moves the controls to the highest and adds both a second driver and a second bass radiator. As you’d expect, the Wonderboom may be a bit louder and clearer than the Sony and is the better all-around speaker from our experience testing both.
That being said, we do need to give some credit to the new Sound Diffusion Processor that Sony put inside the XB13 – it really does help the speaker fill a 360-degree radius of sound, but we’ll talk more than that in only a flash. The last two design features worth mentioning are the power to pair two XB13s together by pressing and holding the Bluetooth pairing button and therefore the quick pairing feature with Android devices.
The former will set the speaker into a left-right channel configuration for stereo sound which will really alleviate a number of the sound issues the speaker has, while the latter makes it so that it’s incredibly fast and intuitive to pair with any new Android phone or tablet.