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Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz XL wireless Bluetooth speaker review: The poor man's Jawbone Big Jambox

Cambridge SoundWorks adds to its line of value wireless Bluetooth speakers with the larger Oontz XL, which sounds better than competing $100 models.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
David Carnoy
4 min read

Editor's note: Since we posted this review Cambridge SoundWorks has raised the price of the Oontz XL to $119. As a result, we have lowered our rating to 3.5 stars (it was 4 stars).

7.8

Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz XL wireless Bluetooth speaker

The Good

The <b>Oontz XL</b> offers better sound than similarly priced mini Bluetooth speakers. It's attractively styled and includes speakerphone capabilities and USB charging for smartphones. Battery life is also good (over 10 hours at more moderate volumes).

The Bad

Doesn't play incredibly loud; AC adapter is required to power/charge the unit (rather than a 5V Micro-USB charger).

The Bottom Line

While it doesn't sound as good as its more expensive rivals, the Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz XL is the best big Bluetooth speaker you can get for under $100.

Cambridge SoundWorks has been making some inroads into the ultracompetitive wireless Bluetooth speaker market with its value-priced, weirdly named Oontz line, which has now grown to three products with the addition of the larger Oontz XL.

For a lack of a better description, the 1.85-pound Oontz XL is essentially a poor man's Jawbone Big Jambox. It's around the same size as the Big Jambox and includes an integrated microphone for speakerphone capabilities and offers decent battery life (it's rated for 10 hours, but you can do better than that).

No, it doesn't have the build quality of the Big Jambox. Nor does it sound as good.

The Oontz XL is a more full-size portable Bluetooth speaker. Sarah Tew/CNET

But it does sound better than other smaller speakers that sell for around the same price (at launch, anyway, the Oontz XL costs $99.99; hopefully that price will stick). For example, we put the XL up against the highly rated $99.99 JBL Flip and the Oontz delivered significantly more bass and simply sounded like a bigger speaker. It also was significant step up from the company's own smaller Oontz ($49.99) and Oontz Angle ($39.99) speakers.

The buttons are all on the top of the speaker. Sarah Tew/CNET

Performance-wise, what holds the Oontz XL back is its level of clarity and it just doesn't have the widest soundstage. Products like the Big Jambox and the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II sound richer and more dynamic -- but they cost three times as much. (Cambridge SoundWorks is advertising it as "The $300 Portable, Wireless, Bluetooth Speaker on sale now for only $99.99," but it is not in the same league as most $300 speakers or even $200 speakers, for that matter).

The microphone for the built-in speakerphone. Sarah Tew/CNET

Volume on the speaker is pretty good, but this doesn't offer huge sound for its size. The engineers seem to have restrained the top volume a bit because of potential distortion problems at higher volumes, particularly when running a lot of bass through the speaker. An earlier unit I tested had some distortion issues at higher volumes -- it couldn't handle R. Kelly's "My Story" track, for example -- but the final shipping model I tested didn't have this problem (the "My Story" track didn't sound great, but at least it didn't break up).

Still, when you listen to this side-by-side with many other mini Bluetooth speakers, the Oontz is going to come out the clear winner. I liked it's straightforward styling and soft-to-touch finish (it does attract some fingerprints) and despite its simple design it manages to have enough style to avoid looking generic.

Side view of the speaker. Sarah Tew/CNET

Cambridge SoundWorks has also corrected one of the design mistakes it made with the smaller Oontz and Oontz Angle. Those models have a blue light in the middle of the speaker that some users found irritating. The Oontz XL, thankfully, leaves that off. And while a faint light on the Bluetooth button on top of the unit indicates that it is on, all the lighting seems purposely muted to the point where you might not even realize the Oontz is on.

Since this is a larger speaker, it requires an AC adapter for power and doesn't charge with a common Micro-USB charger (like the kind you use for a non-Apple smartphone). It's a little bit of a drawback because you can end up misplacing the AC adapter, but most larger speakers have this requirement.

A compartment on the back hides the power and USB charging ports along with the audio input. Sarah Tew/CNET

On the plus side, along with the standard audio input for connecting non-Bluetooth devices, there's a USB port on back that allows you to charge devices such as smartphones. I connected an iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy S4 and they charged fine (the speaker does have to be turned on to charge other devices, but it doesn't have to be plugged into the AC adapter).

Like with virtually all Bluetooth devices, I did get some hiccups in playback (the music cut out from time to time). As I've said in plenty of other reviews, most Bluetooth speakers -- particularly more modestly priced ones -- just don't sound fantastic, so you shouldn't expect the world from the Oontz XL. But comparatively speaking, the Oontz XL does sound good when put up against other speakers in this price range.

The back of the speaker. Sarah Tew/CNET

Conclusion
Due to its size, the Oontz XL isn't as portable as the mini Bluetooth speakers on the market, which fit more easily in a bag. But the Oontz XL does sound better than those smaller speakers and some larger speakers that cost more (for instance, it sounded better than the $150 Native Union Switch). I preferred the sound of the Bose SoundLink Mini and UE Boom, but those speakers cost twice as much.

The long and short of it is that this is a good-sounding speaker for its price, and its reasonably attractive design, decent battery, and a couple of extras -- the integrated speakerphone capabilities and the USB charging -- help round out the value equation. At $99.99, I have no problem recommending it, but if the price edges over $125, I'd be a little less enthusiastic about it.

7.8

Cambridge SoundWorks Oontz XL wireless Bluetooth speaker

Score Breakdown

Design 7Features 8Sound 7Value 8