Why You Can Trust CNET The Sony SRS-XB40 Bluetooth speakers want to party
The company's new Extra Bass Series portable speakers not only output sound but feature flashy LED lighting effects.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Due out this spring, Sony's new XB Series Bluetooth speakers feature lighting effects and can be linked together.
Sony's upcoming Bluetooth speakers may be under its Extra Bass brand, but they aren't all about the bass.
Three of the four new speakers -- the SRS-XB40, SRS-XB-30 and SRS-XB20 -- have special lighting effects, with the two top end models delivering "club-like lighting effects with an LED perimeter line-light, a strobe flash and speaker light."
Shop for Sony SRS-XB40 (Black)
See all prices
The line-light creates multicolor patterns, ranging from pure white to rainbow, and you can have the lighting synchronize with the rhythm of the beat, matching the music's mood.
You use Sony's SongPal app on your phone or tablet to start music playback, turn on/off the speaker lighting and add a speaker (you can link up to 10 speakers, mixing and matching models, and pair two together is stereo mode). The Fiestable app, for the SRS-XB40 only, gives you DJ-like controls for lighting and colors. Sweet.
The flagship SRS-XB40.
The grenade-size SRS-XB10 is the smallest and basic of the new speakers but Sony is touting its ability to play loud for its size and its long battery life of up 16 hours (that's a lot for a tiny speaker). It's the only one of the speakers that can't be linked up to the other speakers in the line.
All the speakers are splash-resistant with a IPX51 rating and have speakerphone capabilities. The XB40, XB30 and XB10 can be stood vertically or laid down horizontally.
The new speakers are due out this spring and Sony hasn't provided pricing information yet. As soon as we flush out more details, we'll add them to our preview.
The compact SRS-XB10 comes in multiple colors, as do all the new speakers.
