Review: JBL PartyBox 100 Bluetooth Speaker

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The JBL PartyBox 100 is the latest portable, Bluetooth, party speaker from JBL. Boasting 160 Watts of power and 12-hour playback time, the PartyBox 100 is more than ready to get any party started – anywhere, anytime, or all day long (when you plug it in). Also included: two 5.25” woofers, two 2.25” tweeters, and a full light show with several RGB LED patterns to choose from and an off mode.

Feel like showing off your vocal talents or start a jam session? PartyBox 100’s Bluetooth connectivity and guitar/microphone input let every night be a karaoke night. And, if you’re really feeling wild (which you might once you hear and see what this speaker can do…), you can hardwire another powered speaker into the PartyBox 100 via the AUX input, OR – better yet – engage the TWS (True Wireless Stereo Mode) to connect up to 2 party speakers.

Unlike the other party speakers in the lineup, the PartyBox 100 is the ONLY PartyBox with an option to mount it on a post – making this speaker a versatile PA system for various occasions (e.g. charity event, kids party, tailgate).

Click here to shop the newer models of the JBL PartyBox Series.

Video Transcript

"Hi, everyone. It's Adam with World Wide Stereo. And today, we're going to have a lot of fun with the JBL PartyBox 100. ♪ [music] ♪So, the JBL PartyBox 100 is a fourth member to the line and it's a smaller version of the 300 which is to my right over here. They both have the RGB lights that go around and they have the flashing strobes that are on top and bottom here.

This guy has two. The 300 does have four. Both of these speakers are Bluetooth speakers. They're awesome at that. They also have a USB input on the back, so if you have music on that, you can stick it right into the back and it'll play beautifully for you. And they also can connect a guitar or microphone to them. You do get some different battery lengths out of these as they are battery operated.

You've got about 12 hours here and you're going to get about 18 hours over here. They also weigh differently. You have 25 pounds here and 35 pounds here. I also did notice, again, they are battery operated but if you plug them in, they seem to have a little bit extra bass. The bass is stronger. So, if you have an outlet, I would recommend doing that if it's outside, but if no outlet is available, you can solely rely on the battery and it'll sound great.

So, now, let's look at the JBL 100 a little closer. First of all, it's obviously smaller. So, this is a nice compact unit, something I think you can carry around a little bit easier. It still lights up in the front so when you're doing your party at night, or you're tailgating, or whatever, you know, it lights up really nice. It adds some party factor and some fun factor to your night. It has two 5 1/4 inch woofers and two 2 1/2 inch tweeters.

So, another thing that I think that really separates this guy from the pack is on the bottom, you have a pole mount. Now, this is something you may have seen if you had a DJ at a wedding when their speakers are kind of out there and they're sitting on those big stands, you can do that with this speaker. So, it makes setting it up outside really, really nice. So, along with the pole mount, you can also stand this speaker straight up on the bottom, or as you see, you can put it on its side.

It can be oriented in any way and it's going to sound great. So, the other nice thing about the JBL PartyBox speakers is that you can pair more than one. Now, you are limited to two and they call it a true wireless stereo hook up, so you can have a left and a right speaker, and set it up and get great stereo sound. Now, you can do that wirelessly, but also on the back, you can do that with a wired connection as well.

On the back, you get an analog audio input but you also get an output, so you can run a cable from here to another one in case the distance between the two starts to get too far apart and the wireless doesn't reach, you can actually put a wire between those and still get great coverage and great sound. So, on the top of the unit, you'll find your volume up and down, you can control your playing and pausing of your music if you're Bluetoothing music to it.

You have a Bass Boost button to kind of increase the bass or back it off if you think it's too much. On the other side, you have your power button, and your Bluetooth pairing button, and your light control button. Now, the Bluetooth button, you just press and release and that'll send out the pairing signal so you can connect it to your device, your phone, your tablet, whatever. To do the stereo pairing, you press and hold it for five seconds, and the other one for five seconds, and then they'll link together, and you'll get that true wireless stereo pairing.

So, I mentioned before you can use this as a guitar amplifier or also sing into it with a microphone. On the back, you'll find those inputs and they're standard 1/4-inch jacks to 1/4-inch instrument cables. So, just make sure that you have the appropriate-sized cable for that. And you have two gain controls or volume controls so if you need your guitar to be a little bit louder and your microphone a little bit quieter or vice versa, you have those controls on the back and that's separate from the overall volume which you'll find on the top to raise and lower the volume of the speaker.

All the inputs on the back of this are really hot at all times, so much so that you can go onto, you know, a site and grab a karaoke mix, and Bluetooth that to here, and then plug in your guitar and your microphone, and just play along with it all. So, you can have karaoke every single night with one of these guys. You have three different modes for these lights that you see going around here and you just change it by pressing the Light button on the top.

One of the modes is off so if you don't want the lights on, you can shut them all the way off, but they have three different patterns that the lights can do and they tend to change based on the bass that you hear coming out of the music, so it's a lot of fun. I like having them on, but if you need them off, you can also shut them off. So, the JBL PartyBox 100 is, first and foremost, it's a badass Bluetooth speaker.

I love this. It's going to be great for your parties with the lights. It's just an awesome speaker. But it doesn't stop there. The versatility of this product is fantastic. Plug your guitar, your microphone into it, set it up at a coffee shop, you have your own little PA system for your band. It's great.

Maybe you need to do some announcement at a raffle or a bingo night, plug your microphone in and it's a great speaker to help project your voice out there, playing some background music and then talking on top of it. There's so much that you can do with this speaker. I love this product. Thank you, JBL. So, this is the JBL PartyBox 100. It'll be available online at worldwidestereo.com. Or if you happen to be in the area, you can stop by our Ardmore or Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania showrooms.

We offer free shipping, a 60-day return policy, and we're authorized dealers for everything that we sell. If you have any questions or comments about this, you can leave that in the section below or please call or email us at any time. Please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel. This is Adam with World Wide Stereo reminding you to listen to music every day. So long."