JBL just announced its largest-ever battery-powered party speaker

JBL just announced the PartyBox 720, which is an extremely chonky party speaker. As a matter of fact, it’s the company’s largest-ever battery-powered party speaker. The thing is bigger than many human children.

It boasts 800W of power with up to 15 hours of playtime via a replaceable battery. There are two 9-inch woofers and a pair of 30mm dome tweeters, which should provide for robust audio. The company has included its proprietary AI Sound Boost technology, which increases audio without distortion.

The PartyBox offers multi-speaker connectivity via Auracast and USB-C connectivity for streaming audio directly from a device. The speaker also creates a “futuristic lightshow” that syncs to the music, which is always fun.

This being a device intended for soirees, it also boasts a pair of XLR ports for connecting microphones, guitars or DJ consoles. The company says the speaker will “bring karaoke sessions to life.”

However, modern party speakers are expensive. This one costs $1,099. That’s cheaper than Marshall’s recently-announced $1,300 model^[1], but still pricey. Pre-orders are open right now, with shipments going out on September 21.

JBL also announced the Boombox 4, which is an iterative update of the Boombox 3. We liked the previous model and it almost made our list of the best portable Bluetooth speakers^[2]. This one features the same AI Sound Boost tech as the PartyBox, for louder audio without distortion.

It’s nearly two pounds lighter than the predecessor, so it should be easy to carry out to the front lawn like that one scene in Say Anything. It’s IP68 water and dustproof and integrates with Auracast for linking to other speakers. It includes a replaceable battery that can go up to 28 hours before requiring a trip to the outlet.

Pre-orders for the Boombox 4 are open right now. It costs $550 and is available in three colorways. The speaker ships on September 28.