Portable music devices have come a long way from radios and boomboxes to compact pocket players and portable speakers. Recently in the editorial office GameMAG.ru a representative of the latter came to the test, or rather a portable speaker from LG – model XBOOM Go PL7… The minimum price for this device in Russia at the time of this writing was 6990 rubles…
PACKAGING AND COMPLETE SET
XBOOM Go PL7 is presented to the market in two colors – black (PL7) and white (PL7W). It comes in a rectangular box made of heavy cardboard. The front side in white shows the speaker itself, its full name and information that it uses technology from Meridian. The rest of the packaging is blue – with images of XBOOM Go PL7, various logos and information about the main chips. There is also a plastic handle on top of the box for easy portability.
Inside, you will find a column that lies neatly in protective textured foam and wrapped in expanded polyethylene. Below is the USB Type-A to USB Type-C charging cable, warranty card and quick start guide in 4 languages.
APPEARANCE, CONNECTORS AND BUTTONS
The wireless speaker is made in the form of a horizontal cylinder, and its dimensions are 98 × 245 × 98 mm. The XBOOM Go PL7 is quite heavy, weighing 1.46 kg. The body is covered with a matte rubber surface, thanks to which the column does not slip out of hands, but due to its round shape and weight it is inconvenient to hold it with one hand, and there are no handles or mounts for a shoulder strap on it.
The XBOOM Go PL7 is splash-proof to IPX5. On the front side there is a perforation behind which two speakers are hidden, and subwoofers with built-in LED backlighting are installed on the sides at an angle. At the bottom of the column there is a slightly flattened part, which acts as a leg, and on a hard surface, with a light touch, you cannot fold it forward or backward. On the back there is an embossed XBOOM lettering.
In addition, behind the speaker there is a compartment with connectors and additional function buttons, which are closed with a thick rubber cap. Here you will find buttons for multi-play and dual-mode modes, as well as LED lighting controls on the sides on the subwoofers. In addition, there is also an input for charging USB Type-C, an AUX connector for wired connection of a 3.5 mm speaker, a Reset button and a USB Type-A output for charging gadgets with an output power of 5V – 1.5A.
Above is the control unit, where the following buttons and LEDs are located: a charge level indicator, a power button, a Bluetooth enable button for connecting with devices, a minus and plus buttons to control the volume level, a play / pause button, and also enable Sound Boost mode. There are also LEDs above the power buttons, Bluetooth and Sound Boost. The speaker also has a built-in microphone that allows you to answer incoming calls hands-free.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Output Power: 30W
- Number of channels: 2
- Woofer / Subwoofer: 2 x 2.3 inches
- Resistance: 4 ohm
- Built-in microphone: yes
- Connection: wired 3.5 mm, Bluetooth 5.0
- Bluetooth codec support: SBC, AAC
- Audio Modes: Standard, Boost (Sound Boost)
- Battery capacity: 3900mAh
CONNECTION AND CONTROL
The connection here is pretty standard. You just need to turn on the speaker and at the first start it will immediately go into pairing mode (the indicator above the Bluetooth button will blink). All that remains is to find the XBOOM Go PL7 among the available devices in the Bluetooth settings of your phone or other device. To re-enable the pairing mode, you must hold down the Bluetooth button for 2 seconds – and you can connect the speaker to another device. By the way, 2 devices can simultaneously connect to XBOOM Go PL7 via Bluetooth.
The on / off button here serves not only for its direct purpose, but also helps to find out the approximate battery level. If you hold it down for a couple of seconds when the device is turned on, the charge level indicator diode on the left will light up in the appropriate color depending on the charge level. If it is green, then the charge is more than 70%, if it is orange, then more than 10%, and in red – less than 10.
When adjusting the sound, you can either pinch the buttons or press them several times. When the maximum or minimum point is reached, the corresponding signal will be heard from the speaker.
The play and pause button in this device is also used to switch tracks. If you quickly press twice on the button, then you will switch to the next track, and three times – to the previous one. By holding down the same button for 2 seconds, you activate the voice assistant on your phone.
Also on the main panel there is a button for activating the enhanced sound mode Sound Boost. The LED above the button indicates the activation / deactivation of this mode.
As mentioned above, in the rear compartment you will find not only connectors, but also three more buttons. The first on the left is responsible for the multiplayer mode. With this feature, more than two speakers can be paired together. There are two LEDs above the button. The first one indicates that this speaker is the main one and it is directly paired with a phone or other device. The second button activates dual mode, which allows you to use two speakers in stereo playback. One column becomes left, and the second paired with the first becomes right, or vice versa. The last button is responsible for the selection of the lighting effect on the subwoofers. There are five positions available: party, water, forest, my style (custom setting) and off.
SOFT
For more convenient control and detailed customization of this speaker on Android and iOS, the official LG XBOOM application is available. All functions that are activated via buttons are presented here, but more clearly.
On the main page of the application, you will see not only an image of the connected speaker, but also more accurate information about the battery charge (in 10% increments). You will also find here a menu with Wireless Party Link modes (dual mode and multiplayer), you can switch the speaker mode (Bluetooth or AUX), switch the sound effect (between standard and Sound Boost) and adjust the lighting effect, where the developers let you create your own custom version … In particular, you can customize the colors you want, the switching speed and the synchronization with the RGB effect music. In addition, the application has a built-in audio player that instantly finds all songs from the device’s memory and allows you to sort them according to different characteristics (performers, songs, genres, and so on), as well as create your own playlists. Also, through the application settings, you can update the speaker’s firmware, enable gestures, control from multiple devices at the same time, activate automatic music playback and power management.
SOUND AND COMMUNICATION QUALITY
The sound of this speaker is very loud and powerful, and it justifies its name XBOOM. Compositions of various genres sound great, including those with a complex scene. The XBOOM Go PL7 is capable of purely reproducing not only compositions with an emphasis on low frequencies, but also orchestral works with an abundance of various instruments. However, at maximum volume, slight distortion is sometimes felt. For added stage immersion, it features Sound Boost, which was created by the professionals at Meridian Audio, a high-quality audio equipment manufacturer. It adds depth, treble and overall stage volume. The effect proved to be excellent not only during music playback, but also when watching movies and playing games.
This speaker easily connected to an Android phone, LG smart TV and PlayStation 5 via a third-party Bluetooth receiver. The transmission quality during the test, when the signal source and the speaker were in the same room, was within normal limits and no disconnections or interference were observed. In addition, there were no problems when the signal source (smartphone) was removed at a distance of 5-6 meters behind a thick reinforced concrete wall.
BATTERY AND AUTONOMY
The XBOOM Go PL7 has a 3900mAh battery. According to the manufacturer, it can play music for up to 24 hours. Since the speaker is positioned as a party device, during the test we listened to music on it at a volume level of 70 to 100% with the backlight always on and switched between the standard profile and Sound Boost. And as a result we got the total time around 15 hours. If you do not use the backlight and Sound Boost, and also limit the volume to 50%, then I think that it will be able to live on one full charge for 24 hours. A full charge takes about 5 hours.
TOTAL
XBOOM Go PL7 is an excellent portable speaker with good sound quality, long battery life and fashionable design. At gatherings and parties, she will be able to attract attention not only with a cool sound, but also with built-in lighting. All that is lacking is support for HD-codecs, although, perhaps, they are not needed here, since usually these devices are used in tandem with services like Spotify and Yandex.Music, where the quality is by no means lossless. But for this money, you are unlikely to find a fresh model with aptX now.
Author: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs)
Photo: Alexey Olkin…
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