The JBL Boombox 2 is a mid-sized speaker that's fairly suitable for most uses. Its mid and treble ranges are fairly well balanced, so it can clearly reproduce vocals and lead instruments. However, it lacks a bit of low bass, so you may not feel the deep thump and rumble of bass-heavy genres like EDM. Although it's fairly bulky, it's quite portable thanks to its carrying handle. Its battery also lasts almost 24 hours, and it has an IPX7 rating for water resistance, though we don't currently test for this. It can get quite loud, but there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. Unfortunately, it doesn't have voice assistant capabilities.
Our Verdict
The JBL Boombox 2 is decent for music. Although it lacks a bit of low-bass, its mid and treble ranges are well-balanced, so vocals and lead instruments reproduce clearly. There's a graphic EQ in its companion app, which you can use to tweak its sound to your liking. It can also get quite loud, although there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. It can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono, resulting in an immersive-sounding soundstage.
- Well-balanced sound profile.
- Can get quite loud.
- Graphic EQ.
- Lacks a bit of low-bass.
- Somewhat narrow soundstage.
- Compression artifacts present at max volume.
The JBL Boombox 2 is unremarkable for videos and movies. Its latency with iOS and Android devices is low, so it's suitable for watching videos. Unfortunately, it lacks some low-bass, so you might not feel the thump and deep rumble in action-packed movie scenes. However, it has a well-balanced mid-range that can clearly reproduce dialogue.
- Low latency with Bluetooth.
- Graphic EQ.
- Lacks a bit of low-bass.
- Compression artifacts present at max volume.
The JBL Boombox 2 is good for podcasts. It has a well-balanced mid-range that can clearly reproduce dialogue. This speaker can get quite loud, although there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. Its soundstage is also somewhat directional, so audio is perceived as a bit narrow. That said, it's very portable, so you can bring it with you from room to room.
- Well-balanced sound profile.
- Very portable.
- Supports multi-device pairing.
- Graphic EQ.
- Somewhat narrow soundstage.
- Compression artifacts present at max volume.
The JBL Boombox 2 doesn't have voice assistant support.
The JBL Boombox 2 is decent for outdoor use. It has an IPX7 rating for water resistance, though we don't currently test for this. Its battery can also last for almost 24 hours, which is very useful if you want to take it on longer excursions where you don't have access to an outlet. Although it can get quite loud, there are some compression artifacts present at max volume, and the soundstage can be perceived as narrow, so it doesn't feel very immersive.
- 24-hour battery life.
- Well-balanced sound profile.
- Very portable.
- IPX7 rating for water resistance.
- Can get quite loud.
- Lacks a bit of low-bass.
- Somewhat narrow soundstage.
- Compression artifacts present at max volume.
Changelog
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Updated Sep 23, 2025:
We've removed a comparison in the Dynamics box that indicated that this speaker can get louder than the subsequent generation JBL Boombox 3.
- Updated Dec 19, 2022: Changed Track Next/Previous from No to Forward Only (Physical).
- Updated Oct 21, 2022: Added a comparison to the next generation JBL Boombox 3 in the 'Frequency Response Accuracy', 'Dynamics', and 'Compared To Other Speakers' boxes.
- Updated Aug 11, 2022: Added a comparison with the Sony SRS-XG300 in the 'Portability' box.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The JBL Boombox 2 comes in 'Black' and 'Camo' color variants. The 'Camo' variant has a green handle, and the fabric around the speaker's body has a camouflage pattern. We tested the 'Black' variant, and you can see the label for the model we tested here. We expect both variants to perform similarly in tests.
If you come across a version not listed here, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The JBL Boombox 2 is a mid-sized speaker that's well-suited to playing music. It has a fairly well-balanced sound profile, although it lacks a bit of low-bass, and doesn't produce as deep a bass as the next-generation JBL Boombox 3. It has an exceptionally long battery life, and it can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono. While it can get quite loud, there are some compression artifacts present at max volume. It has an IPX7 rating for water resistance, though we don't currently test for this. Thanks to its carrying handle on top, It's very portable, although it's somewhat heavy.
See also our recommendations for the best home speakers, the best Bluetooth speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers for bass.
The JBL Boombox 3 is a better speaker than the JBL Boombox 2. The Boombox 3 produces a noticeably deeper bass than its predecessor and offers a more balanced sound profile overall. While it doesn't get as loud, it has significantly less compression present at max volume, resulting in cleaner and clearer-sounding audio when you max out the volume. It also has a longer-lasting battery life of almost 30 hours from a single charge, and it's better built.
The JBL PartyBox Encore Essential is a better speaker than the JBL Boombox 2 for parties. The Encore Essential can produce a more extended low-bass with its Bass Boost feature set to 'Deep', and has party features like a mic input with its own gain knob and a customizable RGB light ring. It's also compatible with the JBL PartyBox app you can use to access extra sound effects and light show effects of the speaker. If you're looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker to take outdoors with you, the Boombox 2 is a bit lighter and is better built with an IPX7 rating for water resistance. It also has a significantly longer-lasting battery life of almost 24 hours. It gets a touch louder, with slightly less compression at max volume, and has a slightly wider-sounding soundstage, though these slight differences aren't too noticeable.
The JBL Boombox 2 is a better speaker than the JBL PartyBox On-The-Go. The Boombox 2 has a more neutral sound profile, and it can get slightly louder with less compression present at max volume. While the On-The-Go is rated IPX4 for water resistance, the Boombox 2 has an IPX7 rating. It also lasts close to 24 hours on a single charge, while the On-The-Go only lasts around 4.5 hours. However, the On-The-Go has Mic-in and Guitar-in ports, which are useful for musicians.
The JBL Boombox 2 is a better speaker than the JBL Xtreme 3. The Boombox 2 has a better-balanced sound profile and built-in voice assistant support for Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can tweak its sound using the bass/treble adjustment sliders on its companion app. It also supports Wi-Fi. However, the Xtreme 3 has lower Bluetooth latency on iOS and Android.
Test Results
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