The Sony SRS-XG300 is a smaller version of the Sony SRS-XG500. It has a similar design to its more premium cousin, with RGB lights built into the ends of its body. This smaller model is easier to bring on the go and has a built-in retractable handle. It's also compatible with Sony's Fiestable app, which lets you access extra party features of the speaker, like DJ and light effects. That said, unlike the SRS-XG500, it doesn't come with mic and guitar inputs to wire external instruments to the speaker.
Our Verdict
The Sony XG300 is alright for music. With its 'MEGA BASS' preset enabled, it has a boomy overall sound profile that adds extra warmth and punch to the mix. It's still suitable for listening to most music genres, from EDM to classical. You can customize its sound profile thanks to the graphic EQ and presets in its companion app. This speaker also gets pretty loud, though there's compression present at max volume that degrades audio quality.
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Graphic EQ and presets.
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Gets loud.
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Lacks some low-bass.
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A lot of compression at max volume.
The Sony XG300 isn't bad for videos. It's not really meant for watching movies, but you can always check out a video on a paired smartphone. Latency with iOS and Android devices is low over Bluetooth, so you don't notice lip-synching issues. Dialogue reproduces clearly, but you don't get the deep thump and rumble in the bass like with larger home theater speakers.
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Gets loud.
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Low Bluetooth latency with iOS and Android devices.
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Lacks some low-bass.
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A lot of compression at max volume.
The Sony XG300 is good for podcasts. It's incredibly portable, so you can easily move your favorite podcasts and audiobooks from room to room. It also gets pretty loud, so you can still hear your podcast from across a large room. Its balanced mid-range ensures voices and dialogue sound clear and present in the mix, though higher-pitched voices and sounds sometimes sound dark.
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Graphic EQ and presets.
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Gets loud.
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Incredibly portable.
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A lot of compression at max volume.
The Sony XG300 is poor for voice assistants. Since it has no built-in voice assistants, it uses your paired smartphone's voice assistants. However, the speaker struggles to register your commands, even from up close. That said, it did a better job of understanding commands in noisier settings.
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Gets loud.
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A lot of compression at max volume.
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Poor far-field performance.
The Sony XG300 is very good for outdoor use. It's incredibly portable and has a retractable handle to help you carry it in one hand when heading outside. It's rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, meaning it's certified to be fully dust-tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes, so you don't need to worry about it getting wet when listening to your favorite tunes by the pool. Its long-lasting battery life of over 14 hours also makes it great for long listening sessions spent outdoors.
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IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
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Graphic EQ and presets.
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Gets loud.
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Incredibly portable.
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Lacks some low-bass.
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A lot of compression at max volume.
- 6.9 Music
- 6.3 Videos/Movies
- 7.5 Podcasts
- 4.7 Voice Assistant
- 7.8 Outdoors
- Updated Oct 11, 2023: Added market comparison with the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM in the Frequency Response Accuracy box.
- Updated Sep 15, 2023: Updated the review text for clarity. No changes in test results.
- Updated Aug 17, 2023: Updated the Portability picture for greater clarity and consistency between reviews.
- Updated Aug 11, 2022: Review published.
- Updated Aug 08, 2022: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 02, 2022: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jul 29, 2022: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 25, 2022: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Sony XG300 comes in two color variants: Black and Light Gray. This review represents the test results for the Light Gray variant, though they're both expected to perform similarly. You can see its label here.
If you encounter any other variants, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Speakers
The Sony XG300 is a smaller version of the Sony SRS-XG500 with RGB lights. Unlike the Sony XG500, it doesn't have mic and guitar inputs to wire your external instruments to the speaker. It's more portable thanks to its smaller and more lightweight design. Its handle is also retractable, so it takes up less space. Like other Sony party speakers we've tested, it's compatible with Sony's Fiestable app, which allows you to access extra party features of the speaker, like DJ and light effects.
See also our recommendations for the best portable Bluetooth speakers, the best Bluetooth speakers, and the best speakers for parties.
The Sony SRS-XG300 is better than the JBL Xtreme 3 overall. You can use the Sony speaker to answer and reject phone calls, and it supports voice assistants via your paired smartphone. It comes with customizable RGB lights. It's compatible with Sony's Fiestable app, which lets you access extra party features of the speaker. It also has lower Bluetooth latency with iOS and Android devices, making it better suited for watching videos and movies. Some apps compensate for latency differently, and your experience may vary. That said, the JBL offers a better-balanced sound profile overall.
The Sony SRS-XG300 is a more versatile speaker than the Sony SRS-XG500 overall. You can use the XG300 to answer and reject phone calls, and it supports voice assistants through your smartphone. It's smaller and lighter too, making it more portable. That said, if you're looking for a portable speaker to bring to your next party, the XG500 is the better choice. It can produce a slightly more extended low-bass and comes with mic and guitar inputs you can use to wire your external instruments to the speaker. It also has a longer-lasting battery life of almost 26 hours from a single charge, so the speaker doesn't die on you in the middle of your party.
The Sony SRS-XG300 is a slightly better speaker than the Sony SRS-XB43, though not by much. The XG300's sound profile is slightly more balanced and has a wider-sounding soundstage. It also gets a touch louder. The XB43's battery life lasted almost an hour longer in our tests, though this varies depending on your chosen volume levels and settings. Overall, the differences between the two speakers are pretty minor, so unless you're very particular about your speaker's sound, the XB43 offers similar performance at a more affordable price.
The Sony SRS-XG300 and the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM each have different strengths. The Sony has a boombox-style design, and it lets you pair with voice assistants from your smartphone. Its battery life is longer-lasting, too. However, its sound quality isn't as good as the Ultimate Ears, which has a better soundstage. Plus, the Ultimate Ears has more sound customization tools, like a room correction feature called Adaptive EQ.
The Ultimate Ears HYPERBOOM is a better speaker than the Sony SRS-XG300 overall. The Ultimate Ears can get louder with significantly less compression present at max volume, so audio quality is clearer and cleaner when the volume is maxed out. Its sound profile is more balanced with its room correction feature enabled. It also has a longer-lasting battery life of almost 24 hours. That said, the Sony is smaller and lighter, making it easier to bring along with you on the go. It supports voice assistants through your smartphone, though its performance isn't great. It's also battery built with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance that certifies it to be dust tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes.
The JBL Boombox 2 is a better speaker for music than the Sony SRS-XG300 overall. The JBL has a better-balanced sound profile out of the box and can produce a slightly more extended low-bass. It also gets a bit louder with slightly less compression present at max volume. Its battery life lasts significantly longer, making it better suited for longer listening sessions. That said, the Sony is better built and is smaller, making it more portable. You can use it to accept and reject phone calls, and it supports voice assistants through your smartphone. It comes with customizable RGB lights and is compatible with Sony's Fiestable app to access extra party features and effects.
Test Results
This speaker is a smaller version of the Sony SRS-XG500. Like the XG500, this cylindrical speaker is tightly wrapped in fabric and has RGB lights surrounding its passive radiators on the side. Passive radiators are designed to bring a deeper and more powerful bass, which is a nice touch. The speaker also comes with a built-in retractable handle. You can find it in Black and Light gray.
The Sony XG300 is incredibly portable. This lightweight speaker comes with a retractable carrying handle to help you transport it. It's battery-powered, so it doesn't need to remain wired to a power source to work.
The Sony XG300's build quality is very good. The speaker feels solid overall, and its retractable handle is sturdy and smooth. It's rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, meaning it's certified to be fully dust-tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes, so you don't need to worry about it getting wet outdoors. There's a flap on its rear to protect its ports that seals tightly. The rest of the speaker is tightly wrapped in fabric.
The Sony XG300 offers a good selection of easy-to-use texturized controls:
- Power button: Press to power the speaker on/off.
- Bluetooth button: Press to enter Bluetooth pairing mode.
- MEGA BASS button: Press to turn the MEGA BASS preset on/off. Hold to enable its 'Stamina' mode when the battery's running low.
- Play/pause button: Press once to play/pause or answer/reject incoming calls. Double-press to skip to the next track, and triple-press to return to the previous track. Hold to activate the voice assistant on your paired smartphone.
- Volume buttons: Press to raise/lower the volume.
There are indicator lights to inform you of the speaker's status and which features are enabled. This speaker emits an audible cue when it's in Bluetooth pairing mode. When you reach its minimum or maximum volume, the power button's light blinks three times. The charge light also slowly flashes orange when the battery's running low. A battery button on the rear also lets you know the speaker's approximate battery level. Also, on the rear, there's a light button you can use to turn the RGB lights on and off.
This speaker has a slightly boomy sound profile. The overemphasis in the high-bass range adds extra warmth and boom to the mix. Its mid-range is mostly balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix. However, the underemphasis in the treble range causes higher-pitched vocals and instruments to sound dull and veiled at times. It also lacks some low-bass, especially compared to the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy music. Fortunately, you can customize its sound profile to your liking thanks to the graphic EQ and presets featured in its companion app, though it isn't enough to add much thump and rumble to the mix.
Note: The Sony XG300 was tested with its 'MEGA BASS' preset enabled and its ClearAudio+ feature turned on. ClearAudio+ is a feature advertised to adjust the speaker's sound field according to what you're listening to. This feature turns on automatically when 'MEGA BASS' is selected.
This speaker can playback stereo content without downmixing it into mono, which is great since most music is mixed into stereo in the first place. That said, the speaker's directivity is mediocre. Sound isn't consistent all the way around the speaker, so it's not really suitable for use in the center of a large gathering like a picnic.
The speaker has a decent dynamics performance. It gets loud enough to fill large areas with sound. However, a lot of compression is present at max volume, so your audio doesn't sound as clean and clear at max volume.
The manufacturer advertises that its battery lasts around 25 hours from a single charge when the volume is at level 19 and its RGB lights are off. With its volume at level 30 and its RGB lights on, it could last over 14 hours on a single charge during the testing process. It's great news if you don't like to regularly charge your speaker and enjoy longer listening sessions. There's also a power-saving mode Sony calls 'Auto Standby', which you can enable in the app, that shuts the speaker off following 15 minutes of inactivity.
Since there are no built-in assistants, this speaker uses the assistants from your paired smartphone. We use recorded voice commands as part of the methodology to test the speaker's voice assistant performance. During these tests, the speaker struggles to register these commands, even when you're close to the speaker. However, it doesn't have much trouble understanding the slightly louder recorded commands in noisier settings. That said, while this isn't part of the testing process, like many Sony speakers we've tested, it could still understand commands from a normal speaking voice. If you're looking for a Sony speaker that does a better job registering commands, check out the Sony SRS-XE200.
The Sony SRS-XG300's Sony Music Center app is very good. It features a graphic EQ and presets, so you can customize its sound profile to your liking. You can customize its RGB lights and can access Sony's Fiestable app, which lets you access extra party features of the speaker, like DJ (Isolator/Flanger/Wah/Pan) and light effects. You can also use the app to connect the speaker to other compatible devices when you want to create a stereo pair or when you want to amplify your audio across a larger area.
Like other Sony speakers we've tested, there are a few power-saving and battery-protection features. There's a 'Stamina' mode you can enable in the app, which significantly reduces the bass in your audio to lengthen the speaker's battery life when it's low. When you charge the speaker, you can enable its 'Battery Care' feature to protect and optimize its battery performance in the long run. This feature suppresses the speaker's charge amount to 90% when you charge it fully. You can also enable a power-saving feature Sony calls 'Auto Standby' mode that automatically turns the speaker off following 15 minutes of inactivity.
Aside from its charging port, this speaker comes with an AUX input to wire your devices to the speaker. You can also use the USB-A port to charge devices like your phone via the speaker. You can't use the USB-A port to play back audio.
Over Bluetooth, you can pair up to two devices to the speaker simultaneously, making switching between audio sources easy. It has an outstanding range, so your paired devices remain connected to the speaker, even from far away. Also, it has low latency with iOS and Android devices, so you won't notice many syncing issues when using the speaker to watch videos and movies. Still, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience can vary.