Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you

Soundboks packs a big sound in a small-ish speaker to “Go”

Every company has a speaker or three, but a company with very few has something semi-compact and yet very premium, arriving in the “Go”.

There’s clearly no shortage of ways to take your sound with you on the go, whether it’s to bring a portable speaker or just to hold your phone above you blaring the sound using onboard speakers as if you were John Cusack from Say Anything… except made modern.

While the phone option isn’t likely to deliver the best experience, the availability of portable speakers means anyone can take their sound to go in a bigger way, even if they’re not all created equal. Some speakers are clearly better than others, and the bigger you go, the more likely you are to get more volume, and maybe even more battery life.

Denmark’s Soundboks has been tackling the idea of big Bluetooth speakers practically since it launched in 2015, and while Australia first received its gear last year in the sizeable Soundboks Bluetooth Performance Speaker, this year’s “Go” edition is a little more portable. A little more, anyway.

The big speaker was truly big, resembling more a loudspeaker from an amplifier that you might see at a gig or performance, while this one, the Soundboks Go Speaker is large, but obviously less large than the previous model.

With the big model weighing 15 kilograms, the Go sits in at just under 9 kilograms, which is smaller, even if it’s not as small as say a Sonos Roam, or even a Sonos Move. Still bigger again, the Soundboks Go packs in two 72-watt Class D amps and up to 80 hours of battery life on a single charge, while also supporting a battery that can be swapped out to keep the sound going even when that 80 hours ticks over to 81 and beyond.

It’s still a bit of a big boy and not made for backpacks, but rather backseats, with a design that is splash-resistant and somewhat durable, and can be strapped in using cables or carried by strap or handle.

“The Soundboks Go provides a new level of sound performance that has not been seen in the current Bluetooth speaker market with a speaker of this size,” said Jesper Thiel Thomsen, Co-Founder of Soundboks.

“We are redefining what it means to be together and how we can share musical experiences without being in the same room,” he said.

One thing you might be surprised about is the price in Australia, which sees the Soundboks Go fetch a tag made to match the size of the speaker, which means it’s bigger than you may expect. As such, you can expect to find the Soundboks Go for $1099 when it launches near the end of the month on April 26.

The batteries are replaceable on the Soundboks Go.
The batteries are replaceable on the Soundboks Go.
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