Sony SRS-XV900 is the latest offering of a quite sizable wireless speaker from Sony. How does it perform in practice, and is it worth buying? Find out in today’s review.
First Impressions
The speaker is quite large and heavy, weighing close to 27 kilograms, which is the first thing that caught my eye. It’s not easy to carry it from place to place, and if you live in an apartment on the top floor without an elevator, I immediately sympathize with you for having to carry it up the stairs. Sony equipped the XV900 with two tiny wheels on the bottom base to make moving the speaker easier. However, with such a heavy device, shifting and tilting it can be quite cumbersome. The solution proposed in the JBL Partybox 310 was much better, where we had much larger transport wheels and even a retractable handle like a travel suitcase.
I must admit that I liked the appearance of the speaker. It is cylindrical with distinctive notches. The casing is also made of good-quality, well-fitted elements. The speaker doesn’t look cheap, and it certainly isn’t. At the time of writing this review, it costs almost 1000 euro.
The top of the casing has a unique, dual-sided extended handle. Inside it, the manufacturer concealed LED lighting. In the middle of the casing, there are functional buttons on the touch panel. We have options for quick BT pairing, optical output for connecting to a TV, audio input and USB, Mega Bass function, basic control buttons like play, pause, volume up, and volume down, as well as the ability to turn on and off the lighting and control its color. The color represents 5 different indicators. Additional lighting settings are available in the Sony Music Center app.
Back of Sony SRS-XV900
Here, the manufacturer hid two modules. The first one placed higher is for connecting a guitar and microphone. There is also the aforementioned optical, audio, and USB input. The USB socket allows not only music playback but also charging our mobile devices. On the bottom of the device, there is a hidden socket for charging the speaker itself.
Front of the Device
The X-Balanced Speaker low-frequency unit is almost rectangular. The membrane is 320×320 mm in size and reproduces clean and deep bass. It is supported by two mid-range speakers and 6 high-frequency speakers – 2 in the front, two in the back (actually on top), and two on the sides of the device. Here comes an unpleasant surprise. The device does not use all the high-frequency speakers at once. They all only play when connected via the optical cable to the TV. In music playback or using BT mode, two remain inactive.
Sony SRS-XV900 in Practice
I had no trouble pairing the speaker with my smartphone. After activating the pairing mode, the entire process was done automatically in just a short moment. Additional features of the device, such as sound correction, pairing additional speakers, or more precise control of lighting, can be managed through the Sony Music Center app. Additionally, the Fiestable overlay allows you to use party features such as gesture control or DJ effects. The speaker supports A2DP, AVRCP, and SPP profiles and is compatible with SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs.
Battery
A fully charged battery allows for up to 25 hours of music playback. 10 minutes of charging already provides 3 hours of playtime. However, this time depends on various factors, such as using the lighting, boosting the bass, or the set volume. Interestingly, similar to the JBL Partybox 310, connecting external power significantly increases the device’s power and improves sound quality.
Sound Quality
What is the music power of the Sony SRS-XV900? In truth, it is not known because the manufacturer does not provide this information, so stores also skip this parameter. The speakers cover the frequency range from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. So on paper, it’s ideal, but how is it in reality? The speaker is really… loud. It almost gives the impression that it doesn’t like when music is played too quietly on it. With each increase in volume, it sounds better. High tones are well audible and do not dominate over the whole sound. The midrange handles most music genres excellently. The bass can go deep, but it’s best to place the XV900 closer to a wall to increase the acoustic pressure slightly. Certainly, this device will handle party sound in an outdoor setting or in a large room. I like high-quality music, and Sony finally didn’t disappoint me this time (I remember the latest series of waterproof and rather poor BT speakers).
