Latest news with #PopParty
Tom's Guide
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I can't get over how perfect JLab's new speakers are for college students — they have LEDs, party mode and literally start from $19
JLab has been one of my favorite affordable audio brands since I reviewed its $79 JBuds Lux ANC headphones way back in August. I loved the sound quality for the price, the comfort, and most of all how easy to use the headphones were. The California-based brand has a huge range of audio gear: earbuds, headphones, mics and more. However, there's been one major absence: Bluetooth speakers. But that's all about to change with the brand-new lineup of Bluetooth speakers. JLab has just released four speakers: the Epic Party, JBuds Party, GO Party and Pop Party. I had the privilege of trying out these speakers today, so I'll give you the run-down. Spoiler alert: they're absolute steals. Maybe even some of the best Bluetooth speakers...? I think it's too early to tell. So there are four brand-new speakers, all with pretty similar-sounding names. Let's do this together, slowly. The smallest and most affordable is the $19 Pop Party. This super-compact speaker is just 7 ounces and has a 2 inch passive radiator. My favorite part is the fully-customizable RBG LEDs, which dance to the beat of whatever music is playing. While the speaker only has 5W power, it can still go pretty loud. The Pop Party isn't available on Amazon yet, but it's $19 on JLAB U.S.. Next is the JLab GO Party, which is $29 from JLab's website. The GO Party is like the Pop Party's older sibling; bigger, heavier and louder. It has a volume dial, which I find much more fun than volume buttons. Like the Pop Party, the GO Party has customizable LED lights that are delightfully bright. I can imagine this speaker at a party or on a beach trip (and the GO Party is IPX6 rated!). Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Rounding off the small speakers is the JBuds Party, $69 from JLab U.S.. As mentioned earlier, these speakers aren't quite available on Amazon yet. The JBuds Party is a step up from the GO Party, with 30W power and two 2.5-inch passive woofers. I was actually really surprised by the JBuds Party's bass and clarity — it sounded much more luxurious than its $69 MSRP might suggest. The GO Party and JBuds Party speakers are clearly intended to be $149 JBL Flip 7 or $67 Tribit StormBox 2 alternatives. I'll review all of these speakers in time, so I'll be able to tell you with confidence which is worth your money. I saved the biggest for last. The monstrous JLab Epic Party ($159 from JLab) is a huge 16 inches tall, but weighs just 10 pounds. When I say this speaker has bass, I mean it. The Epic Party shook the table. As with all the speakers in JLab's new range, the Epic Party has LED lights and is fully customizable in the JLab app. But my favorite part of the Epic Party is the omnidirectional drivers: it has four full-range drivers around the circular speaker body, so no matter where you're sitting, the Epic Party will be loud. And even better, the Epic Party has a 1/4-inch mic input, so the speaker effectively doubles up as a portable karaoke machine. I can see JLab's new speakers being adored by college students. Not only are they loud, fun, and expressive, the entire range is $19-$159. While none of the speakers have massively impressive battery lives (the Epic Party tops out at 16 hours), it's a worthy sacrifice for such affordable products. I'll be doing full reviews of each speaker, so keep your eyes peeled for those — just in time for back to school. You can get the speakers at JLab now.
The Verge
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
JLab's new party speaker puts a light show in your pocket
JLab has announced a new Party line of wireless speakers that continues an industry trend of adding animated RGB lighting to anything that plays music. That even includes the new budget-minded JLab Pop Party speaker — which is small enough to squeeze into a pocket but still features customizable LEDs. The $19.99 Pop Party is the lightest and cheapest of the four new speakers, all of which are available now through JLab's online store. It delivers up to 5W of sound through a two-inch full-range driver that's paired with a matching two-inch passive woofer to boost the presence of lower frequencies. When not stuffed in your pocket it can be hung from a bag or strapped to the handlebars of a bike using a detachable loop, and its RGB lighting can be customized with animations, your favorite color, or to flash and pulse to match the beat of what you're playing. Battery life is claimed to be over eight hours of playtime, but that drops to over five hours when you're also using the RGB lighting. The Pop Party's IPX5 rating means splashes or rain won't hurt it, but the speaker won't survive a complete dunking. The other three speakers have a slightly improved IPX6 water-resistance rating, but they also can't be fully submerged. The larger $29.99 Go Party speaker doubles the Pop's sound output to 10W using a pair of two-inch full-range drivers and dual two-inch passive woofers while expanding battery life to up to 16 hours, or up to eight with lighting activated. It also adds speakerphone functionality using a built-in mic. The $69.99 JBuds Party speaker features the same number of drivers as the Go Party, but increases the size of the dual full-frequency drivers to 2.5-inches so they deliver 30W of sound with 12 hours of battery life, or up to 10 hours with lighting. As with the rest of JLab's new lineup, the JBuds speaker's sound profile can be adjusted using a mobile app, but it adds a media control knob and additional buttons on top for easier access to commonly used functions. The $149.99 Epic Party speaker is the most expensive model in JLab's new lineup by a long shot, but it boosts sound output to 100W in all directions using four 2.5-inch full-range drivers, a five-inch passive woofer, and a larger 5.25-inch subwoofer. The Epic offers the longest battery life of the new lineup with up to 16 hours of just sound, or up to 14 hours with the accompanying light show. All of JLab's new Party speakers include the ability to pair with a second speaker for a stereo sound experience, and using the company's 'LabSync technology,' up to 100 can be connected together with their sound and lighting effects synchronized to fill a larger space.
