“Our two cents on LG’s latest party speaker”

So you’re throwing a party at your place. You’ve got all the basics nailed down for a night to remember – you went to the store and bought a ton of Cheetos, some ‘soft drinks’ and you’ve got the latest hits from Pitbull loaded on your smartphone. Now, all you need is a speaker loud enough to cause a riot in your neighbourhood. That’s where LG’s latest Bluetooth speaker, the XBoom RK3 comes in. Quite honestly, I don’t even know if I should call the XBoom a speaker or a suitcase. But, it’s in our office and after listening to it for a good two weeks, here’s why I am planning to get one for myself.

Design and connectivity

I can’t figure out for the life of me why LG didn’t just call the XBoom RK3 a ‘suitcase speaker’. It’s more catchy and hip. Now, the reason I keep referring to a suitcase is because the RK3 looks exactly like one – it even has wheels at the bottom and a telescoping handle for you to drag it around! In hindsight, that’s the only way you can comfortably transport the speaker from one party to another, as it weighs a whopping 13 kilos.

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For its size, I must say, the speaker has been constructed really well. The unit’s chassis makes use of texturised plastic, which feels rugged to the touch and doesn’t flex even if you apply a lot of force to it. The telescoping handle has been constructed out of metal, and it feels really solid too. As a matter of fact, you can swing the speaker by its handle without breaking it. Not that I’d advice you to do so – you might just dislocate your shoulder. Adding to the speaker’s toughness, the XBoom RK3 comes with IPX4 certification and therefore, you needn’t worry about the drivers malfunctioning if someone was to spill their drink on the speaker.

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Compared to a regular Bluetooth speaker, you’ll find a lot more buttons on the RK3’s chassis. That’s primarily because the unit comes with a dedicated Karaoke mode, which adds to the tally of buttons. At the top, you’ll get two dials, one of which will adjust the volume of the connected mic whereas the other will variate the volume levels of the speaker.

There are buttons to switch between different modes, add vocal effects, sound effects as well as controls for music playback sandwiched between the two dials too. Lastly, towards the back of the speaker, you’ll get a rubberised flap, opening which will expose the MIC input, the USB port as well as the power connector.

Sound and battery life

As its moniker suggests, the LG XBoom RK3 packs a booming sound which can comfortably fill up a big, 3,000 sq feet house. Spec-wise, the XBoom is driven by a one-inch tweeter and a 6.5-inch Woofer unit, both of which carry an impedance of four ohms. Since the XBoom is being marketed as a party speaker, it comes as no surprise that the unit’s sound signature favours the low-end. To LG’s credit, the bass on the XBoom has been fine-tuned to have a controlled impact, but make no mistake – at higher volumes, the beats sound so thunderous that they can easily shake the walls of your house.

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Unsurprisingly, the bass does eat into other frequencies and as a result, the vocals sound deeper and thicker than they should. Moreover, the highs are more or less non-existent on the speaker, but ask yourself – would you rather play Drake’s In My Feelings at a party or a song by Pantera? My only qualm with the XBoom’s sound output is that the audio coming out of the speaker is directional and therefore, you’ll have to stand in the direction the speaker is facing to enjoy the beats to the fullest.

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That said, you will have to splurge a lot more on a 360-degree party speaker and therefore, I’d suggest you instead just play with the placement of the LG XBoom at your place to get the best possible sound output. Unfortunately, I couldn’t test the Karaoke features as of writing this review, so stay tuned for an update on the same. You also get the option of tuning into various FM stations or plugging in a USB to play locally-stored MP3s on the XBoom RK3.

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As far as the battery life is concerned, LG claims that the speaker can last up to 13 hours of a single charge. While I couldn’t drain the speaker completely in one sitting, I did have to plug it in after four days of listening to music, where I averaged about 1.5 hours each day. I faced no issues with the speaker’s connectivity either and the XBoom retained the Bluetooth connection even when it was placed over 10-meters from my smartphone.

Verdict

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The LG XBoom RK3 retails for Rs 19,999 online, making it one of the most affordable party speakers you can get your hands on. For the price, the speaker is an absolute steal as it gets audaciously loud, has oodles of bass and features a rugged design. It’s good enough for casual listening and outstanding for when you’re throwing a party. To put things into perspective, the LG XBoom is cheaper than my current favourite Bluetooth speaker, the Bose SoundLink Revolve Plus. Now, Bose’s offering sounds way better, but you’d have to pair ten of them together to achieve the same loudness as the XBoom. And for that reason alone, I think I’ll be purchasing the LG XBoom RK3.

Editor’s rating: 4 / 5

Pros:

  • Rugged design
  • Thunderous bass
  • Gets incredibly loud

Cons:

  • Highs could’ve been better
  • Not portable