JBL Boombox 4 vs Boombox 3, crazy louder Boombox 4

Boombox 4 was officially launched couple of months ago. It's starting to become available at more and more places for you to buy. A decent amount of unboxing, reviews and sound tests have been released by creators. After the official launch, I wrote an article talking about the specs and my initial opinions on the JBL Boombox 4. I found some downgrades and cost-cuttings on the new Boombox 4 (BB4) compared to the old Boombox 3 (BB3) speaker. But I didn't analyze the sound quality of the new Boombox from JBL in that article. So, today I am going to do a deep dive in the sound quality of JBL Boombox 4 and how it compares with the previous Boombox 3. In this article, we will find out how much better the sound quality is, even though there are downgrades in build and configuration - lost the BB3's subwoofer.

The obvious difference is in their handle design, but besides that the bottom of the speaker has a total makeover. There is new feet design on the Boombox 4 along with a replaceable (hot-swappable) battery compartment. This bottom design is very similar with the JBL Xtreme 4, check out my Xtreme 4 vs Xtreme 3 comparison. The passive radiators also have a new cool bold look like the Xtreme 4. So overall, the sides and the body are tweaked slightly, but they share the same JBL-DNA. The button placements are modified as you get new Auracast technology with the Boombox 4.

So, do I like the new design more ..? Nope, I definitely liked the old Boombox 3's structure more because it looked more premium, sleek, elegant and precise. It looked like there was more precision and perfection. But with the new Boombox 4's design, I definitely like it but not as much as the BB3. Also, I don't think the new BB4 design is bad. However, I like the new passive radiator look more than the old radiator. The Boombox 4's passive radiators are more cool, bold and beefy looking vs old Boombox 3's more professional looking radiators. I definitely appreciate trying a different approach but the old design was more premium with metal structure.

The old Boombox 3 have something special that no other previous Boombox from JBL had. Even compared to Boombox type speaker from other brands, the Boombox 3's 3-way driver design was truly innovative and special. The 3-way configuration means that you have a big subwoofer to handle the bass, 2 woofers to handle mids and 2 tweeters to handle highs. Total 3 types of drivers doing 3 types of work - a proper 3-way system. But now with the Boombox 4, the innovation has gone backwards. The new BB4 has 2-woofer 2-tweeter setup like the other budget speakers.

So, for this 2-way configuration, the woofers handle both lows and mids, which is 2 types of work for a single driver. Previously, on the Boombox 3 each driver type was doing only 1 type of work. So, the old setup was more thoughtful, premium and effective. However, the new Boombox 4 has 3 passive radiators, 2 on the sides and one on the back vs Boombox 3's only 2 side radiators. Both old and new ones have stereo configuration though, which is good. I think the BB3's driver setup was a little complex and there were more thoughts went into designing vs the new BB4 is very simple. Even though the old design was more premium and thoughtful, that doesn't mean the new one will sound less appealing. JBL uses quality drivers for quality sound.

The new JBL Boombox 4 has 2 x 123 mm woofer and 2 x 20 mm tweeter along with 2 circular and 1 racetrack passive radiator. JBL Boombox 3 has 1 x 189 mm subwoofer, 2 x 81 mm woofer, 2 x 20 mm tweeter and 2 circular passive radiators. The Boombox 4 has a RMS power rating of 210 watts on AC power and 200 watts on battery. Boombox 3 has a rating of 180 watts on AC and 136 watts on battery. So in terms of RMS, BB4's 210 vs BB3's 180 watts of power, which gives the Boombox 4 an additional 30 watts. We should expect a bit more deep bass and loudness from the Boombox 4 speaker.

The official specs say that the new JBL Boombox 4 has a frequency response range from 37 Hz to 20 KHz vs the Boombox 3's 40 Hz to 20 KHz range. I think these measurements are within +/- 5 dB, which is just fine. So, 37 Hz vs 40 Hz is a subtle difference, but at the very very low-end even a little extension requires massive power. Huge credit goes to Alan Ross Reviews for measuring Boombox 4 and Boombox 3's frequency responses. If you take a look at their frequency response, there are crazy differences in their sound signatures with peaks and dips at different frequencies.

In the bass region, the new Boombox 4 has a more boosted peak at 50 Hz than the Boombox 3 speaker. This makes the Boombox 4 lacking in mid-bass and upper-bass. So significant deep-bass boost on the Boombox 4 but stronger mid and upper bass on the old Boombox 3. Rest of the frequencies have more interesting tuning going on. The previous Boombox 3 has a very weird and big 700-Hz peak vs the Boombox 4's 2-KHz peak, which is not as big as the 700-Hz peak. In terms of dips, the Boombox 3 has a 400-Hz dip vs Boombox 4's 3-KHz dip. So, very very different frequency response and sound signature.

At lower volumes below 50%, the Boombox 4 sounds slightly deeper than the Boombox 3. However, the Boombox 3 has more upper bass at these lower volumes. The 700-Hz peak on the Boombox 3 makes it sound stronger in the mids but not causing problems at lower volumes. Boombox 4's 2-KHz peak is making it sounding a bit sharp and strong in the upper-mids region. These peaks kinda help making the mids and highs stand out a bit because there is powerful deep bass on both of them. So, overall they sound very different from one another in a very good way. Both have very powerful and impactful sound with great clarity at lower volumes - this isn't like one sounds better than another.

When you turn up the volume to around 70%, the Boombox 4 starts to pull ahead in the game. The bass on the Boombox 4 becomes noticeably stronger. At around 70% volume, Boombox 4 has a significant deep-bass advantage over the Boombox 3 speaker. But the mid-bass and upper-bass advantage that the Boombox 3 had at lower volumes is gone now at these moderate listening volumes. On the down side, the 700-Hz peak on the Boombox 3 is getting kinda out of control. Boombox 4's 2-KHz peak is also getting kinda problematic. Our ears are very very sensitive around 2.5 KHz, so even though the 2-KHz peak is not as huge as the 700-Hz one, it may sound more ear-piercing. The treble is a bit stronger on the new Boombox 4, which helps to make the BB4 sounding kinda balanced. So, this is a win for the Boombox 4 speaker as it sounds more powerful while they both have some downsides.

If you go towards higher volumes, the 2-KHz peak on the new Boombox 4 becomes very very ear-piercing. It is kinda not very pleasant to listen to at higher volumes at indoors. The Boombox 3 has that 700-Hz peak, but it is not as ear-piercing as that upper-midrange peak of Boombox 4 speaker. At maximum 100% volume, the Boombox 4 has more bass but it goes crazy loud. You will perceive the sound as very loud and way louder than the Boombox 3 at max. This loudness is mostly coming from the mids and highs. The bass is lacking now on both relative to mids and highs, but it sounds more unbalanced and harsh on the Boombox 4 at max as it goes crazy loud but the bass gets limited after 80% volume. Even though overall the new Boombox 4 has a bit more bass, you just perceive it as very loud but not bass-heavy.

So, the JBL Boombox 4 is more suitable for outdoor listening at higher volumes and you don't wanna play is at max at indoors unless you are partying. If you wanna do any type of critical listening, you need to use them at around 60% volume. Both speakers have open, airy and detailed sound at average listening levels. They become unbalanced at higher volumes, the Boombox 4 becomes more unpleasant as it goes way louder at max. At 100% volume the Boombox 4 is around 5.4-LUFS louder according to Alan Ross Reviews. This is crazy loud, almost like 3 units of JBL Boombox 3 vs a single unit of Boombox 4 speaker - the BB4 will have less bass against 3x Boombox 3. So one against one, the new Boombox 4 wins without a question. It has more bass and way way more loudness.

By the way, the new Boombox 4 has a deep-bass mode and punchy-bass mode along with the default standard mode. The deep-bass mode sounds heavily bass boosted at lower volumes and has less effect at higher volumes. The punchy-bass mode boosts the mid and upper bass quite a bit and this is the loudest mode if you wanna just go as loud as possible. I am kinda surprised seeing the Boombox 4 going crazy loud but also disappointed because of the dirty-peak in the frequency response. The Boombox 3 doesn't go crazy loud, which is why it sounds more balanced. If you're rocking some bass-heavy tracks, the Boombox 4 can show a bit of distortion - the drivers are pushed hard.

The new hot-swappable battery feels like a proper upgrade even just by this super convenient replaceable design. If you want you can buy additional battery pack for the Boombox 4 and swap the discharged one with a charged one - keep the party going. The standalone battery pack for Boombox 4 is called the JBL Battery 600. For the battery, the new BB4 has a much higher capacity battery, which is excellent. So, Boombox 4 has a 99.02 Wh battery pack vs Boombox 3's 69.7 Wh battery. This is like 30 Wh more capacity on the new Boombox 4 speaker - proper battery upgrade. The old Boombox 3 takes 6.5 hours to fully charge vs new Boombox 4's 3-hour approximation to get fully juiced up - quite fast charging on BB4.

The official documentation says that the Boombox 4 has a maximum playback time of 28 hours vs the Boombox 3's 24 hours of playback time. This is by playing them at their default mode at around 50% volume with lights off on the Boombox 4. And exciting enough, now for the first time ever on a JBL Boombox, the Boombox 4's passive radiators have subtle LED light show. Also, the new BB4 comes with JBL's Playtime Boost feature, which can give additional 6 hours of playback time - total 34 hours. Expect the BB4 to last around 4 more hours at a perceived similar average loudness. However, as the Boombox 4 goes much much louder with more bass, at max volume you will probably get similar amount of playback hours - 30 Wh more capacity on BB4.

Check out those articles from above, you can click on those linked images to read the articles. A while ago I published a review of the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G smartphone, check that out if you are into budget phones. In case you are interested in portable speakers, I compared 3 Boombox type speakers from 3 different brands such as Soundcore, Tribit and JBL. So don't forget to also check out that detailed comparison article about the JBL Boombox 3 vs Tribit Stormbox Blast vs Soundcore Boom 2 Plus.

The new Boombox 4 is using big woofers instead of a subwoofer (that BB3 had) for driving the low-end bass. The modern woofers have neodymium magnets that make the Boombox 4 much lighter even though it looks bigger and beefier than Boombox 3. The battery upgrade with 30 Wh more capacity and a hot-swappable new replaceable battery design show some significant upgrade over old Boombox 3 speaker. Even though downgrading to a 2-way design from previous Boombox 3's 3-way design, the power and bass-impact is there delivered by high-quality big woofers. In my opinion, the JBL Boombox 3 had a more thoughtful setup but you are not gonna notice it from the outside.

So, the new Boombox 4 goes a lot louder at max volume but sounds unlistenable indoors because of the excessive 2-KHz mids push. It will sound fine at outdoor noisy environment. The Boombox 3 is way quieter but sounds more balanced. Overall, Boombox 4 has way more loudness and a bit more deep bass. The retail price is $550 for BB4 and $500 for BB3. There are real upgrades that justify the higher price. However, you can get the old Boombox 3 at $400, which is a higher value. You can buy the Boombox 3 if you don't need the loudness. You can also upgrade to the new Boombox 4 speaker. Check out the official page of Boombox 4 and Boombox 3 if you need more info.

Also, please check out the JBL Charge 6 vs Charge 5 story for highlights.
IF you're interested in mid-sized portable speakers, check my JBL Charge 6 vs Bose SoundLink Plus article. The JBL Charge 6 did better in the head-to-head comparison.