Sony GTK-XB72 Speaker Review

The Sony GTK-XB72 is a large speaker with customizable RGB lights that you can place horizontally or vertically. There's a thin LED light strip that extends along the front sides and a light for each of its two largest drivers. It also has two built-in handles on either side of it to help with transporting it, and there's a strobe light that looks similar to a reflector underneath each handle.

While this large and bulky speaker has built-in carrying handles you can use to carry it with one hand, it may be too heavy for some users. It's not battery-powered like the Sony GTK-XB90, so it needs to remain connected to a power source for it to work.

The speaker's body is solid plastic with a matte finish, and there's a metal grille on its front protecting its drivers. It has rubber feet on its bottom and one of its sides, so you can place it vertically or horizontally. It also has two built-in carrying handles on its sides to help with transporting it. Additionally, the speaker has a telescopic antenna on its rear for its radio capabilities.

This speaker isn't rated for water or dust resistance, and we don't test for this. The manufacturer advises against splashing water onto the speaker or placing it in extremely hot, cold, dusty, dirty, or humid environments. They also advise against placing it in an inclined position or under direct sunlight or lighting equipment.

You can use the play/pause button to answer and reject calls. You can also use it to activate your voice assistants, which will cause the LED strip light to turn red. Also, you can use the buttons you would usually use to skip between your tracks to tune its radio. You can use its Function button to switch between input sources, and you can press and hold it to pair your device to the speaker via Bluetooth. When adjusting the speaker's volume, all four indicator lights above the Function button flash to inform you of when you reach the speaker's highest or lowest volume settings. You can use the Add button on its top-right to connect the speaker to other compatible speakers. There are also physical buttons for its 'Live' preset and to add extra bass to your audio.

• Sony XB72 speaker
• Polarized power cable
• Reference Guide

 The Sony GTK-XB72's frequency response accuracy is alright. Its well-balanced mid-range ensures vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix. That said, the underemphasis in the treble range can make higher-pitched voices and instruments sound veiled. It's also hard to feel the deep thump and rumble in low-bass, which may disappoint fans of bass-heavy music like hip-hop and EDM. Fortunately, there's a 7-band graphic EQ and EQ presets that will customize the speaker's sound to your liking.

Note: Our sound tests were performed with the speaker placed vertically. We used its default 'Excited' EQ preset and turned the 'Extra Bass' on. When choosing the Extra Bass preset, Sony ClearAudio+ is enabled, which is the recommended sound setting for music listening.

The speaker's soundstage is good. This speaker can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono when you place it horizontally and vertically, and it has a built-in sensor that automatically senses the orientation. It also has fair directivity, so your audio sounds clear from most angles.

The Sony GTK-XB72 can get pretty loud, making it suitable to use at parties. That said, there are some compression artifacts at max volume, so your audio may not sound as clean at louder volumes. If you're looking for a large party speaker that can get even louder, consider the SOUNDBOKS (Gen. 3).

The speaker isn't battery-powered and needs to remain plugged into a power outlet for it to work. That said, there's a power-saving feature that shuts the speaker off following 15 minutes of inactivity. For a party speaker by Sony with an outstanding battery performance, check out the Sony SRS-XP700.

This speaker supports Siri and Google Assistant through your smartphone, though it doesn't do a great job of hearing you from far away or in noisy environments. We use recorded voice commands to test the speaker's voice assistant capabilities as part of our methodology. However, it couldn't register these commands, even when there wasn't any ambient noise present. While this isn't part of our testing process, it could register commands from a normal speaking voice, much like other Sony speakers we've tested, like the Sony SRS-XB43.

The Sony Music Center companion app is great. It features a full 7-band graphic EQ, as well as multiple presets you can use to adjust its sound to better suit your preferences. You can also use the app to connect it to a compatible speaker to create a stereo pair or multiple compatible speakers when you want your audio to fill a large room without increasing its volume. If you connect a USB to the speaker, the app has a USB function to select and control the media you want to play. There's also an FM Tuner you can use to tune into your favorite radio stations. Additionally, this app features shortcuts to music service applications like Spotify, in addition to an app called 'Fiestable', which you can use to control extra party features of this speaker.

While the Sony XB72 doesn't support USB Audio, it supports USB key playback with compatible audio formats such as mp3, WMA, WAV, and ACC. The speaker also features In and Out RCA ports to daisy chain speakers together, as well as a mic input with its very own volume knob.

If you want to daisy chain multiple speakers, you can do so by setting your input to either USB or Bluetooth using the function button and then connecting the speakers using audio cables, though these must be purchased separately. However, it's important to ensure that the first and last speakers of the chain are wired to each other. You can also daisy chain multiple speakers wirelessly by pressing the 'W. PARTY CHAIN' and Function buttons on the speakers you'd like to connect to your host speaker.

The speaker can be paired to up to two devices at once, which can come in handy when you need to switch between audio sources quickly. That said, when two phones connect to the speaker at once, the speaker won't receive and answer phone calls.

The manufacturer advertises that the XB72 has NFC technology built-in, so you can tap NFC-compatible devices onto the speaker to quickly connect them to it. Additionally, the Sony GTK-XB72 has low latency with iOS and Android devices, making it suitable for watching movies and videos, though some apps compensate for latency differently, and your real-world experience may differ.