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  1. Home
  2. Speaker
  3. Compare
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Pictures
    2. Style
    3. Portability
    4. Build Quality
    5. Controls
    6. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Frequency Response Accuracy
    2. Raw Frequency Response
    3. Soundstage
    4. Dynamics
  6. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. Voice Assistant
    3. App
  7. Connectivity
    1. Wired
    2. Bluetooth
    3. Wi-Fi
  8. Comments

Bose SoundLink Color II vs Sony SRS-XB23

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bose SoundLink Color II
Sony SRS-XB23

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Feb 26, 2024 02:36 PM

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Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Apr 18, 2024 03:05 PM

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Bose SoundLink Color II Picture
Sony SRS-XB23 Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
Yes
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
Yes
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes

Variants

  • SoundLink Color II (Aqua Blue)
  • SoundLink Color II (Citron)
  • SoundLink Color II (Coral Red)
  • SoundLink Color II (Polar White)
  • SoundLink Color II (Soft Black)
  • SRS-XB23 (Black)
  • SRS-XB23 (Coral Red)
  • SRS-XB23 (Light Blue)
  • SRS-XB23 (Olive Green)
  • SRS-XB23 (Taupe)

Review

See Bose SoundLink Color II Review
See Sony SRS-XB23 Review
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Our Verdict

Bose SoundLink Color II

Sony SRS-XB23

The Sony SRS-XB23 is a better speaker than the Bose SoundLink Color II. The Sony has a somewhat more balanced sound profile, and its companion app has a full graphic EQ that lets you customize its sound to your liking. It also has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, while the Bose is rated IPX4. That said, the Bose has less compression at max volume, and it understands you more easily when using the voice assistant from your paired smartphone.

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Coral Red
SoundLink Color II
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Coral Red
SRS-XB23
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Aqua Blue
SoundLink Color II
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Black
SRS-XB23
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Citron
SoundLink Color II
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Light Blue
SRS-XB23
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Polar White
SoundLink Color II
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Olive Green
SRS-XB23
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Soft Black
SoundLink Color II
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Taupe
SRS-XB23
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Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.0
6.3

EQ 
 

No
Graphic

Soundstage 
 

6.9
7.9

Dynamics 
 

6.3
5.2

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

5.9
6.1

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bose SoundLink Color II Style Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show text

Portability 
 

9.3
9.2

Dimensions Photo  

Bose SoundLink Color II Dimensions Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

56 in³ (917 cm³)
71 in³ (1,167 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Build Quality 
 

7.0
8.1

Build Quality Photo  

Bose SoundLink Color II Build Quality Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Good
Decent

Water Resistance 
 

Water-resistant (IPx4)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Unspecified
Show text

Controls 
 

8.0
8.0

Controls Photo  

Bose SoundLink Color II Controls Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bose SoundLink Color II Controls Photo 2
Sony SRS-XB23 Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Great

Feedback 
 

Great
Great

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes

Microphone On/Off 
 

No
No

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bose SoundLink Color II In The Box Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 In The Box Photo
Show text
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

5.9
6.1

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

0.15
0.08

Std. Err. 
 

3.11 dB
3.70 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

88.5 Hz
71.3 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

7.1 kHz
7.0 kHz
Show text

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Binaural Recording @ 1m 
 

Binaural Recording @ 2m 
 

Soundstage 
 

6.9
7.9

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

5.94 dB
3.98 dB

Stereo 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Dynamics 
 

6.3
5.2

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

84.4 dB SPL
84.9 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

2.41 dB
4.79 dB
Show text
Active Features

Battery 
 

7.9
7.9

Battery Life 
 

9.7 hrs
9.2 hrs

Charge Time 
 

4.2 hrs
2.8 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

Micro-USB
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Voice Assistant 
 

5.1
1.7

Alexa 
 

No
No

Google Assistant 
 

Yes (Requires Smartphone)
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

Yes
Yes

Siri 
 

Yes (Requires Smartphone)
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

No
No

Microphone Mute 
 

No
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
Bad

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Great
Bad
Show text

App 
 

6.6
7.9

App Picture  

Bose SoundLink Color II App Picture
Sony SRS-XB23 App Picture

App Name 
 

Bose Connect
Sony Music Center

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

No
Graphic

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

No
No
Show text
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

Yes
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show text

Bluetooth 
 

8.9
9.0

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

Unspecified
5.0

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

43 ms
52 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

118 ms
90 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

334.6 ft (102.0 m)
311.7 ft (95.0 m)

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

2 Devices
2 Devices
Show text

Wi-Fi 
 

0.0
0.0

Wi-Fi Version 
 

No Wi-Fi
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

No Wi-Fi
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 
 

No
No

Apple AirPlay 
 

No
No

AirPlay Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

Google Chromecast 
 

No
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A
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Coral Red
SoundLink Color II
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Coral Red
SRS-XB23
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Aqua Blue
SoundLink Color II
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Black
SRS-XB23
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Citron
SoundLink Color II
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Light Blue
SRS-XB23
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Polar White
SoundLink Color II
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Olive Green
SRS-XB23
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Soft Black
SoundLink Color II
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Taupe
SRS-XB23
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Back to Top

Bose SoundLink Color II

Sony SRS-XB23

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Bose SoundLink Color II vs Sony SRS-XB23: Main Discussion

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