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  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

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 vs Sony SRS-XB23

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3
Sony SRS-XB23

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Sep 30, 2024 02:43 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Apr 18, 2024 03:05 PM

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Amazon.com
Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Picture
Sony SRS-XB23 Picture

Variants

  • BOOM 3 (Dusk)
  • BOOM 3 (Green)
  • BOOM 3 (Jungle Grey)
  • BOOM 3 (Lagoon Blue)
  • BOOM 3 (Night Black)
  • BOOM 3 (Peach)
  • BOOM 3 (Sunset Red)
  • BOOM 3 (Ultraviolet Purple)
  • BOOM 3 (Unicorn)
  • SRS-XB23 (Black)
  • SRS-XB23 (Coral Red)
  • SRS-XB23 (Light Blue)
  • SRS-XB23 (Olive Green)
  • SRS-XB23 (Taupe)

Our Verdict

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3

Sony SRS-XB23

The Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 is a better speaker than the Sony SRS-XB23. The Ultimate Ears offers a much wider-sounding soundstage thanks to its 360-degree design. It can get louder with less compression present at max volume, so your audio sounds cleaner at louder volumes. It can also last over 13 hours from a single charge, though this can vary depending on your usage. That said, the Sony offers a better-balanced sound profile that can produce a deeper bass than that of the Ultimate Ears. It also supports voice assistants through your smartphone, though its performance isn't very good.

0

Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.4
6.3

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

5.4
6.1

Dynamics 
 

6.9
5.2

Soundstage 
 

9.0
7.9

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Style Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No

Show text

Portability 
 

9.2
9.2

Dimensions Photo  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Dimensions Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

59 in³ (966 cm³)
71 in³ (1,167 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

Build Quality 
 

9.0
8.1

Build Quality Photo  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Build Quality Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Decent

Water Resistance 
 

Submersible (IPx7)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Dust-Proof (IP6x)
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Yes (IK rating unspecified)
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Yes
Unspecified

Show text

Controls 
 

5.8
8.0

Controls Photo  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Controls Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 Controls Photo 2
Sony SRS-XB23 Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Good
Great

Feedback 
 

Good
Great

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
Yes (Physical)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

No
Yes

Microphone On/Off 
 

No
No

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 In The Box Photo
Sony SRS-XB23 In The Box Photo

Show text

Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

5.4
6.1

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-1.49
0.08

Std. Err. 
 

5.41 dB
3.70 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

92.4 Hz
71.3 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

15.8 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 
 

9.0
7.9

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

1.82 dB
3.98 dB

Stereo 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

Dynamics 
 

6.9
5.2

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

86.9 dB SPL
84.9 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

1.91 dB
4.79 dB

Show text

Active Features

Battery 
 

8.9
7.9

Battery Life 
 

13.7 hrs
9.2 hrs

Charge Time 
 

2.6 hrs
2.8 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

Micro-USB
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

Voice Assistant 
 

0.0
1.7

Alexa 
 

No
No

Google Assistant 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

No
Yes

Siri 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Voice Assistant 
 

No
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

No
No

Microphone Mute 
 

No Microphone
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

No Microphone
Bad

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

No Microphone
Bad

Show text

App 
 

7.9
7.9

App Picture  

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 App Picture
Sony SRS-XB23 App Picture

App Name 
 

Ultimate Ears
Sony Music Center

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Graphic + Presets
Graphic

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

No
No

Show text

Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
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 
 

7 ms
52 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

34 ms
90 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

259.2 ft (79.0 m)
311.7 ft (95.0 m)

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
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

Show text

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3

Sony SRS-XB23

Comments

  1. Comparison

Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 vs Sony SRS-XB23: Main Discussion

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