LG XBoom Go PL7 review

Our Verdict

The LG XBoom Go PL7 features detailed sound and a great battery — plus it comes with its own calorie-free show.

For

Crisp treble and defined bass
Practiced battery life
LED lights add to the fun

Against

No integrated voice assistant
Few audio adjustments available

Tom'south Guide Verdict

The LG XBoom Become PL7 features detailed sound and a groovy battery — plus it comes with its ain light prove.

Pros

+
Crisp treble and defined bass
+
Good battery life
+
LED lights add to the fun

Cons

-
No integrated voice banana
-
Few sound adjustments available

With the LG XBoom Become PL7, LG has establish a fashion to stand out in the crowded portable Bluetooth speaker field. Whereas some companies have gone really big and others focus on value, LG has brought serious bling to Bluetooth speakers in the course of LED lights.

While it's fun to have a light show with your tunes, that's just heart candy. The PL7 holds its ain confronting the best Bluetooth speakers when it comes to sound quality and battery life, all while sporting a unique and attractive design.

Read on for our total LG XBoom Get PL7 review.

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LG XBoom Get PL7 review: Price and availability

The LG XBoom Go PL7's MSRP is $170, but is currently on sale for $130 from a range of outlets. This includes Amazon, which stocks both the black and white models, as well equally the online store of LG itself.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Blueprint

The 9.7 x 3.ix x 3.9-inch PL7 looks a scrap similar a pill that had its tips shaved off and replaced with caps that feature an LED low-cal ring on each terminate. The rings pulse in a diverseness of colors and speeds (you can control the lights with the XBoom app).

The cease caps too function as passive bass radiators and vibrate when the sound is heavy with bass — an additional visual treat. Inside, the PL7 has two 2.three-inch drivers to produce the treble and midrange tones.

Across the peak it has buttons for volume, power, Bluetooth pairing, Audio Boost (which makes the vocals louder) and a lite for battery level. On the back, backside a plastic flap, there's a 3.5 mm auxiliary input, a USB-C port for charging, and buttons to switch low-cal modes, activate Multi Mode (for connecting two devices) and Dual Mode (for pairing ii speakers together). That'due south more buttons than many current portable Bluetooth speakers include, but sometimes it'due south nice to have access to most of the speaker's functions without using the app.

The PL7 weighs 3.2 pounds, which is a chip heavy for a portable speaker this size — the similar-sized UE Blast weighs 2.2 pounds. But role of the actress weight is from a sturdy casing that seems similar it will concluding.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Performance

The PL7 produced detailed sound that compares well with the best portable Bluetooth speakers in this cost range, such as the UE Boom and JBL Charge 4. Information technology has a brighter sound than either of those models and nicely counterbalanced bass — though less blast than the Blast or Charge.

Vocals sound especially clear and are forrad in the mix. Fiona Apple's vocalism was easy to hear higher up the complex layers of sounds on "Shameika," and Taylor Swift'southward vocals stood out on acme of the drums and subtle guitar on "the last dandy american dynasty." The bass and beats on Harry Styles's "Adore You" made the end caps vibrate but didn't overwhelm the rest of the sounds, and the bass line on Jason Isbell'southward "What've I Washed to Assist" balanced nicely with the strummed acoustic guitar.

The PL7 has only one sound fashion, Sound Boost, which brings the vocals even higher in the mix. Yet, I plant using the boost caused the groundwork vocals and sounds in the midrange to fade out. It was useful when watching movies on an iPad, but I turned it off for music.

For its size the PL7 gets plenty loud. At max volume, information technology measured over 92 decibels, with only a little distortion.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Ruggedness

The PL7 features IPX5 weatherproofing, meaning it can handle being sprayed with water only it shouldn't exist dunked. By comparing the UE Blast tin can be completely submerged. I ran information technology nether a faucet for a few seconds and the speaker continued working as it should.

LG XBoom Become PL7 review: Battery

The PL7 boasts an impressive 24 hour bombardment, better than the UE Blast's 12 hours and a bit more than the Charge 4'due south xx hours. After about xv hours of playing at a variety of volume levels with the lights on, information technology still had seventy percentage of the charge left.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Voice Assistant

Unlike many portable Bluetooth speakers in this price range, the PL7 doesn't have Alexa or Google Assistant inside. Instead you lot can access your phone's voice assistant by holding the play/pause button for several seconds.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Wireless and Setup

The unit had a strong Bluetooth signal, and it stayed connected at more than 100 feet indoors.

The free XBoom app, bachelor for iOS and Android, offers a few means to control the speaker, though information technology doesn't accept all the bells and whistles you get through UE's Boom app. For example, there's no equalizer and simply the 1 audio fashion, Sound Heave.

By and large you lot utilise the app to control the lights. You tin can set the lights to blink with the beat (which I constitute too frenetic, even on slower songs), or select among other styles, such as Party, H2o and Woods. You lot can also pick your own style, choosing a color scheme and speed for the lights to change. Or, if y'all're seeking less visual stimulation, y'all can turn off the lights.

LG XBoom Go PL7 review: Verdict

The LG XBoom Go PL7 has what you want in a portable Bluetooth speaker — very expert sound, long battery life, and plenty of volume — along with the extra fun of lights.

You don't go an integrated voice assistant and it won't overwhelm yous with bass. It'due south as well not quite every bit rugged as some other speakers. Simply the PL7 is worth considering if yous're looking for a dependable and bonny portable Bluetooth speaker and don't need those extra features.

It's not the first speaker to contain lights, and the LEDs aren't essential. Simply if the PL7 does everything else you want, the lights could be a reason to choice it over rival speakers similar the UE Megaboom iii.

Michael Gowan covers soundbars, TVs, portable speakers and other sound- and video-related topics for Tom's Guide. He'south written about music and technology for more than than 20 years for a raft of publications including Wired, Men'due south Periodical, PC World and Macworld. When he's non reviewing speakers, he's probably listening to one anyhow.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/lg-xboom-go-pl7

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