When it comes to having a party, the music has to be just right. You want the option to range from background music during dinner, to a more filling sound later in the night. The LG Xboom 360 covers these bases and is now available, offering 360° surround sound and plenty of power when you need it.

The LG Xboom 360 isn’t your typical battery powered Bluetooth speaker, instead it’s a lot larger but still  portable in that it’s battery powered and at only 6kg, it’s not terribly heavy to move. It’s also got some flashy lighting and a 10-hour battery. 

Priced at $549, it’s also a far more expensive option than your usual portable Bluetooth speaker. But, will a big sound and party lighting make the difference? I’ve been using the LG XBoom 360 for a few weeks now, and here’s how it went.

Design and Hardware

The LG XBoom 360 is a large speaker. It weighs in at a shade under 6kg, and stands just over 50cm tall at the top of the metal bar on top which acts as a very sturdy handle. There’s a fully featured control panel sitting underneath the handle at the top, offering fast access to volume and media controls, input and setup as well as a big light switch in the middle to change modes or turn it off from the speaker.

The unit has similar cone-shaped design style to the BeoSound range from B&O, though with LG giving it more of a warmer, homey feel thanks to the fabric covering. 

The fabric covering on the speaker, while making it appear more warm visually, also attracts any lint or dust in the air. While it’s easy to clean with a lint roller, it’s not something I envisaged as part of owning a Bluetooth speaker. 

The speaker is aimed at use everywhere, however it’s pertinent to note that it’s not waterproof. There’s no IP rating, nor any mention of environmental concerns like water, rain or splashing etc. on the LG website. So, make sure you don’t get it wet.

The speaker also incorporates party lighting, with 3 modes of mood lighting using 9 presets with different lighting styles. The presets are geared towards different scenarios, ranging from waking up, through to getting the party started – and you can also select your own colour scheme with ‘My Pick’. 

One note on the lighting is the Party Strobe option under the ‘Party’ lighting scheme in the LG Xboom app, which will begin strobing your phone flashlight if you don’t turn it off. 

While it’s primarily a Bluetooth speaker, so the best way to play tunes is to simply connect it to a device with Bluetooth and start streaming music, audio books and the like, you can also plug devices in. The Xboom 360 includes a control panel at the base covered by a rubber flap that hides a 3.5mm auxiliary port and USB port for audio in, as well as pairing buttons to link with other speakers for Wireless Party Link for stereo sound – and lighting!

Battery Life and charging

Of course if it’s a powerful, portable Bluetooth speaker you’ll want to take it with you and the generous 10-hour battery life will certainly give you plenty of sound on the go.

There is of course a caveat with the ‘10 hour battery life’. In their fine print, LG clarifies that the figure was arrived at using 50% volume and no lighting – with other factors including settings, environment and usage also affecting the battery life.

In reality, the LG Xboom 360 has good battery life for your average get together or picnic. The volume really doesn’t need to go that loud in those circumstances, so the battery life definitely gets you through. If however you do have a need for louder volumes then you’ll eat into that battery life especially if you’re planning some all nighters. Sure you can plug it in and blast the speaker full bore, but it’s a 360-degree speaker so you want it out in the midst, not next to a power point.

You can check the battery life in the LG Xboom 360 app, as well as by pressing and holding the Power button for 2 seconds when you’re using it and the battery status LED on top will light up:

Charging the speaker can take a fair while, 5 hours in fact. It’s charged with a figure 8 cable included in the box, and just plugs in at the base and sits flush on the floor or bench while charging. There’s a big need for some fast charging option because 5 hours for 10 hours of use isn’t hugely attractive, but maybe next time

Setup and App

The LG XBoom 360 is a bluetooth speaker, so you can essentially just pair it as a new Bluetooth device to your device and start playing almost instantly. If you want to get a bit more fancy with the Xboom 360 and take advantage of the features like the light controls, preset equalisers and DJ mode, then you’ll need the LG Xboom 360 app.

You can grab the LG Xboom 360 app for both iOS and Android from their respective app stores and once installed you’re ready to go. I set the Xboom 360 up as a bluetooth speaker prior to installing the app, but the app will guide you through the pairing process as well.

For the most part there’s a lot of settings you can play with in here, there’s seven preset Equaliser settings as well as a custom option to set your own. I found the outdoor EQ to be quite good for a balanced sound in an open areas especially.

I, or to be more precise, my son enjoyed playing with the lights on the speaker. As above you can choose from presets or set your own scheme but it’s a pretty cool feature to have going at a party to add some additional mood lighting. 

I was a little disappointed that there’s no voice assistant integration. True not every speaker needs it but the Xboom 360 would have been a welcome addition to my whole home audio groups. 

One thing I found an interesting addition were the DJ controls. I’m not a DJ by any stretch of the imagination, but you can use the scratch pad or add in a few preset drum or ‘club’ sound effects to the music playing, or add your own using the sample creator. You can also change Flanger, Phaser, Wah and Delay levels for some new effects on the music.

Sound

Of course the big question is how does it sound, and the answer is that it’s quite impressive.

LG uses a ‘Titanium Tweeter & 2.5″ Glass Fibre Woofer’ for the Xboom 360 giving it omnidirectional sound and it really does fill a space when you bring the volume up

Unlike a lot of speakers though, the Xboom 360 really does like to be pushed to get the best quality. You can get a fairly nice sound out of the speaker while at lower volumes, but it under-utilises the sub if it’s not used – but once you push the volume up, and this is where the Xboom 360 really shines. 

I tried out a fairly wide selection of music, aided by my 10-year old sons far more current music tastes and it really hits some good notes in his book. 

Should you buy it?

The LG XBoom 360 is leaving the review period reluctantly. It’s been a handy companion while sitting on the back deck in the warmer afternoons while enjoying a barbecue. 

The battery life isn’t the greatest, and it takes a long time to charge but it’s got a great warm sound which really amps up and can fill an area nicely with some full sound when you punch up the volume. That said, with a power point nearby it can last a night easily, however you lose the omni-directional sound as you put it against a wall to charge. 

It looks and sounds great as well, fitting in well with the aesthetic of most homes. It’s also light enough and can easily be picked up by the handle and move with the party fairly easily.

There’s room for improvement in the next model – dust/water resistance, an option for voice assistant, fast charge and perhaps a larger battery – but overall, this is a heck of a party speaker.