LG Electronics - XBOOM Go XG9QBK

SoundsGuys finally touching the XBOOM line is kinda nice because those things usually get ignored unless someone’s blasting one at a cookout. If your pain point is basically “are these things actually good or just loud?” the review pretty much lines up with what most of us already know: * They’re fun, bassy, and built to survive parties, not audiophile testing labs. * Mids/vocals are kinda whatever. * Battery life is decent but not legendary. * And yeah, LG leans hard into the light show + boom vibe. If that’s what you’re after, cool they deliver exactly that energy. If you were hoping for some neutral, studio-monitor-level clarity… yeah, probably not. But at least SoundGuys didn’t sugarcoat it. They basically said what everyone who’s used an XBOOM already knows: it’s a party box first, a speaker second and that’s not a bad thing if that’s the lane you’re in.

i'm using xboom too and looked into the stage 301 before. fits your budget and seems perfect for pool parties.

LG XBOOM or the Sony equivalent. I bought something similar for the shop at work last year.

i use a couple lg xboom speakers in my backyard (grab and bounce) and linking them works pretty well for coverage. different setup than a living room but if price is tight it's worth considering.