JBL Partybox 100 Review: Powerful 160W Party Speaker

The JBL PartyBox 100 is the entry-level speaker in the JBL PartyBox line of speakers. It is slightly more powerful than the JBL Boombox 3 and is designed to deliver room-filling sound for parties and outdoor events with 160Ws of output power. While the PartyBox 100 has the same power output as its newer counterpart the JBL PartyBox 110, it lacks IPX4 water-resistance and delivers less highs (up to 18kHz vs the PartyBox 110’s 20kHz). That being said, the JBL PartyBox 100 is still a formidable speaker with really loud volume and bass output, and is a really good PartyBox speaker to get on a budget if you just want a sound system to blast music for live performances or entertaining your guests.

Like the other JBL PartyBox speakers, the JBL PartyBox 100 comes with a full panel lighting effect which creates a captivating light show for a visually stunning listening experience (you can customize the light show using the JBL app). Having said that, the JBL PartyBox 100 uses Bluetooth 4.2 which can be rather outdated. Like the other JBL PartyBox speakers, the PartyBox 100 comes with mic and guitar inputs which allow you to plug in your mic or guitar and use the PartyBox 100 as a portable PA sound system.

One good advantage with the JBL PartyBox 100 is that it comes with a built-in 2500mAh battery that provides up to 12 hours of playtime on a single charge with a 6.5 hour charge time. This can be useful if you need to setup the sound system to play music in an area that does not have any AC power outlet. That said, do note that the PartyBox 100 is not water-resistant (unlike the PartyBox 110), so you cannot set it up in spaces where you may expose it to water.

Read more: JBL PartyBox 100 vs PartyBox 110 Specs

JBL PartyBox 100 Full Specs Guide

Sound Performance

The JBL PartyBox 100 delivers really nice sound performance with loud volume and deep bass – which is really good considering that this is an entry level PartyBox speaker. It definitely sounds louder than the JBL Boombox 3 and can pump out a massive 160W of output power and it has a relatively wide frequency response of 45 Hz to 18 kHz which really nice bass response due to its dual 5 ¼” woofers.

We played a couple of EDM and disco music performances on this speaker such as Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You and Shawn Mendes’ Senorita and they sounded exceptionally clean with a lot of bass punch. In fact, if you listen to Senorita with the PartyBox 100, you can actually hear some really low-end bass beats that sound almost like a subwoofer – the bass goes very deep and low and does not muddy into the midrange frequencies at all. The PartyBox 100 also delivers crystal clear highs and midrange performances, and vocals sound really bright and crisp on the Partybox 100. While the PartyBox 110 does have a slightly brighter and crisper high-end as compared to the PartyBox 100, in practice we found this difference to be barely noticeable at higher volume levels.

I would recommend the JBL PartyBox 100 just on the basis of the low-end bass punch and volume output alone – the sound performance is very loud and you can push up the volume on this speaker an expect to hear virtually no to very little distortion. The bass punch on this speaker feels really tight and punchy especially if you are listening to EDM music.

Having said that, I did feel that the sound performance of the PartyBox 100 rather average if you use it as a portable PA sound system for your guitar or microphone. It can amplify your voice and guitar to loud sound levels, but don’t expect any concert-level sound performance from this portable speaker and vocals can sound rather mellow and limiting on the PartyBox 100 if you are singing through the microphone plug-in.

Design and Specs

Despite the JBL PartyBox 100’s larger size, the speaker is fairly portable and comes with rollers on the bottom of the speaker for you to lug it around. This speaker has a solid build appearance and RGB LED light patterns which make this speaker really enjoyable to look at while playing music. The PartyBox 100 also supports true wireless stereo which allows you to link up to two compatible party speakers together for a much louder listening experience.

Perhaps the only drawback with the JBL PartyBox 100 is the lack of any water-resistance which limits where you can actually bring this speaker (JBL mitigated this issue with the newer JBL PartyBox 110, but this speaker is considerably more expensive than the PartyBox 100). The PartyBox 100 also uses Bluetooth 4.2 which is considered rather outdated considering that Bluetooth 5.3 is now the industry standard on most speakers.

With that said, the JBL PartyBox 100 comes with a built-in 2500mAh battery that makes it quite portable and it also features JBL’s signature RGB lightings which make the speaker visually stunning.

The Verdict?

Overall, the JBL PartyBox 100 is a solid choice if you want a powerful 160W speaker for blasting music with deep bass performance. This speaker is louder than the JBL Boombox 3 and comes with all the features that you would expect in a portable PA sound system, including the ability to plug in your microphone or guitar inputs. This speaker also comes equipped with a built-in battery that provides up to 12 hours of playtime on a single charge which is pretty impressive. While the PartyBox 100 is not water-resistant and lacks customization options that are usually available with the JBL app (this is only available for the JBL PartyBox 110 and newer versions of the PartyBox speaker), it is still a very powerful portable PA speaker that you can get on a budget that delivers superb sound performance with signature JBL sound.