JBL Boombox 2

JBL comes back for a loud encore with the JBL Boombox 2.

Back in the day, the boombox was the iconic symbol for music that went with you. It was the boombox that got people dancing in the streets, and serenaded a barbecue or campsite in every backyard or park.

JBL is after that kind of social outing with the JBL Boombox 2, a portable Bluetooth speaker whose primary mission is to get loud. And loud it gets – even more so than its predecessor, which is saying something, considering how bombastic the previous JBL Boombox was.

The similarities between them are more numerous than the differences, and the price is still expensive. It’s a hefty tag to pay for a pretty one-dimensional product, but if you need an outdoor-ready speaker for a family gathering and don’t care about Hi-Res Audio, the JBL Boombox 2 has you covered.

The design of the JBL Boombox 2 is almost a carbon copy of the previous model. In fact, had we put the two together next to each other, it would’ve been hard to pick them out, though JBL wisely changed a few accents to make them less identical.

Using a different Bluetooth transmitter means JBL had to cut loose some of the original Boombox’s compatibility. That model had a button called Connect+ that paired with other JBL speakers to play the same music simultaneously – or in stereo as left and right channels. It’s gone now, and so is any connection with the Connect+ app, putting the Boombox 2 into a different ecosystem of connectivity.

JBL maintained the IPX7 rating, so the Boombox 2 is well suited to being around splashing water and rain. You could submerge it in clear water for up to 30 minutes, and it can even float, except it tilts forward, muffling the music into the water.

Did we mention this thing is loud? It’s a beast for its size, and we appreciated that it shrugged off distortion when we turned up