RETRO IS BACK WITH A PUNCH

Boomboxes were predominant in the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s where people would tote them on their shoulder while blasting out their favourite tunes. The JBL Boombox is a tribute to that era and not only is it massive, it also features retro styling along with being equipped with modern technology.

The size is pretty imposing and weighs in at a whopping 5.5kg — carrying it around easily is not on the plate. The speaker’s USP is the IPX7 rating — it can be submerged under water for about an hour to a depth of a metre. The front and rear are covered with a cloth meshing and behind them lie two front- firing 20mm tweeters, and two fourinch woofers are located on either side. The front is home to a few buttons which include BT pairing, Power, Connect+, volume and play/ pause. The Connect+ button is used for linking up one, or more, JBL Bluetooth speakers to give it a stereo effect.

On the rear, a bay houses the AUX, power and USB ports, protected by a rubber flap to keep water and dust at bay. The two USB ports can be used to charge external devices as the speaker sports a built- in 20000mAh battery, doubling as a power bank.

Performance is superb — bass on conventional Bluetooth speakers usually do not pronounce the desired effect; however, for those who love bass heavy tunes, this one will deliver it in spades, and also keep a balanced sound across the board. At a high volume, the Boombox delivered bass- heavy music with absolute precision and absolutely no distortion, even at max volumes. With to highs and mids, the Boombox absolutely nailed — highs being very energetic and the mids sounding luxuriant. vocals have a lot of texture and detail, and sounds of certain elements within the track are easily differentiated.

The JBL Boombox is priced at a steep ` 27,999, which seems pretty expensive. It does not come loaded with features that probably other speakers may offer, but we probably loved its simplistic and straight-forward approach to pure audio performance. The audio quality speaks for itself and it effortlessly delivers on all fronts. You must hear it to believe it.

The BoomBox is waterproof up to 10m under water.

The 20000mAh battery doubles as a power bank.

A pair of woofers and tweeters club in to produce up to 60W of power.