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Home / Technology

Gadget review: Sony's GTK-XB60 Portable Audio System

Chris Schulz
By Chris Schulz
NZ Herald·
6 Dec, 2017 03:00 PM2 mins to read

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Sony's Portable Audio System lets you take the party on the road.

Sony's Portable Audio System lets you take the party on the road.

What is it? Sony's GTK-XB60 is a high powered audio system that, in their words, lets you "hold an EDM party anywhere". I'm not into EDM, but the huge speaker comes with disco lights and packs an impressive bass wallop, so it's great for annoying your neighbours with the new N*E*R*D album. If you're looking for something to use for tunes at the bach, beach or just your own backyard barbecue, this certainly does the trick.

How does it work? Through two apps, you can control both the music and the speaker's lights. It's easy to plug-and-play then connect via bluetooth to streaming services, but the GTK-XB60 comes with a rechargeable battery that promises 14 hours of charge time without the lights, or 3.5 hours with the lights on. I'm well past the day I could party for 14 hours straight, so that seems like plenty.

What's in the box? Just a plug and the huge speaker, which is a monster. It's 26cm x 55cm x 27cm. They come in three colours, blue, black, or red. The apps, The Sony Music Center and Feistable, are free.

What's the best thing about it? The disco lights, for sure. Outside, at night, it looked suitably impressive sitting in our back yard. The kids loved dancing around it for sure. But I sure wish my son would play something other than Twenty One Pilots on it. Apparently you can connect up to 10 speakers wirelessly. But that's just ridiculous.

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And the worst? Once you've got this set up, you'll want to leave it where it is. Whenever I picked it up using the speaker's carry handle, I kept accidentally turning the system off because the on/off button is so close to the handle. Having to reconnect to bluetooth is just a pain.

Okay, how much does it cost? Right now, the GTK-XB60 is retailing for $549.99. You'll have to supply extra speakers, and the party, yourself.

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