Despite its premium billing, the LG XBoom 360 Bluetooth speaker ($299.99) doesn’t meet our expectations. For example, although we like its triple-driver setup that competently disperses sound and produces rich bass depth, it only produces mono audio. Additionally, its modest water resistance rating and awkward design make it less than ideal as a portable speaker for the outdoors. Its LED lighting features aren’t particularly compelling either, because the effect is fairly subtle in practice. If you want something more durable that outputs stereo audio, the Sony SRS-XG300 ($349.99) is our current Editors’ Choice winner in this price range, and you don’t even need to give up the customizable LEDs.
Puzzling Design Choices
The XBoom 360 is available only in dark gray. It measures 12.9 by 6.5 by 6.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.1 pounds. It has a wide base that narrows a bit at the top, almost like a bowling pin. Despite the odd shape, its bottom-heavy design and rubber feet keep it firmly in place on flat surfaces.
Up top, there are capacitive touch controls for playback (tap two or three times to respectively skip forward or backward a track), volume, and LEDs (a light bulb icon). Annoyingly, however, you have to tap the surface to unlock the controls before making further changes. The buttons detected taps easily enough in testing and we like the chime that accompanies successful touches, but there’s a minor (and slightly annoying) delay between a button press and the resultant action.
A battery life status LED and a Bluetooth icon that lights up when you pair the speaker are also on top. On the back, a power button sits next to a snap-shut compartment near the base. The compartment houses a 3.5mm aux input, but you don't get a cable in the box. There’s also what appears to be another cover near the top of the grille; it's also fully removable and reveals the loop for the included gray canvas strap.
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A 1-inch tweeter on the top panel fires through a perforated grille, while a 2-inch midrange driver (which also fires upward) resides in a recessed cutout. An LED-equipped cone that looks like the top half of an hourglass shines down on the latter and helps disperse the audio. The cloth wraparound grille covers a passive radiator, while a 4-inch down-firing woofer is visible through a narrow cutaway section at the base. The speaker is compatible with Bluetooth 5.1 and works with the AAC and SBC codecs, but not AptX.
The IP54 rating isn't spectacular—the first digit (5) means the speaker can resist dust, though the second digit (4) means it can merely withstand moderate water sprays from any direction. You shouldn't have a problem using the speaker near a pool or on a misty evening outdoors, but moderate rainfall or a cannonball splash might be more than it can handle. Of course, the snap-shut cover for the connections at the base of the speaker needs to be shut for the rating to apply. For comparison, the Sony SRS-XG300 and the JBL Charge 5 ($179.95) have stronger IP67 ratings, which makes them better for use outdoors.
LG estimates that the speaker can last roughly 24 hours per charge, but your results will vary based on your volume levels and use of the LED features. The company claims that the 3,900mAh battery takes roughly five hours to fully charge from empty.
The speaker lacks a mic, which means you can't use it for conference calls or to summon a voice assistant. We would have also liked to see a proper power cable for a speaker this chunky. The USB-C-to-USB-A charging cable in the box is at least decently long, but it isn't ideal for outdoor settings.
Overall, this speaker exists in a weird middle space. It's not durable or portable enough for extensive outdoor use, but it doesn't offer the connectivity features we expect from primarily indoor models.
LG XBoom 360 App Experience
The LG XBoom app (available for Android and iOS) shows an image of the speaker at the top of the home screen, along with a battery readout. There's also a power button for switching the speaker off remotely.
Scroll down to access more sections with various simple functions. A Sound Sources section is up first. The speaker defaults to a Bluetooth connection, but you can switch to the aux input here. After that, there's an area with a volume fader and an EQ. You can choose between standard (the default setting), Sound Boost (optimal for music), and Custom settings. That last option offers six adjustable EQ bands that range between 100Hz and 10KHz.
Mood Lighting is the next major section. Here, you can choose between three broad LED light show categories (Party, Ambient, and Nature) that offer various presets. In the Party category, for example, options include “Passion of youth” and “Cheerful celebration.” Other customization examples include a pulsing strobe effect in the Party mode and a sort of flickering candle effect in the Ambient mode. The LED features enhance the experience to a degree, but the novelty wears off quickly and the downward projection of light means that the interior plastic casing receives the bulk of the effect. The good news is that it's easy to turn this feature off in the app or by pressing the light bulb button on the speaker's top panel.
Further down on the page, you can set up a sleep timer, enable a night mode that slowly dims the lights, pair the speaker with other LG models, configure automatic shutdown settings, and access a user manual (which for some reason requires location services). Additional settings let you toggle sound alerts and look up device information.
A music playback section rounds out the app. It allows you to control your music, as well as access playlists and local files. Further down, there’s a software update section and an app settings menu where you can turn off activity logging.
Powerful Sound With Some Volume Control Issues
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the speaker delivers a relatively powerful low-frequency thump. That surprised us at first because the base conceals the woofer so well. At maximum volume levels, the digital signal processing (DSP) succeeds in preventing distortion, but unfortunately it cuts much of the deep rumble, too. At more moderate volume levels, the lows sound more robust.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the sound signature. The focus on the lows and low-mids here prevents the drums from sounding thin, but they also never stray too far in the other direction, either. Callahan’s baritone vocals receive the bulk of the bass attention, while the crisp high-mids and highs get some additional contour. Meanwhile, the acoustic strums and higher-register percussive hits sound snappy. The default sound is balanced, but if you do want to make changes, keep in mind that the Custom EQ seems to cut the volume output noticeably.
On the hip-hop track “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punch in the mix, but the sustain is what we notice the most—it gets plenty of additional low-end heft. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat aren't fully present, however. We hear only their raspy top notes and a little bit of their depth, but nothing close to what an actual subwoofer can produce. That said, the lows and low-mids are sufficiently powerful and the drum loop still packs a real punch. The vocals exhibit plenty of high-mid and high-frequency presence with just a hint of sibilance.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get lots of detail in the higher frequencies and some solid low-frequency anchoring that lends additional body to the lower-register instrumentation. Even with additional depth, however, the spotlight firmly remains on the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals.
A Speaker With an Identity Crisis
The LG XBoom 360 makes too many strange compromises for us to fully recommend it. For example, the triple-driver setup loses some of its appeal because of the mono audio delivery. And although the speaker is technically portable, it's not quite durable enough to accompany you on all of your outdoor adventures. Both of these drawbacks would be easier to look past at a lower price, but competitors in this range present a better value. The aforementioned Sony SRS-XG300 costs a bit more, but it produces excellent stereo audio, has a more waterproof build, and features a handy strap. If you want to spend a lot less, the JBL Charge 5 delivers powerful mono audio in a much more travel-friendly design. Finally, if you want something primarily to use indoors, the Marshall Acton III ($279.99) offers discrete controls and stereo audio in a similarly intriguing design.
The LG XBoom 360 speaker delivers a decent Bluetooth audio experience and a light show, but it's a bit inconvenient to carry and doesn't offer enough features to justify its high price.
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