For nearly 20 years, MEE Audio has been making quality audio products with a value proposition. Here on GeekDad, we’ve reviewed their products a few times with very favorable impressions (see here and here). Which is why, when I was approached with an offer to try out their new Bluetooth speakers (a category I already have a weak spot for), I was positively inclined to agree. For this review, they sent me their new partySPKR, which they describe as a “Wireless XL Party Speaker w/ LED Lights.” As a geek of a certain age, who grew up in the original era of portable party music, I call it a boombox. Of course, the technology has come a long way over the years. Instead of popping a cassette in, the music comes from your mobile phone or other portable device with a Bluetooth connection (or directly via headphone cables or a USB drive), and instead of half a dozen D-cell batteries, the speakers are powered by a rechargeable internal battery, but the goal is still the same—bring the party with you wherever you want it and make it loud.

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Look and Feel and Listen

There are plenty of portable speakers that, when erring on the side of portability, sacrifice sound quality. On the other end of the spectrum are the karaoke-grade units that may have massive sound, but require a dolly to qualify as “portable.” The partySPKR falls right into a Goldilocks zone as far as I’m concerned; it’s just right in size—7.5″ tall x 6″ wide x 14.5″ long—nd weighing in at just over six pounds, it can be easily carried to wherever you need it. There’s a shoulder strap available separately that clips onto the metal loops built into the top of the frame (which could be used for other purposes as well). And it sounds really good, with the ability to thump out some bass on demand in a way that smaller speakers just can’t match.

MEE Audio sent me the basic black model, which looks clean and classic. It feels solid and very carry-able with a comfortable integrated handle that doubles up as part of the ambient LED lighting (more on that in a bit). There are a few more design choices available that suggest come kind of party-camo vibe—to each their own; I’ll stick to the black since it won’t look out-of-date as fashions shift. The front grille hides a couple tweeters and either end has a passive radiator for the dual woofers. Total power delivered is 60W which is really good. Consider that most home stereo amps run in the 50W-100W range, and we’re in a nice, comfortable middle space for audio delivery.

There are three specialized audio modes available that you can cycle through via the big “M” button on the front: Dynamic, Bass Boost, and Vocal Boost; they are pretty self-explanatory tweaks on the equalization. I will say that, with the Base Boost enabled and the speaker sitting on my desk (it has nice, round, rubber feet to keep it firmly planted), I could really feel my test music (the Epilogue/End Titles movement from James Horner’s score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), full of lush strings and booming drums. (This brings up a humorous quote I recently saw, attributed to legendary musician and sound engineer Alan Parsons: “Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music; they use your music to listen to their equipment.”)

Part of the party aspect of the partySPKR is lighting. There are backlit LEDs recessed in the handle and in the passive bass reflectors at each end. You can cycle through various lighting modes, including ones that will pulse to the music being played. While it doesn’t enhance the music, it’s really a nice and well-executed feature that adds to the ambience.

Other Features

Besides the Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, I like the flexibility of the other two inputs: a mini-headphone jack—which lets you plug any analog source in—and a standard USB port for a thumb drive filled with your favorite tunes (WAV, WMA, FLAC, MP3). As a fan of owning your own media, this latter feature is a big plus.

The built-in rechargeable battery will fill up in about four hours via USB-C and lasts between 10 & 12 hours, depending upon your use of the lights alongside the music. As with many similar devices that include big battery packs, you can also use the partySPKR to charge other gadgets via the standard USB port (meaning you can’t charge your phone while playing tunes from a thumb drive; ahh, modern problems).

One other feature that I didn’t get a chance to test, but which intrigues me, is that (again, not unlike some other portable speakers on the market) you can sync up multiple units to create even larger sound installations. Many times, I’ve see this feature indicating you could partner a couple speakers to get stereo or just MOAR SOUND. However, the partySPKR indicates you could sync up to 100 units which… I’d really love to see, actually. I realize, though, that it is probably impractical. Since the communications are via Bluetooth, every one of the synced units would have to be within 30′ of the primary unit that is connected to the audio source. So, 100 speakers confined to a 30′ diameter circle with the primary speaker at the center; this would probably make for some amazing sound, but not useful for a party.

It also occurred to me to wonder, when there are so many speakers like this on the market with the ability to sync, why you can’t do that with speakers from different brands? Well, I asked the question of the MEE Audio representative and received a totally reasonable answer: first, different speakers, especially if they are from different brands, will be running different chipsets that rule out that kind of common interoperability. Second, from an audio quality standpoint, syncing different speakers, especially different sized speakers, can result in weird mismatches in frequency response that would reduce the user experience. Okay, makes sense to me.

Final Thoughts

The form is excellent and the function is great; that’s how I feel about the MEE Audio partySPKR. For the time being, it’s sitting on my desk acting as the primary sound output for my computer and I can’t wait to pick it up and take it with me the next time we go to the park for a picnic, or plop it on the counter of our backyard tiki bar. Not too big. Not too small. Just right.

If that sounds good to you, too, you can find the partySPKR for $170 at MEE Audio’s website (affiliate link) or $150 on Amazon (affiliate link). Oh, and as a geek who took four years of Latin in school, I can’t help put see the name as partySPQR and read it as “Party, Senate and People of Rome!”

Specifications

Click through to read all of “Review: The MEE Audio partySPKR Is the Goldilocks of Portable Speakers – Just Right” at GeekDad.If you value content from GeekDad, please support us via Patreon or use this link to shop at Amazon. Thanks!