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We were pretty impressed by LG’s XBoom 360 portable party speaker when we put one to the test earlier in 2022, but despite the good tunes and fun lighting, we noticed a few places where it could improve. Battery life, at just 10 hours seemed meager, and what’s a portable Bluetooth speaker without the ability to take a splash or two?

Looks like LG took our comments to heart. The latest addition to the XBoom family is the $300 XBoom 360 X03, a much more robust speaker in every way, that still keeps the original’s unique shape, 360 sound, and customizable light effects. LG says it’s available to order immediately from LG’s website and authorized retailers, but at publication time, we couldn’t find any links to do so.

For the new model, LG has ditched the fixed, curved metal handle at the top of the wireless speaker and replaced it with a more discreet carry strap that simply hangs on the side when not in use. It has also taken the fear out of placing the XBoom 360 near water — with an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance. This doesn’t mean you can let it go for a swim, but if it gets splashed with water or ends up spending some time in the rain, it should still work just fine the next day.

It should sound better, too, thanks to a new three-way system. The previous model had a woofer for low-end power and a tweeter for the highs, but the X03 adds a one-inch midrange driver, which should help it deliver more detail, and better separation between frequencies.

Another big win for the X03 is its battery life. LG has bumped it up a lot from the older model, and it can now last a claimed 24 hours before needing to be plugged in. And, as before, you get app-based control over the LED lighting so the X03 is always beaming out the light that suits the music.

So if everything has improved, how has LG kept the price the same? Well, two things have been removed on the X03. The previous two USB ports have been paired back to a single port, and it’s only used for charging — not music playback. You still get a 3.5mm Aux line-in, however. And gone are the fancy DJ modes that we thought were amusing, but not especially useful.

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