The SRS-XG300 is one of the latest entries in Sony's X series of outdoor speakers. It arrives alongside the SRS-XE300, which experiments a bit with driver design, but we're quite happy with the bass-forward performance of the traditional setup here. A fully waterproof and dustproof design, in combination with a convenient built-in handle, add further appeal. You pay a lot for all of these features and capabilities at $349.99, but the XG300 still beats our former Editors’ Choice winner in this price range, the JBL Xtreme 3 ($379.95), because of its superior customization options and more powerful audio output. If you don’t want to spend over $300 on an outdoor speaker, however, the $179.95 JBL Charge 5 offers plenty of bass punch in a smaller package.

Measuring 12.5 by 5.4 by 5.4 inches, the 6.6-pound SRS-XG300 is available in either dark or light gray. The cylindrical speaker looks quite sporty, in part because the waterproof fabric that wraps around the grille has a heathery appearance. The built-in handle has a matte silicone surface (as do the button panels) and slides down flat when not in use. Sturdy feet on the base keep the speaker from moving around due to vibrations.

Both ends of the SRS-XG300 house large, circular passive radiators (2.8 inches in diameter) with LEDs around the circumference. Behind the grille, there are dual front-facing woofers (2.4 by 2.7 inches) and tweeters (0.8-inch wide). Sony claims the rounded rectangular shape of the woofers reduces driver excursion and prevents distortion. In any case, all the components together deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20KHz.

The speaker is compatible with Bluetooth 5.2 and supports the AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, but not AptX. Google Fast Pair is available on Android devices. You can group other compatible Sony speakers with the SRS-XG300 via the app.

Control panels sit on both the front left and right. The left panel includes buttons for power, Bluetooth, and Mega Bass. Each button has a discrete LED indicator, as do the Charge (which denotes an active power connection) and Stamina (which prolongs battery life) functions. The right panel has a multifunction button that handles playback, call management, and track navigation. Press twice to skip to the next track or three times to go to the previous one. Next to this, you get plus and minus buttons for volume.

The connections panel on the back has a silicone snap-shut cover that protects a USB-C charging port (the box includes a 5V power adapter), a USB-A port (for charging external devices), and a 3.5mm aux input. Two buttons sit alongside the connections: Press Battery for a vocal readout of the remaining battery life or Light to toggle the LEDs.

An IP67 rating means the speaker is fully waterproof and dustproof. You can submerge it to depths of up to a meter for 30 minutes, and neither rain nor poolside splashes should be an issue. Note that this rating applies only when the cover for the connections panel is shut.

Sony estimates the speaker can last roughly 25 hours on a change, but your results will vary based on your listening volume levels. The company claims the battery takes five hours to fully charge from empty and that charging it for just 10 minutes gets you 70 minutes of playback time.

The Sony Music Center app (available for Android and iOS) looks about as cool as a Word doc—with text on a blank backdrop for the most part—but it offers some useful extras.

The first thing you see is an image of the speaker along with a battery life readout. Below that, the My Library section organizes your local music library. It's not any more useful than whatever default music app you use, however. Farther down, the app includes a link to the Fiestable music app (a separate app with party features) and a shortcut to your default music player.

The Settings menu offers the bulk of the app's useful features. Just to get the basics out of the way, it lets you control the speaker's volume, shut it off remotely, add a small selection of app widgets to the app's home screen, and turn off a data collection option. Most importantly, however, you get Sound, Power Option, Illumination, System, and Device Connection sections.

In the Sound submenu, the top option is ClearAudio+ (which Sony recommends)—enabling it seems to merely switch the speaker to Mega Bass mode, which you can also do manually. There's also a Custom EQ section with three faders for lows, mids, and highs. Despite the relative simplicity of the EQ, the bass fader adds an appreciable amount of low-end power. You can't save your changes as a preset, but the app keeps these settings even if you restart the speaker. We would prefer a five-band EQ like in the Sony Headphones App for its noise-cancelling headphones, but this is still better than nothing.

Apart from the Custom EQ option, there's also a Sound Effect section, which lets you toggle Mega Bass (boosts the lows) and Live Sound (which doesn’t seem to add much to the audio experience). Mega Bass is on by default. Otherwise, there's a DJ Effect with Isolator and Flanger options—both are gimmicky, but you can have fun messing around with their faders.

In the Power Option submenu, you can select Stamina mode, which limits the sound quality to preserve battery life. Leave it off to ensure the best audio quality. There's also a Battery Care setting that causes the charging process to pause at about 90% to improve the long-term health of the battery. Other auto-standby modes also help extend the battery life, too.

The Illumination section offers a long list of presets with names that aren't very helpful. Strobe and Calm Daylight are certainly more descriptive than Cute, Delightful, and Fresh, but neither does what you might expect. In fact, all of the modes use similar color selections and pulse patterns. In testing, we found that it’s entirely possible to look directly at the speaker and not see any lights because of their position on each end and relative dimness. But, otherwise, we like how the LEDs sync up with a good beat and find it entertaining in just about any mode.

The remaining sections let you prioritize sound quality over connection stability (or vice versa), as well as see which device you are currently using.

We tested audio primarily with Mega Bass on because that's how the speaker ships, but we turned it off at times as well. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” it delivers a palpable low-frequency thump. At top volumes, it doesn’t distort (even in Mega Bass mode). And with that setting off, the system still delivers seriously deep lows for its size.

Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, better reveals the sound signature. The drums on this track get some additional low-frequency heft, but never enter overly thunderous territory. It's actually Callahan’s baritone vocals that receive the most obvious boosting in the Mega Bass mode—his voice stands out in the mix with plenty of low and low-mid richness. If you switch Mega Bass off, the drums sound less powerful, but the vocals still sound just as full. That tells us that the boosting in the lower frequencies is part of the sound signature, not just a result of the Mega Bass setting. Thankfully, Sony keeps things crisp and bright in the highs to match the lows. It scoops the mids a bit, however, so purists likely won't be happy.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives plenty of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain its punch. In Mega Bass mode, the drum loop gets a particular hefty low-end presence, which isn't the case with it off. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat come across with laudable depth for a speaker this size, though we don't quite hear the deepest sub-bass tones. The vocals on this track sound clear and largely free of sibilance.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound better with Mega Bass off. With it on, the lower instrumentation gets way too rumbly and steals the focus from the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals. Turn it off to restore a decent sense of balance.

The speakerphone mic offers strong intelligibility—we had no issues understanding every word from a test recording. The signal sounds crisp and even benefits from a bass undertone.

The Sony SRS-XG300 offers powerful audio quality, a comprehensive companion app, and strong Bluetooth codec support in a weatherproof design. A useful speakerphone capability and entertaining LED options only add to the experience. If you're looking for an easily portable outdoor speaker that delivers some serious thunder, the SRS-XG300 earns our Editors' Choice. The aforementioned JBL Charge 5 is a solid lower-cost alternative at $179.95, and if you want something even louder, the $499.95 JBL Boombox 3 offers truly impressive bass and volume, but it's a lot heavier and more expensive.

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