LG xboom AI speakers: party tricks or real audio progress?
I’ll be blunt: I’m tired of the word “AI” being pasted onto every gadget, but LG’s new xboom lineup actually mixes some genuinely interesting audio tech with a fair amount of showmanship. Automated EQ that analyzes both the track and your room could be genuinely useful — but only if it adapts subtly and doesn’t just pump bass whenever it sees a waveform.
The will.i.am partnership guarantees headlines and slick marketing. The xboom Stage 501’s vocal removal and pitch adjustment for karaoke sounds fun on paper, but real‑world results for “remove vocals from any song” are hit‑or‑miss in my experience. Ambient lighting that syncs to music is delightful for parties, not a reason to buy better sound — unless the speaker actually delivers on clarity and dynamics.
Battery life and durability look solid on paper: 220W party power and ~25 hours on the Stage, a 99Wh boombox with 35 hours for the Blast, and rugged options like the Rock built to MIL standards. Those are valid differentiators if LG matches audio performance to the marketing. I remain skeptical until I hear them in real rooms and test the vocal‑removal feature on messy, modern mixes.
- xboom Stage 501: up to 220W, dual woofers, vocal removal & pitch adjust, ~25h battery, vertical/horizontal design
- xboom Blast: modern boombox with 99Wh battery, ~35h playback, bumpers and rope handle
- xboom Mini: tiny portable with ~10h battery and tripod mount
- xboom Rock: palm‑sized rugged speaker, ~10h battery, tested to seven military standards
- Common themes: AI EQ/room analysis, AI lighting sync, will.i.am collaboration, 2026 availability
Original coverage: Engadget — LG announces new xboom speakers.
My Verdict: I like the ambition and the practical battery/durability moves. My skepticism is reserved for the AI claims: adaptive EQ and vocal removal need to be unobtrusive and genuinely effective to matter. I’ll judge them by sound, not lighting. Would you buy a speaker for AI features, or do you still pick based on raw audio performance?