JBL PartyBox 100 VS 300 (direct comparison)

What are the differences between the JBL PartyBox 100 and 300? Is the 300 better than the 100? Is it worth the additional cost? We'll cover both boxes in this comparison and answer those questions to help determine which speaker is right for you. 

Up front, I'll say that the core features of these two speakers are pretty much the same.

They both have the lighting panel, Bluetooth support, and roughly the same level of audio quality which is quite good.

However, pricing is where we see a major difference.

The 100 is $200 less than the $300, giving you a significantly cheaper alternative without a huge feature downgrade. There's also a difference in dimensions and speaker size between the two boxes.

JBL PartyBox 100 VS 300 Pricing

The JBL PartyBox 100 runs about $300 while the PartyBox 300 runs at about $500.

You can use our orange Sweetwater buttons below to browse both devices, which help support our site at no extra cost to you.

Note that Sweetwater likely doesn't carry the 100 and 300 which are older versions of these speakers, but instead just have placeholder pages. Amazon is the best place to get these particular models (linked below).

Grading

Both devices achieve the same level of sound quality and have essentially the same core features. The only significant difference is that the 300 has RCA jacks on the back panel while the 100 only has 1/8" and 1/4" ins and outs. Unless you specifically want to use your PartyBox with an RCA cable, this isn't going to make a significant difference in your experience. 

What are they ideal for?

The JBL PartyBox 300 and 100 are both ideal for the same task list. They're made to provide indoor or outdoor audio by connecting MP3 players, laptops, or other music streaming devices. They can also serve as a simple PA system solution with a microphone and instrument input, though it's important to note that there are no XLR connections on either device.

Spec Sheet Differences

There's a significant size difference between these two speakers. While the number of woofers and tweeters is the same, the dimensions are smaller in the 100, which has 5.25" woofers compared to 6.5" woofers in the 310. Likewise, tweeters in the 100 are a bit smaller and the dimensions of the speaker housing is smaller overall. The 100 also has a slightly more limited frequency response.

Summary of Comparison

These are two extremely similar speakers without a lot of concrete specs to distinguish them. We'd argue the biggest difference is simply size, where the PartyBox 300 is larger and has larger speakers than the 100. However, that's not quite enough for us to put up the extra $200 required to bring in the PartyBox 300.

Given a choice of the two, we'll take the JBL PartyBox 100 at a steep discount and won't be too worried about the difference in speaker size. For larger venues or perhaps outdoor use, the 300 might be more ideal, but for most people buying this type of speaker, the 100 has everything you need.

Save the money and go with the cheaper of the two options.

Your Questions

Do you have questions about the JBL PartyBox 300 or 100, or general questions about our comparison?

If so, use the comments section below to post them.

We'll jump in and answer there, which helps make this resource better for future readers.

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