JLab JBuds Party review: A meatier portable speaker, but at what cost?

Some of the best Bluetooth speakers cost an arm and a leg. The JLab JBuds Party, however, is not one of them.

At just $69, this Bluetooth speaker is considerably cheaper than JBL, Bose, and Sonos’ competition. However, some sacrifices have been made to keep that price low. Namely, sound quality sacrifices.

The JBuds Party likely won’t impress anyone more serious than the most casual of listeners, and, remarkably, the $34 JLab Go Party sounds better. If I were you, I’d save $35 and go for the cheaper version — but if you want to know more, keep reading this JLab JBuds Party review.

JLab JBuds Party review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A medium-sized portable-ish speaker from JLab
• What does it cost? $69 / £59
• What do we like? The LED lights are funky
• What don’t we like? The $34 JLab Go Party sounds better

JLab JBuds Party review: Specs

JLab JBuds Party review: Price & availability

As with other JLab gear, the JBuds Party is affordable. The speaker is just $69 from Amazon U.S. and £59 from Amazon U.K.. JLab’s speakers are all budget-friendly: the $19 Pop Party, $34 Go Party, and the $199 almost-14-pound Epic Party, which rounds off the lineup.

The JBuds Party is a weird size — it’s in between ~$100-$150 portable speakers like the JBL Flip 7 and ~$300 larger boomboxes like the JBL Xtreme 4. As a result, there’s little direct competition to compare with. However, the JBuds Party is still hugely cheap in comparison to other options in the bloated Bluetooth speaker landscape.

JLab JBuds Party review: Design & controls

• Surprisingly heavy
• Rugged and feels indestructible
• Control dial for volume and play/pause

As with other JLab speakers, I’m unfortunately not a huge fan of the design. The mesh casing is outdated, and, dare I say, unsightly. Other speaker brands — like JBL and Bose — manage to combine functionality, an IP rating, and design well. In the future, I’d like to see JLab go for a high-quality plastic or metal mesh.

One of my favorite design aspects is the LED lightshow. As with other JLab speakers, the JBuds Party has a light display. Now, I can’t tell if this light show is supposed to be in sync with the music or not, but I don’t care. Although I wish it were more in rhythm with the beat, I still caught myself getting mesmerized by the flashing lights.

Another feature I love is the control dial on top of the speaker. Like the JLab Go Party, this control dial can increase and decrease volume, play and pause the music, and activate LabSync, which I’ll discuss in more detail later.

You can also adjust EQ and skip ahead/back with the tactile buttons beside the control dial, but for me, it’s all about the dial. It’s great that you don’t have to download the app — you can do pretty much everything but install firmware updates with the buttons. This is a pleasant change from JBL speakers, on which EQ is only adjustable in-app.

JLab JBuds Party review: Features & connectivity

• LabSync
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Great range

As with other JLab speakers, the JBuds Party has LabSync (party mode) with up to 100 speakers. I found this easy to set up with my JLab Go Party, and then I had double Carly Rae Jepsen. What’s not to love? LabSync did make the music sound better, but I don’t think you should have to buy two speakers to get decent sound out of a budget speaker.

The JBuds Party has a slew of expected features: an IP56 rating, which means it’s dustproof and waterproof; customizable EQ in the app; the aforementioned RGB lighting. Although there’s nothing remarkable — like a mic input you’d find on pricier party speakers like the $299 Tribit StormBox Blast 2 — I’m content with the amount of features for the price.

Connectivity is painless, though, which is often a bugbear with budget audio gear. I was able to connect via Bluetooth in seconds, set up LabSync with no headache, and the range was also really impressive. I went through three doors, through five large rooms, and up and down two flights of stairs, and the speaker didn’t disconnect.

JLab JBuds Party review: Audio quality

• Lackluster bass
• Confused mids and bass fighting for dominance
• The JLab Go Party sounds better

To test the JLab JBuds Party, I listened to a range of genres on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. I listened to most of my music with the ‘JLab Signature’ EQ as the ‘Balanced’ and ‘Bass Boost’ distorted the sound even further.

I played ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust. This is one of my favorite songs in the whole world, so I know exactly how it should sound. Unfortunately, the JLab JBuds Party struggled to balance the low- and high-end, and the song felt flat. The synth riffs were the only dynamic, lively part of the soundscape. The vocals sounded underwater, and the bass was compressed.

Next, I played ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin. Again, this song sounded underwater and muddled, as if the speaker couldn’t decide which aspect of the soundscape to focus on. In the end, this indecisiveness resulted in a muddy bass, scratchy vocals, and inconsistent sound.

My usual bass-testing track is ‘flight fm’ by Joy Orbison. This track was, again, confused and muddy. As this song is almost entirely bass, I thought it might be able to balance the types of bass, but this wasn’t the case. The deep low-end struggled to proclaim its rightful dominance, falling flat against the hi-hats and midrange, and crackled at the end of the track.

After listening to a lot of music on the JBuds Party, I opened up the JLab Go Party — the JBuds’ Party’s $34 younger sibling — and played the same tracks. Remarkably, the JLab Go Party sounded much, much better. The bass was richer, more mature, and the treble and mids weren’t fighting for control. I would definitely recommend the Go Party over the JBuds Party.

Unfortunately, the JBuds Party didn’t live up to my expectations, and there are much better speakers for a little more money out there. Instead of spending $69 on this speaker, I’d recommend saving up a little more and getting the $129 (often on sale for $89-$99) Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2 or the JBL Flip 7 ($149, often on sale for $99-$119).

Alternatively, save your money and grab the JLab Go Party — it’s $34 and performs much the same as the JBuds Party.

JLab JBuds Party review: App

• JLab app
• EQ customization
• Easy-to-use app

As you might expect, the JBuds Party speaker is compatible with the JLab app. This is a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill budget audio gear app. I don’t think it’s necessary — which is a good thing. Too often, audio brands lock their best features behind an app, but JLab doesn’t do that. You can enable LabSync and customize the EQs with the on-speaker buttons.

Here are a few screenshots from the JLab app, so you can see how easy it is to use.

As you can see, the UI is clean and navigable, and there are well-signposted controls. I wish there was a little extra in the app to justify me downloading it, but at the end of the day, this is a $69 speaker. Can I ask for much more? I’ve tested some ~$60 audio gear that doesn’t even work. (EarFun Wave Life, Mixx StreamBuds.)

JLab JBuds Party review: Battery

• 12 hours with lights on
• 10 hours with lights off
• Listened on low for 8 hours, battery dropped to 40%

I was quite disappointed to discover that the JBuds Party will only play for 12 hours. The $34 Go Party lasts for 16 hours without needing a charge. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but if I were you, I’d just get the Go Party.

The JBL Flip 7 lasts for 16 hours without needing a recharge, the $129 Tribit StormBox Lava runs for a whopping 24 hours, so the JLab JBuds Party pales in comparison. But, hey, at least it’s still better than the $179 Sonos Roam, which splutters out after just 10 hours.

JLab JBuds Party review: Verdict

I could spend another 500 words describing the JLab JBuds Party’s sound quality, but what’s the point? The answer is simple: just get the JLab Go Party. You’ll save yourself $35 and get a better-sounding, more portable speaker out of it.

While I appreciate JLab’s vision — the JBuds Party is a weighty, louder, still-affordable older sibling to the smaller Go Party and Pop Party — but I don’t think the extra $35 is justified by the sound quality or features.

If you want a speaker for cheap, skip the JBuds Party. Save your $$$. Grab the JLab Go Party, and thank me later.