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- Loud with a solid low-frequency presence
- Built to survive
- Great battery life
- Badly skewed audio presentation
- Almost pointless control app
- Lots of more accomplished alternatives
LG has been making a big deal of its collaboration with will.i.am and the LG xboom Bounce Bluetooth speaker is the largest and most expensive result of this get-together we’ve reviewed so far.
As far as durability goes, the Bounce is right up there with the best of its breed. It’s got a coveted IP67 rating, so it can withstand just about any environmental conditions, and military-standard certification that translates to “virtually indestructible”. It has battery life on its side, and it has outright volume going for it, too; the xboom Bounce is among the most potent Bluetooth speakers in its price bracket.
It’s not much of an all-rounder when it comes to sound, though. Midrange and high frequencies sound flimsy in comparison to a dominating low-end, leaving tonality as skewed as frequency response. There are also issues with the control app. But it’s the singular nature of the Bounce’s sound that makes it a rather niche offering.
What do you get for the money?
According to the LG website, buying the xboom Bounce buys you “audio tuned to perfection by will.i.am”. Perfection, of course, is in the ear of the beholder, and I’ll get to it (or the lack thereof) soon enough. But there’s plenty that the £169 the xboom Bounce costs objectively buys you, so it’s probably better to start here.
The xboom Bounce is fairly big and heavy by portable Bluetooth speaker standards, measuring 272 x 88 x 103 (WHD) and weighing 1.42kg. There’s no denying the robust, go-anywhere standard of its construction, however. An IP67 rating against moisture and dust tells its own story of hardiness and longevity. The LG also has MIL-STD-810H certification, which provides it with military-standard resistance to impact, vibration, temperature extremes, and other potentially ruinous occurrences. A broad, integrated elastic strap that can be used as a handle only adds to the impression of ruggedness.









Bluetooth connectivity is via Bluetooth 5.3, and the xBoom Bounce is compatible with the SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs. Sound is delivered by a couple of 20mm tweeters and a 93 x 53mm racetrack mid/bass driver, bolstered by two upward-facing and exposed passive radiators that add more than a hint of visual drama. This array will keep the sounds coming for up to 30 hours between charges, provided you’re not pushing volume to the max. Charging from empty to full takes roughly three hours using the USB-C port on the rear of the fabric-covered chassis.
There are physical controls arranged across the top of the cabinet allowing you to power the Bounce on and off, adjust the volume, play and pause audio, initiate Bluetooth pairing and broadcast to Auracast-supported devices. There’s also a ‘MY’ button that gives direct access to content from LG Radio, Apple Music, any music stored on the local memory of your source device, and a selection of “healing therapy content” curated by LG (provided you download it). Control is also available (up to a point) via the LG ThinQ app.









Finally, there’s some LED lighting across the bottom of the front of the chassis. It can let you know what the speaker is up to (waiting to pair and so on) and can also be set to one of seven different effects or utilise AI to respond to the music that’s currently playing.
What did we like about it?
There’s no denying that the, um, bouncy nature of the xboom Bounce is quite appealing. The world of portable Bluetooth speakers is no stranger to hard-wearing design, of course, but the LG feels constructed to withstand detonations. If any harm comes to your xboom Bounce, that’s on you.
Battery life is impressive too, even though 30 hours is only achievable if you’re listening at no more than 50 per cent volume. That volume level is more than enough, however. This speaker is capable of volume levels that will fill a field, let alone a room. And it’s to LG engineers’ credit that the sonic signature of the xboom Bounce doesn’t alter in the slightest at big output levels.









Where that sonic signature is concerned, it’s apparent that will.i.am’s idea of perfection centres around solid, textured, detailed and, above all, punchy bass. The low-frequency presence this speaker can summon is remarkable. It hits hard, but with decent control, and so has the happy knack of sounding big and bold without knackering the rhythm or tempo it’s trying to express. If you’re after bass and plenty of it, you’ll find the LG xboom Bounce hard to resist.
What could be improved?
The problem here is that once you get beyond the prodigious nature of the LG’s bass reproduction, its sound quality is found wanting. All of the body and substance in the xboom Bounce’s sound is reserved for the low end, leaving the midrange and top end sounding thin and boneless by comparison.
Detail retrieval is pretty good, but the LG struggles to put details into proper context because the soundstage it creates is full-to-bursting with low-frequency activity. Everything that happens above there is squeezed and marginalised, and the overall presentation is lopsided and unnatural as a result.









All the dynamic impetus, spaciousness, tonal variation and harmonic subtlety that’s ordinarily apparent in a digital audio file of Cate Le Bon’s I Can’t Help You is absent here, subsumed by the Bounce’s desire to emphasise the rolling bassline and the four-square rhythm. It’s an unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Unsatisfactory is as good a way as any of describing the app functionality that’s available here, too. Volume control, the ability to adjust LED lighting, exploring your extraordinarily restricted options for the ‘MY’ button, and a room calibration routine do not equate to a fully featured control app. Compare the Bounce experience to that of the equivalent JBL or Sonos, for instance, and the LG seems quite remedial.
Should you buy the LG xboom Bounce?
If you need to fill a large space with punchy, bassy sound over an extended period, the LG xboom Bounce is a very decent option indeed.
If you’re interested in the finer details of your music or, indeed, any semblance of sonic balance or realism, though, there’s every chance you’ll find the LG’s presentation unnaturalistic. Add in a control app that is left in the dirt by that accompanying any number of similarly priced alternative speakers, and the xboom Bounce looks like a product waiting for a very specific customer.
Most people will be better off saving themselves some money and picking up the excellent JBL Flip 7 instead.