Sony has released a number of new wireless portable speakers this year with enhanced features like water-resistant properties, greatly improved battery life, and a new Extra Bass mode which Sony claims will produce a deeper, punchier sound using its custom digital signal processing whilst also reducing midrange distortion. With these enhancements also comes more refined designs that while don't drastically veer off from their predecessors, are a welcome change no less. The new SRS-XB3 ($150) and SRS-XB2 ($100) portable speakers both replace SRS-X33 and SRS-X2, and are a part of Sony's affordably priced models. But what we're going to be taking a closer look at is Sony's SRS-XB3, the portable speaker that most likely everyone is going to be interested in as it strikes a perfect balance between price, performance and portability. It even has larger full-range drivers and double the battery life compared to Sony's new and more expensive (also larger) Wi-Fi-enabled H.ear Go SRS-HG1 ($200) portable speaker. But enough rambling, let's get to it and find out how this speaker handles in practice.