Verdict
The LG xboom Grab is a solid, reliable and well-rounded portable Bluetooth speaker. It sounds excellent for its size, once you’ve settled on the right EQ settings, and its military standard protection means you’ll have no hesitation chucking it about a bit. Choose AI room calibration over AI sound, ignore the slightly pointless lighting, and master the ways of the LG ThinQ app to get the very best from it
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Engaging sound and frequency separation -
Well protected, whatever the weather -
Solid 20-hour battery life
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AI sound is lacking -
LG ThinQ app feels overdone -
Lighting not needed
Key Features
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Speakerbox
Audio tuned by will.i.am -
Battery
Up to 20 hours playtime -
App
LG ThinQ app with AI sound & calibration
Introduction
The mid-range Bluetooth speaker market is as hotly contested as a chilli-eating competition, and the LG xboom Grab has Carolina Reaper aspirations. Why else would you enlist nine-time Grammy-award winner will.i.am to refine the sound and go knocking on the door of a Scandi speaker maker if you didn’t mean business?
You would also be hard-pressed to find many speakers under £130 professing the sort of AI smarts and military-grade protection offered by LG. Usually, there are caveats at this price, but on the surface, the portable xboom Grab doesn’t appear to have many.
With the larger xboom Bounce and larger still xboom Stage 301 impressing us in certain areas, it’s now up to the smallest speaker in the group to do what all good chillis do and pack a punch that belies its size.
But is the Xboom Grab more Ghost Pepper or Bell Pepper on the Scoville scale? Let’s find out.
Design
- Tubular shape
- Solid build
- Versatile carry straps
The LG xboom Grab looks like a reusable water bottle and will even fit in the bottle cage of your bike, should you value Shabba Ranks over consistent rehydration.
Its neat tubular design lives up to its name, and even small hands can get a firm grip around the mix of rugged black plastic and acoustic cloth. In any case, elastic material straps are also available, held in place by premium metal brackets.
Embossed xboom branding looms large in the middle, with a control panel of seven buttons on top comprising power, volume up, volume down, play/pause, Bluetooth pairing, Auracast/Party Link, and LG’s MY button for customisation.
At either end, you’ll find passive radiators distributing sound, with a 16mm dome tweeter from Peerless handling high frequencies, and an 80 x 45mm racetrack driver providing woofer wobbles down low. The sole input is USB-C.
Weighing 700 kg, it’s lighter than its closest rival, the JBL Flip 7, which tips the scales at 826 kg, although it does come in about 2cm longer, should size matter. Overall, it’s nice to look at, thoughtfully designed, and well built.
A quick note on the light bar, which is a much more subtle affair compared to the xboom Stage 301 party speaker. Just a slither of a 10cm long strip skirting the bottom of the acoustic cloth.
Features
- AI light and sound
- IP67 rating
- Auracast Party Link
Will.i.am aside, LG’s headline-grabbing features include AI audio settings for every genre, AI lighting that syncs with the sound, and AI calibration so the speaker setup is optimal in any given space.
As mentioned, the Black Eyed Peas frontman has been assisted by Danish audio company Peerless on the speaker components.
Pleasingly, the xboom Grab inherits the same MIL-STD-810H military standards and IP67 rating seen on the bigger xboom Bounce. That means protection against high temperatures, rain, vibration, impacts, salt water spray, dust and flooding.
LG’s ThinQ app is a labyrinth of settings and sub-settings, plus everything from Apple Music integration to healing therapy playlists.
Party Link via Auracast is, however, a superb inclusion at this price point. Choose from dual mode for pairing two Grabs at once, or multi-mode, allowing you to connect multiple xboom speakers from 2025 onwards.
This Bluetooth 5.3 mini-boomer gets speakerphone support, plays nicely with voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant, and doubles as a power bank for charging devices
App support
- Razor-sharp pairing
- Clever AI calibration
- Head-scratching app
The best portable Bluetooth speakers are a simple switch-on and pair affair. Forget about the LG ThinQ app, and the xboom Grab kicks into gear in milliseconds. Officially recognise the app’s existence, and things become a little more involved.
Your first port of call should be to dive headfirst into settings and hit the AI calibration feature. This optimises the speaker’s sound for the space you’re in, be it inside or out. You’ll need to repeat this process if you move to another area.
From there, start playing around with the sound effects, choosing between ‘Standard’, ‘Bass Boost’, ‘Voice Enhance’, ‘AI Sound’, and ‘Custom’ for more selective fiddling with the overall EQ settings.
Lighting options are just as versatile. Either let the AI analyse what you’re listening to, or choose from seven lighting motions. Customise further by selecting your preferred colours and choosing a repeat mode — either sequential or random playback of all motions. Better still, turn it all off and give your brain a break.
Cognitively, Party Link is an altogether simpler affair. With Auracast on board, I connected the xboom Grab with an xboom Stage 301 pretty swiftly, great news for extending the garden party playlist to other areas of the house.
That just leaves the ‘Contents’ tab, and honestly, it’s probably one to avoid. The Healing Therapy playlists and My Music integration with Apple Music are so weak, you’re better off just using your native streaming app.
Sound Quality
- ‘Bass Boost’ for the win
- Excellent soundstage separation
- Avoid AI
With a 16mm dome tweeter from Peerless handling high frequencies, and an 80 x 45mm racetrack driver on woofer patrol, I’ve high hopes in the sound stakes for the compact xboom Grab.
The aforementioned setup is front-facing, with passive radiators at either end to help push the sound all around. This bodes well for the Bass Boost EQ setting out of the box, and there’s certainly a pleasing amount of low-end.
I’d say it’s overpowering, and while mids can sound slightly muddied at times, ‘
Chase the Devil by Max Romeo and Hip-Hop by Dead Prez sound bigger than the sum of their parts on a speaker this small, which is a real win.
While the AI calibration tool is a boon, AI Sound repeatedly misses the mark. Tracks feel too eager, crisp and overpronounced in places, while lacking impetus in others. It’s all rather odd and unconvincing.
The sultry, psychedelic and cinematic qualities of Bonnie and Clyde with Bridgette Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg sit much better in Standard mode, while the pop, funk and disco elements of Why by Carly Simon suit Bass Boost. Decision, decisions.
Switching to something rockier, Black Sabbath’s War Pigs (RIP Ozzy) and System of a Down’s Chop Suey both need ‘Bass Boost’ or we may as well all go home, so unless you’re planning on switching EQ settings for every song, just keep it on that.
It might not be the most refined, but I’m not conducting an orchestra in Dolby Atmos here, so I can forgive a little loss of balance with the mids and treble — especially when the one thing LG has nailed is a soundstage with commendable frequency separation, for a vibrant and captivating listen.
There’s harmony and warmth here once you eek it out, and while you’ll get a more engaging listen from, say, the Marshall Emberton III, you’ll come away feeling pretty confident about taking this as your +1 to a party.
Voice Enhance is there for spoken word, so if you’re taking phone calls or locked into Test Match Special for the day, it does a decent job of taking the edge off any background noise while keeping Jonathan Agnew at the crease with a straight bat.
Battery life
- 20-hour battery
- 3-hour charging time
- Auto power off
With 20 hours of playtime, the LG xboom Grab beats the JBL Flip 7 by four hours and the Ultimate Ears Boom 4 by five. Extra battery life that could be the difference between an after-party and leaving with a fully charged mobile phone.
Charging takes three hours to the JBL’s 2.5, but you’d plump for the extra capacity every time. Or just buy an Auracast-enabled, IP67-protected Marshall Emberton III with 32-hour battery… albeit for an extra £20.
Need to recoup some minutes? Utilise the auto power off setting and turn off any lighting. Note, the 20-hour figure is based on 50% volume and no lighting.
Should you buy it?
It’s a comforting compact speaker
The name might be a bit Greg Wallace, but the LG xboom Grab is anything but. It’s not in-your-face, brash or inappropriate. Subtle in design and subtle in sound, you’ll enjoy hanging out, safe in the knowledge that you can allow it to let loose from time to time. Enjoy it, but enjoy it by being disciplined.
It’s perhaps lacking personality
It’s hard to put my finger on it, but if anything, the LG xboom Grab is lacking dazzle. Don’t mistake this for me suggesting it needs more lights — it doesn’t — but some extra colours of finishes other than black wouldn’t go amiss. As it stands, I’m settling for the Grab, rather than falling hopelessly in love with it.
Final Thoughts
With its solid build, pleasant design and military-grade protection, the LG xboom Grab is up there with many of the best Bluetooth speakers and best outdoor speakers.
Next to its two bigger siblings, the LG xboom Bounce and LG xboom Stage 301 [URL to come], it’s perhaps the surprise package for sound quality, with a nice balance of bass and soundstage separation.
Like the Sony ULT Field 1, it can feel a little bland. Colourful rivals such as the JBL Flip 7 or Ultimate Ears Boom 4 will garner the admiring glances, while the Marshall Emberton III sits there smoking a cigarette, looking cool.
On the Scoville scale, I’m probably talking green jalapeno Tobasco rather than Frank’s Red Hot. It’ll spice things up, but without knocking your socks off.
How We Test
LG xboom Grab testing included country walks through the Chilterns, messing about by the river, all-day WFH sessions with conference calls, and the odd shower soundtrack.
Over three weeks, it was bundled into backpacks, moved from room to room, and became a trusty companion for Test Match Special.
We predominantly tested with an iPhone 12 Pro using Apple Music and the BBC Sounds app, but also YouTube from a Mac Mini M1, connecting to a Philips OLED 805/12 TV, plus Party Link functionality with the LG xboom Stage 301.
For music testing, tracks were selected across genres, from classical compositions and film scores to rock, pop, dance, and hip hop tracks to assess the speaker’s audio prowess across the full frequency spectrum.
- In the home office
- Out in the field(s)
- In the bathroom
FAQs
Press the power button to turn on the speaker. Hold the Bluetooth button until the blue indicator flashes. Enable Bluetooth on your device and select “LG Xboom Grab” from the list. The Bluetooth indicator will stay solid once connected. Use the LG ThinQ app for additional control.
The battery life is up to 20 hours at 50% volume with Bluetooth and Voice Enhance mode on and no lighting, though this may vary. Charge using the included USB Type-C cable, which takes about 3 hours. Ensure the speaker is dry before charging.
Full Specs
| LG xboom Grab Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £129 |
| USA RRP | $149.99 |
| EU RRP | €149 |
| AUD RRP | AU$229 |
| Manufacturer | LG |
| IP rating | IP67 |
| Battery Hours | 20 |
| Size (Dimensions) | 211 x 70 x 71 MM |
| Weight | 700 G |
| Release Date | 2025 |
| Audio Resolution | SBC, AAC |
| Driver (s) | 16mm dome tweeter, 80 x 45mm racetrack driver |
| Ports | USB-C |
| Audio (Power output) | 30 W |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Colours | Black |
| Frequency Range | – Hz |
| Speaker Type | Portable Speaker |
