Update - this post about a new machine might be a better choice for home karaoke

https://www.reddit.com/r/karaoke/comments/1fi2rnv/my_recommendation_ikarao_shell_s1_portable/

I've been seeing this JBL Partybox being advertised lately at a pretty reasonable price (approx $200) at Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/JBL-PartyBox-Encore-Karaoke-Party-Speaker/2332235467

Since it looks to be a bit more optimized for karaoke compared to the other JBL Partyboxes and includes two wireless mics I thought I'd buy one to test out and do a quick review.

Conclusion (shorter review) :

It's on sale and it's a decent value at the sale price. It's good for a very simple home karaoke setup. It's loud enough for karaoke in a family room.

I used it with Karafun on an Ipad. I didn't notice any significant latency using Karafun from the Bluetooth connection but I ended up using a wired connection from the 3.5mm output on the Ipad to the Aux In connection on the back of the JBL.

There is a JBL Partybox Bluetooth app that allows you to control a lot of functions remotely. Surprisingly one of the functions that the app doesn't allow you to control is the mic volume. You also can't run Karafun from Bluetooth and the JBL Partybox Bluetooth app at the same time.

The Partybox also doesn't have separate volume controls for the mics. A single volume knob sets the volume for both mics. The mics have some handling noise.

These drawbacks that may or may not be important to some people.

Conclusion (longer review):

It's a small compact system with two wireless microphones. It can pump out music at a decent volume, good for most family rooms. It might struggle in anything larger or outside. It says you can connect two Partyboxes together but I didn't test it.

The two mics work OK. The sound is decent. A little too much handling noise for my tastes (i.e. when you hold the mic in your hand and move it around it makes noise. A sign of a cheaply made microphone). The bass and treble tone controls and the echo vocal effect control are decent. I turned the bass all the way down on the mics because the vocals were too boomy sounding. One big drawback for me is no independent volume controls for the mics. The single volume knob controls the level of both mics.

There is a JBL Partybox bluetooth app that can control most of the functions. But strangely enough one of the functions not included in the app is the mic volume. You can control the mics bass, treble, and echo levels but not the mics volume.

And like most Bluetooth implementations, you can only connect the JBL Partybox to just one app at a time. For my test I had an Ipad running Karafun and the JBL app using bluetooth. If you tried to adjust the levels from the JBL app while a Karafun song was playing the Karafun app would pause. Not very useful.

So I ended up just running Karafun on the Ipad with no Bluetooth connection and ran a 3.5mm cable from the headphone jack out of the Ipad to the Aux In jack on the JBL Partybox for the audio. I ran the JBL Partybox app on my Android phone. That worked OK. I used it mostly to adjust the volume of the karaoke music.

It does have a built in battery for portable use but I didn't test it.

Not sure of the durability of the mics. If one breaks I'm not sure how easily it would be to get replaced.

For the price it's a decent system but because of the drawbacks it's not for me.

A friend of mine got me into speakers and i am now thinking about buying a JBL Speaker. My final decision fell on the Partybox Encore (Essential, maybe?) or the 110. I generally want a Partybox that, of course, sounds good and most importantly gets me through a night of partying (without charging!).

I am leaning towards the 110 seeing as the reviews i saw on youtube seem to be amazed by the ability of the Encore to hold up with the 110 but it being outclassed when it gets to listening at a higher volume. The battery life on the Encore is also a problem as it is advertised to have 10hours of playtime but the resulsts being at lower numbers (I need it to last for 6hours). The last problem is the wheight and portability of the 110. I dont have a car right now and i need to be able to carry the speaker on a bike or my motorcycle.

If it wasnt for the wheight and the limited portabilty i would have already bought the 110 but as im not able to find reviews on the portability of the 110 nor the batterylife of the Encore online im hoping to find answers to my questions on here.

1. How portable is the 110 really? Can you easily put a carrying strap on it and drive around with it?

2. How long is the batterylife on the Encore? Does it last 6 hours?

Ty for your answers!