LG Xboom Stage 301

Introduction

Unless you’re Charli XCX, recent reports suggest late-night socialising is on the decline, leading to Time Magazine, of all places, to call for a return of the house party — which is where the LG Xboom Stage 301 comes in. 

The biggest of a triple brood of Bluetooth speakers, audio tuned by will.i.am, this beefy hunk has been AI-optimised for karaoke nights, DJ sets, and mass gatherings, be it indoors or out.

At £299 / $299, it’s encouragingly priced and includes some novel features, like the ability to hot swap out spare batteries (sold separately) with each one keeping the party going for another 12 hours.

As with its smaller brother, the Xboom Bounce, LG’s aim with AI is to optimise the listening experience to suit any surroundings. Thanks to IPX4 water resistance, it’s able to withstand “splashing”, so is it time to break out the paddling pool?

Design

• Lightweight and clutchable
• Versatile setup
• Semi-pro styling

The LG Xboom Stage 301 looks like a gig venue monitor, or the kind of portable PA Ed Sheeran terrifies unsuspecting communities with while busking.

Size-wise, it’s the height and width of a vinyl record sleeve, while a clever wedge design means it can sit flat on its base, tilted back, or plonked atop a tripod — Phoenix Nights’ Ray Von will be pleased.

Finished in matte black plastic, it’s durable without being rugged. A metal perforated grille protects the drivers, complemented by rubberised covers for the port selection and a replaceable battery compartment.

Red ‘xboom’ logos flank each side, rubber feet protect the plastic when perched on its posterior, and LED lighting licks the top and bottom of the grill with a horizontal bar. It’s not anywhere near as garish as most party speakers.

Weighing 6.5kg, you would be comfortable lugging two to the back of the garden, or round to a friend’s place on public transport. The carry handle is perfectly placed, so you’re not smacking your knees with every stride.

The IPX4 rating is nowhere near as comprehensive as the MIL-STD-810H U.S. military standard on the Xboom Bounce, which protects against sand and saltwater spray, but the Stage 301 isn’t the sort of speaker you’d take to the beach, unless you’re arsed.

Features

• Peerless Audio drivers
• AI room calibration
• Fun app functionality

LG’s headline features on the Xboom Stage 301 are its audio tuned by will.i.am, a powerful signature sound, replaceable batteries for 24-hour playtime, dual-bar AI lighting syncs with sound, that wedge design, and AI calibration to optimise sound.

As with the Xboom Bounce, the Black Eyed Peas frontman has had help from Danish audio company Peerless, providing the 6.5-inch woofer and dual 2.5-inch midrange drivers all visible through the front grill. 

The Stage 301 can be powered from the mains, but I do like this idea of replaceable, rechargeable Li-ion batteries. The speaker comes supplied with one, which slides out and is the size of a soap bar. The Stage 301 battery replacement name is BP34A.AEUSLBK, priced at £69.99 and available on the LG website from October 2025 onwards.

Audio, like the lighting, is largely AI-calibrated. Sure, you can choose manually from rhythm, melody, or voice-oriented modes, or unleash AI to set the most optimal mode for you, adjusting the sound to suit the genre.

Setting up somewhere unfamiliar? LG’s ThinQ app adjusts the Stage 301 for the venue, calibrating audio to the size and shape of the space. AI lighting then syncs with what is being played, even analysing genres. Party on, Wayne, party on, Garth.

The ThinQ app runs deep, with settings for everything from Apple Music integration to healing therapy playlists. It’s very bloated, but adding the Stage 301 to it opens up some intriguing DJ Mode and Karaoke options.

The first features a rather bizarre sound effects soundboard, the likes of which haven’t been heard since Tim Westwood’s Radio 1 Rap Show. And yet, it’s hilarious fun, including the functionality to record your own stupidly juvenile samples.

Karaoke Mode prompts you to connect a microphone or guitar before things get really interesting. The app can reduce the singer’s voice of your chosen song and then enhance your vocals with effects such as soprano, robot, and, er, helium!

You would have to be quite the cold, miserable bastard not to find any of this even remotely amusing, and in one fell swoop, the Stage 301 becomes a party speaker for all the family, so long as you remember to delete any profanity-rich samples. 

A notable mention for Party Link, which offers a dual mode for pairing two Stage 301s at once, and multi-mode, allowing you to connect multiple Xboom speakers from 2025 onwards via Auracast. 

LG Xboom speakers are easily controllable from the unit, too. Here, you get power, central play/pause surrounded by a volume dial, Bluetooth pairing, Party Link, lighting effects, EQ, and a MY button for customisable content shortcuts. Also on the unit are volume controls for a microphone or guitar and a reverb effect. 

Ports stretch to a 3.5mm and 6.35 mm aux in and USB-A for charging devices. No USB-C feels stingy, and no RCA knocks out any hope of connections for turntables and DJ controllers, although in testing, I did manage to hook up a projector.

There’s no voice assistant support and no speakerphone functionality, so don’t even go there.

Connectivity

• Flawless functionality
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Lacks streaming support

While the Xboom Bounce felt unnecessarily complex, the Stage 301 offers enough curiosities to make you want to want to explore more. It’s a fine margin, but the speaker’s versatility encourages you to, well, try things out.

Bluetooth 5.3 pairing, Party Link, AI sound and light settings, room calibration — it all works as it should, and while the app remains a labyrinth of settings and sub-settings, at least they make a meaningful difference on a speaker this size.

Apple Music integration still feels like a work in progress, with other streaming services omitted through the ThinQ app. This is one area where life is not as good as LG would have you believe.

I would dearly have loved to DJ for real with this thing, but with no way to plug in decks, that fun sample soundboard is functionality all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Sound Quality

• Woofer and midrange array
• Oodles of base
• Sound ‘in the club style’

Powerful, bold, and able to make your party one of a kind, is not how LG describes will.i.am, but rather the result of his fine-tuning.

The Xboom Stage 301’s front-facing array of a 6.5-inch woofer and dual 2.5-inch midranges restricts you somewhat on all-around sound, so while loud enough to be room-filling, it will matter where you’re standing.

I suppose house party guests need some respite, and this does mean you can control the direction of the audio if you’ve got sensitive neighbours. 

The stereo speaker delivers solid frequency response accuracy with warm, mid-forward tuning. Vocals are clear and present, aided by a subtle high-mid boost, though this can verge on nasal on some tracks with very prominent vocals.

Teardrop by Massive Attack sounds atrocious in AI mode, like there’s some sort of glitch in the matrix, which is a timely reminder you’ll always need the app on hand in case you need to switch sound modes or tweak the EQ.

Parity is quickly restored on Chains & Whips by Clipse, which sounds suitably powerful, while So U Kno by Overmono delivers punchy kick drums and hefty low-end wobbles.

It’s this sort of output that confirms the Stage 301 likes things to be ‘in the club style’ as Vic and Bob would say — so big beat urban and dance genres generally work well.

Switching to something a little more rocky, Fight Like A Girl (feat. K.Flay) by Evanescence from the Ballerinasoundtrack feels warm… or slightly dull depending on your preference, though bass lovers might appreciate the added low-end.

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major might not be your standard house party fare. Perhaps you’re using it to clear the room at the end of the night, but regardless, like Evanescence, it lacks impact and feels a tad lifeless.

I tested the speaker upright, plugged into the wall, using the AI calibration and default ‘Bass Boost’ EQ, which felt like the ideal frequency curve. Other EQ modes varied; while ‘Standard’ and ‘Voice Enhance’ didn’t lend much, except with spoken word.

If I had to pick an orientation for peak performance, things sound fuller when upright compared to tilted back on the floor, and this maximises the bass response, too. While max volume dropped by 3–5 dB when running on battery versus plugged in.

In summation, the Xboom Stage 301 isn’t winning any awards for its sound, but in terms of being able to galvanise a house party within seconds of being switched on, we’d say it’s job done.

Battery life

• 12-hour playtime
• Replaceable batteries
• Mains power option

Is a 12-hour playtime sufficient? For most house parties, probably. It’s also par for the course when you consider the JBL Partybox Club 120, which will set you back a further 50 green queens, also offers 12 hours with the same spare battery option.

Hot swapping out batteries comes with caveats, of course. You’ll have to momentarily disconnect the tunes while switching over, and each spare cell is going to set you back more money.

Your best option, then, will always be to find somewhere to plug in and keep the battery as a backup. For house parties and indoor venues, that shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

In any case, the speaker powers off after 35 minutes of inactivity, but you can change the settings in the ‘auto power off’ menu, as well as set up a sleep timer in the app.

Should you buy it?

FAQs