Blueant X-3D MAX – crazy loud 360° sound (sound review)

The new Blueant X-3D MAX is a 40W, four-speaker 360° sound, IP67, Bluetooth speaker with an excellent sound signature, decent bass and stereo pairable – all for $279 each.

Why BlueAnt?

BlueAnt (reviews here) is an Australian-owned consumer electronics audio brand based in Melbourne. Its R&D facility employs a local team of audio professionals. The BlueAnt BT speaker range includes X0i, X1i, X2i and X3i (i is for the 2023 range) and the Blueant X-3D MAX (this review).

There are many excellent BT speaker makers like JBL, Ultimate Ears, and Sony SRS-XE – all of which you would be happy with. JBL is the most prominent with the widest range, so we suggest you narrow the search between these two brands when shopping. BlueAnt sells mainly online.

Australian Review: BlueAnt X3D-MAX BT portable speaker

Website	Product Page and Manual
Price	$279
Warranty	1-year ACL (2 years with registration)
From	BlueAnt online
Made in	China
Company	BlueAnt is 100% Australian, Est 2004 in Melbourne, by passionate music lovers; it designs a range of musically accurate speakers, soundbars, headphones/buds, and microphones.
More	CyberShack BlueAnt news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass+

It is an oversized ‘Coke-can’ style popularised by JBL/Ultimate Ears/Sony and many more. So why did Blueant enter this overcrowded segment? To quote BlueAnt CEO Taisen Maddern:

We knew this form factor was one of our last frontiers, and we wanted to nail it. We’ve taken the best of the experiences, expertise and designs … and incorporated them into the X-3D MAX. The result is a best-in-class speaker that redefines its form factor and makes continuous audio play accessible for Australians. You won’t need another portable speaker for the home or the road.

It comes in Slate Black, Nobility Blue, Coral Chic and Boudoir Red in a scrubbable Shimmerweave fabric.

Otherwise, it is said jumbo Coke can shape at 22 x 80cm x 975g – no, it does not fit a bike’s water bottle holder.

Under the hood?

This is a 360° mono speaker with two speakers (four amps) facing forward and two facing back. Each side comprises a 50mm 15W woofer (bass/mid) and 20mm 5W tweeter (treble) in a simple crossover mode covering 75Hz to 20kHz. There are top and bottom silicon passive radiators round out the low notes. Most lower-cost BT 360° speakers use only two speakers.

The speakers are True Wireless stereo pairable. Inputs are BT 5.3 and 3.5mm 3-pole stereo.

Placement – Rember it is music in the round

Unlike the BlueAnt X3i BT speaker – BT, IP67 and loud, which has forward-firing speakers for landscape mode, the X3D-MAX needs to stand upright (portrait). Sound emanates from all around, so you need to place it in the centre of the action. Don’t put it in a bookshelf or against a wall as that defeats its purpose.

When stereo pairing (and the reason is to get left/right stereo sound) you need to place these about 1.5-2.5m apart parallel to where you will be listening. To be clear – treat these as you would any stereo ‘bookshelf’ speakers, but again, try leaving room both in front and behind.

Battery – Pass

This has been designed for continuous charge and play courtesy of a 45W intelligent USB-C GaN charger and PPS charging circuits in the speaker. It only gives the battery what it needs. So you can leave it connected.

Blueant claims 12 hours of play time, but that is at 50% volume. Our tests delivered around eight hours at 75% and six hours at 100%, so its claims are accurate.

Charging takes about 4 hours. Although the charger can deliver 45W (5 or 9 or 12V/3A/15/27/36W or PPS 3.3-11V/4.05A/45W it tended to charge at 15V/2A/30W when empty gradually reducing to 2W and 1W until it was full.

Microphone for hands-free – Passable

It has a single front-facing mic (where the +/- volume buttons are). It is the weakest link as there is no noise cancellation in handsfree, and the slightest wind makes it hard for callers to hear. This is the same for most brands/models of BT speakers.

BT 5.3 – Pass but no multipoint

BT 5.3 has a 16-bit/44100 stereo SBC codec. While it can only pair to one device at a time, it can remember the last eight devices. You need to disconnect from the first BT device by pressing the BT button for 1.5 seconds before you connect to a second.

BT range is up to 30m line of sight, but you will find 6-10 metres in a home.

IP67 – Pass

It is IP67-rated, but no specifications are given, so assume 1m for 30 minutes with the rear rubber port closed. The rating is more for use at the beach or pool where sand and water don’t affect it.

Despite being 22 x 80cm x 975g it floats (tested).

How does it sound? Exceed

You must remember that this is an IP67-rated, sealed enclosure. Most lower-cost IP-rated speakers sound dull as the full frequency response cannot escape through the waterproofing.

BlueAnt has achieved an almost perfect neutral signature that neither adds nor subtracts from the original sound.

While it claims 75Hz-20kHz we found bass creeping in at 40Hz (low) and building solidly from 50-100Hz (mid) and then flat (good) to 20kHz. Perfect.

It has enough low/mid bass to hear bass clearly – thump instead of a whump – typical of BT speakers. Mids are clear – good for podcasts and clear voice. The treble is crisp and airy – an enjoyable experience.

Maximum volume is 85dB on mains power and 82 on battery.

You can stereo pair. We tested this mode, and while the sound signature did not vary, it seemed fuller. As 360° speakers radiate sound all around you must place them quite far apart to get decent stereo Left/Right directionality and separation.

We tested with Dolby Atmos content on a Surface Laptop Studio, and the stereo sound stage was slightly wider and higher.

CyberShack’s view – Blueant X-3D MAX – loud, great sound and IP rated.

It has good battery life, floats, sounds terrific, continuous play, and is from an Aussie company. It gets a buy recommendation.

Competition

Prices are RRP at 30/11/23 and may have promotional pricing).

It is in a unique place sitting above the $199.95 JBL Charge 5 BT, IP-rated mono portable speaker – seriously good and below the $399.95 JBL Xtreme 3 stereo BT speaker is ready to rumble (The JBL Xtreme 3 is stereo, and you would have to buy 2 x X3D-MAX to get close to it).

The $329 Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is comparable but only has two 50mm speakers (X3D-Max has 4) and has up to 20 hours of battery life (in reality, 60-70%, if that).

Blueant X-3D MAX rating

• Features: 95 – it stands out for four speakers and continuous play on mains power.
• Value: 90 – It is in a unique space where it is the class leader and yet has a lower cost.
• Performance: 95 – Excellent BlueAnt neutral sound signature, loads of volume and stereo pair adds more depth to BT sound.
• Ease of Use: 90 – Plug and Play and Duo pairing is easier.
• Design: 85 – Typical cylinder design with passive radiators at each end. It would have been nice to incorporate a design feature to stand out from the crowd.