If you want a powerful portable speaker then this House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review is a good place to start. This isn’t something you’ll be taking out and about with you all that often but it’ll be perfect for using around your house and garden. For more options, check out the best Bluetooth speakers.
What sets House of Marley apart from other audio brands is that all of their speakers, headphones and turntables are made from more sustainable materials than elsewhere like bamboo, upcycled plastic and reclaimed hemp to name a few.
Not too long ago, I tested out the House of Marley Get Together 2, which belongs to the same series as this but it’s just a lot smaller and cheaper. This XL version is more about delivering a booming sound for listening in bigger groups.
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review: price and what’s new
You can buy the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL direct from their website for £350 in the UK and $320 in the US at the time of writing.
The XL model is new for the second generation of the House of Marley Get Together speakers, and simply put, it’s just a bigger version of the House of Marley Get Together 2 with 60W of power instead of 40W.
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review: design and setup
The House of Marley Get Together 2 XL might be a portable speaker but it’s so big, I can’t see anyone taking it much further than the garden. It measures 44.9 x 17.9 x 18cm which makes it a lot bigger than a lot of home or multiroom speakers even.
Like its smaller sibling, the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL is made from more sustainable materials such as natural bamboo and upcycled fabric from plastic bottles. That in itself is likely to be quite a substantial draw to this speaker.
The bamboo is plastered over the front, and the fabrics wrap around the device's body. It does look cool and it will fit with most interiors, particularly if you’re someone with a more bohemian style at home.
To control the speaker and your music, there are a few buttons on the top left-hand side like the multifunction button which lets you pause the music, accept or make calls and summon your smartphone’s voice assistant. Not only can you answer or reject a call using the MFB button, but you can actually switch between multiple calls as well putting the other on hold as you do so.
That button sits in between one to skip forwards, a button to go backwards and another to switch through the preset EQ settings. To switch the speaker on and adjust the sound, there’s a large dial surrounded by an LED light to let you know its status and battery level.
The buttons and the knob in particular feel a little flimsy, something you wouldn’t really expect at this sort of price. But the speaker itself seems durable and it’s IP65 water and dust-resistant so it should survive the elements somewhat.
To hook up your devices to the speaker wirelessly, you just need to press and hold the volume knob down until the light starts blinking. Then go to your Bluetooth settings to find and connect to it.
Behind a flap on the back, there’s a USB-C port to charge the speaker and a USB Type-A port to charge your devices, you’ll also find a 3.5mm audio port to connect to your tech that doesn't have Bluetooth. On either end, there are points where you could attach a strap as well, although you don’t get one included in the box.
In terms of battery life, the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL will last about 20 hours of music at a time. That’ll be more than enough for an evening hosting your friends and family.
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review: performance and features
60W of power is delivered by two 4” woofers and two 1” tweeters, and what you get is sound that you can dial up really high. It goes so loud you can shake the walls with it. But I did find the louder it got, the tinier the sound became so this speaker definitely distorts sound a little.
At lower and mid-tier volumes, the sound was perfectly fine though, crisp and well-balanced it has a good punch to it although the treble could be clearer because it did sometimes come across as a little drowned out by the lower frequencies.
If for some reason, you wanted to make it even louder then you can pair multiple devices from this series together although you won't be able to pair it with the older generations. You can connect two of them in stereo mode, or more in multi-pair mode. To do so, it’s just a case of holding down all three buttons at the same time.
By pressing the button on the speaker with a squiggly line on it, you can switch between equaliser settings, and the ring light lets you know which one you’re currently using. The Signature Sound mode shows a pale blue light, the Bass Boost shows a green light and the Acoustic mode has a violet light.
For the most part, I stuck to the Signature Sound mode because I didn’t think the speaker needed any more in the way of bass, unless you’re hosting a party then it’ll come in handy. I did really like the Acoustic mode because it made vocals clearer, something that’ll be particularly useful when you’re listening to slower tracks, podcasts or the radio.
The House of Marley Get Together 2 XL doubles up as a speakerphone as well, thanks to a built-in microphone. When I tested it out I was quite impressed at the call quality, my voice sounded clear as day to the person on the other end and vice versa.
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review: verdict
A portable speaker with tonnes of power, the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL is a great choice for those who want to host parties but are looking for something made of more sustainable materials than the usual audio crowd.
I do think it’s a shame there’s no adjoining smartphone app, yet having so much control from the speaker itself is a definite plus point. It’s also great that you can use it as a speakerphone, something you don’t see too often.
The sheer size of the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL means you won’t be able to use it much outside of the house, but that’s what allows it to go so loud in the first place. You also can’t expect it to match up to similarly priced Bose or Sonos speakers in terms of clarity of the sound - it’s not really meant to though, this is a party boombox more than a precise speaker for podcasts and ballads.
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL review: also consider
For partying outside, you’ll be better off buying the Sony SRS-XG300, purely because it has a handle to go along with its big sound. That’ll make it so much easier to carry with you. What’s more, is that it has fun lights on either end that dance along to the music. You get slightly more battery life here than with the House of Marley Get Together 2 XL as well.
The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a more compact choice but still has a surprisingly powerful sound and you get Wi-Fi connectivity as well as Bluetooth. Plus there’s the added bonus of having Alexa or Google Assistant built-in which gives you hands-free control.
