Can a speaker know what you want to hear before you do? LG is betting yes.
At the edge of CES 2026, the company unveiled a new quartet of xboom speakers — Stage 501, Blast, Mini and Rock — the latest fruits of its ongoing collaboration with will.i.am, who’s billed as the line’s "experimental architect." These aren't incremental updates. They’re an attempt to fold a dizzying number of AI features into portable audio hardware, and to do so across four very different use cases: party, boombox, pocketable travel and rugged outdoor.
What’s interesting enough to look twice at
AI is the throughline. LG says every model includes FYI.RAiDiO, its personality-driven music companion that offers conversational DJs and ten AI personas to curate music on the fly. Beyond that there are three headline smart features that LG keeps repeating: AI Sound (auto-EQ for content and space), AI Lighting (ambient LEDs that sync to music), and Space Calibration Pro (room-aware tuning).
Those sound like marketing staples until you get to the Stage 501's party tricks: an AI Karaoke Master that can isolate—or largely remove—vocals from "virtually any song," and even shift pitch so you can sing along in key. The Stage is the heavy hitter here: LG claims up to 25 hours playback on a 99Wh swappable battery, and up to 220W of output when plugged in (160W on battery). Its five-sided cabinet echoes the Stage 301's adaptable design, letting you position it vertically, horizontally or on a tripod.
The rest of the family
- Blast: A modern boombox, built for longevity and long sessions. LG lists a 99Wh battery here too, rated for up to 35 hours of playback, with rubber bumpers and a rope handle for carrying. Think backyard parties and long days out.
- Mini: Tiny, ten hours of life, a strap and a built-in tripod mount. A pocketable utility speaker for travel or a desk companion.
- Rock: Palm-sized, rugged and tested to "seven military standards," the Rock is the outdoor-oriented update to the XG2 lineage. Battery life is around ten hours and the shell prioritizes survival over style.
Across the range you'll find dual woofers and full-range drivers on the larger units, and the Stage 501 adds Peerless tweeters for clarity at higher volumes.
Why LG is layering so much AI on a speaker
Audio makers have been sprinkling "AI" on their specs for a couple of years now. LG's approach is broad: personalization (FYI.RAiDiO), automatic tuning (AI Sound/Space Calibration Pro), visual ambience (AI Lighting) and direct interaction (AI DJs, vocal removal). That breadth aims to sell the speakers as lifestyle devices, not just transducers.
There are trade-offs. Some reviewers and users see branded AI personas and radio DJs as gimmicky — features that pad spec sheets more than they change listening habits. That echoes wider debates about whether current AI additions actually improve the consumer experience or simply add marketing shine; the industry conversation around AI’s significance continues to evolve as researchers and companies push boundaries in both capability and hype (see the ongoing AI's tipping-point debate).
At the same time, deeper integration of conversational assistants and contextual recommendations mirrors other moves in consumer tech — such as large-model-backed search and recommendation tools — that attempt to make devices feel proactive rather than passive. If you want to see how those kinds of features are getting woven into everyday apps and services, take a look at projects like Gemini Deep Research, which show how AI can pull together content across services.
How these stack up against the competition
LG is playing in a crowded field. Sonos, Sony and Bose have enviable reputations for sound and ecosystem polish; LG is trying to differentiate with flexibility (swappable batteries, multiple mounting positions), party-ready features (karaoke with pitch control), and a persona-led AI experience. Whether that is enough will depend on execution: vocal removal that works reliably on varied recordings is impressive if it holds up in real life; FYI.RAiDiO will need to feel genuinely helpful rather than intrusive.
Pricing and exact availability are still TBD — LG says all four will arrive in 2026 and they'll show the hardware at its CES booth. For now the announcements frame a deliberate pivot: speakers are becoming smarter and more social, and LG wants xboom to be not just the sound source at your party but the party's brains too.
If you’re the sort who likes to judge tech by hands-on testing, expect reviewers to focus on whether the AI features are practical (does Space Calibration Pro actually make a difference in odd-shaped rooms?) and whether vocal-removal and pitch-shifting are clean enough for real karaoke nights. The audio hardware itself — drivers, output and battery performance — will still decide their place among rivals.
LG's bet is that, in 2026, ownership will be about more than loudness or durability: it will be about what the speaker can do for you as an assistant, a DJ, and yes, sometimes even a duet partner. CES will be the first live audition.