For years now if you wanted a speaker that you can bring to the beach and won’t break the bank my answer has been to just get the JBL Flip. It’s wrapped in a durable fabric material that gives it an IPX7 rating, meaning: it can survive being submerged in up to three feet in water. While it’s easy enough to figure out which button is which thanks to them slightly protruding away from the fabric, I feel like they would be much easier to use in low light situations if they lit up or were at least painted a different color.
Another underappreciated thing about the Flip series is that they come in a bunch of different colors so whether you want teal, all-black, or even pink you can find one for you. Once it begins blinking and making a beeping sound that means you’ve entered pairing mode. Connection strength is solid, and I had few problems playing music anywhere in my apartment from my iPhone 11 Pro in my pocket.
Unfortunately, there are no high-quality Bluetooth codecs to speak of here so there was a huge lag while watching YouTube videos. For whatever reason, the audio never synced up with what the person was saying, and because JBL removed the 3.5mm input: there’s no real way around this issue. The roll-off at 60Hz is something that you’re not only able to ignore completely, but you’d have to live with no matter what speaker you buy under a few hundred dollars. JBL upgraded the driver inside the speaker to give it more of a deeper low end, and the company succeeded from what I could tell. JBL’s wireless speakers tend to follow a signature sound that’s roughly similar to the Harman target curve. Essentially, bass notes from middle-C and lower see a bump from 2-8dB, mids are evenly emphasized, and the highs are gently attenuated.
The Flip 5 doesn’t buck this trend, and you’ll likely be happy with the sound without too much futzing with any in-app equalizers or junk like that. The bass response definitely sounds like it was given more of an emphasis this time around than the JBL Flip 4, but it still isn’t going to be the greatest thing you’ve ever heard.
The difference is subtle, and if you’re hanging out in the yard or the beach: chances are you’re streaming off of a lowish-quality service like Spotify or Apple Music. If you aren’t really paying attention to the subtleties of the bass response, you won’t hear them anyway. Still, it was a welcome addition in The Less I Know The Better by Tame Impala, where the groovy bassline is the main part of the song in my opinion. It sounded good enough to hear but wasn’t able to get super low due to the hard drop off at under around 100Hz.
This isn’t a huge deal when listening to podcasts since there wasn’t a lot going on besides voices, but in songs with a lot going on like Ghost Under Rocks by Ra Ra Riot I found that some instrumentation was lacking in clarity as things like guitars and strings were battling for volume with the vocals throughout the chorus. It has a tough waterproof fabric, good sound, decent battery life, and its portable size makes it a great option for just about everyone.
JBL Flip 4 Review
In the box you’ll get the speaker, a bright orange charging cable, and the instruction and warranty information. Pretty standard from the company and I wasn’t expecting any kind of fancy carrying case at this price point anyway. The Flip 4 is still rocking the iconic cylindrical shape with exposed passive bass radiators on either end to match the rest of the JBL line-up. The fabric that wraps around the speaker might look fairly similar to the previous model, but it’s actually completely waterproof now. It’s IPX7 waterproof to be exact, which along with being able to be submerged for 30 minutes in up to a meter of water, also means that’s sealed against dust, dirt, and sand. Editor’s note: Sara tested a JBL Flip 4’s IPX7 rating by submerging it in a pool for about 10 seconds, and it came out broken. On that note this speaker still doesn’t float like the UE Wonderboom we reviewed, so if you do accidentally drop it into a pool that thing is sinking to the bottom. Though I prefer the flexible cord you’ll find on something like the UE Roll, the string here is fine.
If you remember the Flip 3 also had a JBL Connect button, but this one is Connect+ and that extra plus sign makes a huge difference. This is a real bummer because the Flip series isn’t so expensive that it’s impossible to imagine someone buying one every time a new one comes out, and now they can’t even connect them together. If you’re outdoors I’m sure you can push it a bit more as well, as I got well past 50 feet when I took it to the beach though, to be fair, I didn’t have a measuring tape to get an exact distance. The playback controls also work very well and the buttons are nice and clicky so you’re not left wondering whether you’ve actually pressed it or not.
The finger slides that used to sound a little harsh in Cinder And Smoke by Iron & Wine is now much more controlled. The guitar and percussion in Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz backs up the vocals perfectly throughout the track. Another minor change is in the low end, with a slightly beefier bass when compared to the previous model. The rolling bass of Mr. Rager by Kid Cudi is consistent throughout the background of the song without muddying up any of the mids. We have a full explainer piece so you can read up all about it to become an expert, but we also put together this chart for you to hopefully make this clear. But don’t worry, it really doesn’t matter in this case because this speaker is meant to be tossed around and taken with you wherever you go, not for high-quality listening.
The Flip 4 sounds good, is light enough to be packed into a bag easily, and is durable enough to handle your next adventure. If you’re checking out this review to decide if you want to get a JBL Flip 4 and find that it’s just not for you, don’t worry because there are plenty of other options you can choose from.
You’ll get pretty decent sound and battery life in a small package that looks nice and also has LED lights. The sound quality won’t blow you away, but if you want a small and portable speaker definitely check out the SoundLink Micro. While the Flip 4 doesn’t sound bad by any means, it’s clearly designed with a priority on toughness. This means you can expect a subtly better low end when listening to music and this is exactly what we found in our full review of the speaker.
While you might think that this will improve battery life drastically, it actually remains the same at about 12 hours of constant playback which should be fine for most people anyway. If you don’t mind spending the extra cash to get one then you won’t be disappointed, but the Flip 4 is still the better deal considering you still get the same 12-hour battery life, the same IPX7 waterproof rating, and a slightly smaller and more portable body.
JBL Flip 5 review
Driver-bearing cylinders, oblongs and cuboids now jump from concept, to factory lines, to our laps with increasing regularity – and ever more impressive spec sheets. That’s not a huge issue – wireless is clearly the way forward in 2020 – but JBL has also axed the microphone that was used for voice control and hands-free calls. Interestingly, though, the extra juice doesn’t lend any more stamina to the new model – battery life stays at a claimed 12 hours.
There’s no cover for the USB-C charging port and though it is waterproofed, it isn’t tested against salt or sand ingress at the beach. The Flip 5 scores highly for portability, and once resting in our palm, the wrist strap slips comfortably over our hand and the buttons feel easily accessible. On our dark blue model, these four black, unlit buttons are somewhat difficult to locate in fading light, especially if the Flip 5 isn’t resting in our hands – perhaps not ideal for a quick volume adjustment, but it’s a minor issue.
So, with the aux-in port and mic removed and a slightly bigger new driver, we are wondering whether the focus of the JBL Flip 5 has been more on sound performance. Post-punk is one of the tougher genres we could have selected, and yet all musical strands are held competently in check, from the manic high hat to the angry bass to Chatten’s vocal in Big, which is given admirable due diligence, quality and texture. During the bridge of the track, the guitar solo and accompanying reverb are given ample space to shine through the treble and midrange, but not at the expense of the zealous bass.
Once the French horn joins in, there’s a real sense of openness, acoustics and placement on offer that the Award-winning Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 can’t quite match – though the latter is slightly cheaper. Moving to Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head album, the spoken, breathy request at the start of Big Michael comes through with both excitement and remarkable detail. If you don’t mind the lack of in-app EQ settings, aux-in port, battery life, inbuilt microphones or partnering with older JBL speakers, it’s an excellent proposition for the money.
Wij stellen technologie op de proef
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[REVIEW] JBL Flip 5: ideale compacte speaker
Je kunt dus wel stellen dat de basis van deze speaker erg goed voor elkaar is. Ook op andere vlakken maakt ‘ie geen echte uitglijders, hoewel er wel degelijk nadeeltjes zijn.
Groen, rood, geel, roze, camo, grijs, wit, zwart, turkoois of goud; er is voor ieder wat wils. Het geluid heeft een diepe bas zonder dat de midden- en hoge tonen wegvallen.
Eigenlijk verschilt het geluid niet eens zoveel van de JBL Charge 4, terwijl dat apparaat duidelijk groter is. JBL heeft kortom een erg goede balans gevonden tussen geluidskwaliteit en formaat. Zo kun je het geluid van meerdere speakers samenvoegen tot een krachtig geheel. Op zich een topfeature, ware het niet dat hij maar beperkt inzetbaar is.
Een ander nadeel van de Flip 5 is dat hij niet erg geschikt is als je veel meer wilt doen dan muziek luisteren.
Hoewel de JBL Flip 5 met meerdere apparaten verbonden kan worden, werkt dat niet ideaal. Mits je een bluetooth speaker voornamelijk wilt gebruiken voor het luisteren van muziek. Maar goed, voor €100 kun je niet alles hebben en is de JBL Flip 5 overall een prima keuze.
Review: JBL Flip 5; Waterbestendige portable bluetooth speaker
De speaker wordt interessant genoeg geleverd met een soort schuimplastic case. Minder vanzelfsprekend is de PartyBoost-knop welke bedoeld is voor het linken van meerdere ondersteunende speakers. Je kunt hiermee een oneindig aantal speakers dan dezelfde audio laten weergeven.
Wat ons betreft een positieve aanpassing omdat het nogal een geknoei kan zijn om dat soort flappen te openen; al betekent het natuurlijk ook dat er nu makkelijker zand en andere vuiligheid in de USB-poort terecht kan komen. We hebben begrepen dat de vorige generaties vaak gebruikt werden in combinatie met een audio-kabel als PC/laptopspeaker, of losse speaker bij mobiele apparaten tijdens het kijken van bijv. films waarbij er dan geen sprake is van lag, oftewel synchronisatieproblemen tussen beeld en geluid die bij bluetooth connecties meestal nog altijd een probleem is.
Nu is de microfoonkwaliteit van dit soort opties meestal vrij beperkt waardoor uw reviewer weinig met deze functie heeft in dit soort speakers, maar bepaalde gebruikers zullen het alsnog missen. We merken bij het afspelen van video via YouTube minimale lag terwijl weergave van andere typen video zo goed als zonder merkbare lag verliep, al prefereren we het afspelen via een audiokabel (wat dus niet mogelijk is) om alle vormen van zelfs minimale lag uit te sluiten.
De JBL Flip 5 is uiteraard ontworpen als een speaker voor actief gebruik. De watervaste eigenschappen gaan vanzelfsprekend ten koste van het geluid dat een dergelijke speaker kan uitgeven.
Uiteraard is het niets voor mensen die van een neutraal signatuur houden, maar dit weet je vooraf bij de JBL Flip-serie. De Flip 5 is dus niet de speaker waarmee je echt van je favoriete muziek zal genieten (wat dan ook niet perse het doel is van dit soort speakers) en lijkt echt een ‘achtergrondmuziek’-oplossing te zijn.
Voor dergelijk gebruik slaagt de Flip 5 overigens met flag en wimpel. Een tuinfeestje met wat mensen kan prima van geluid worden voorzien door de Flip 5. We merken als we dichter bij de speaker zitten op hogere volumes wel dat er slechts aan één zijde een driver verwerkt zit.
Echter, in horizontale positie bijvoorbeeld onder een monitor (iets dat minder mensen zullen doen dan met de voorganger door het gemis van de jackaansluiting, maar via bluetooth zijn er nog mogelijkheden), en was het dus merkbaar.
Specialisten review van de JBL Flip 4
Er kan geen water in de usb of aux ingang komen, want ze worden beschermd door een rubberen dop.
JBL Flip 4 review
With a $100 (£119.99, around AU$130) asking price, it’s a relatively affordable speaker, flirting with that all important $100 barrier and notably cheaper than the high-end, heavily stylised likes of the Bang and Olufsen BeoPlay A1 or the similarly specced UE Boom 2. Packing splashproof IPX7 certification into its tough, cylindrical form, the JBL Flip 4 is a speaker capable of getting the party started whether lounging at home, chilling by the pool or enduring the muddy swamp of a British festival. A slightly shorter version of the UE Boom 2, its canvas and rubber form see it line up as an outdoors-friendly, all-weather, all-location offering.
The durable fabric material lets the sounds flow while keeping dirt and debris out, while the sizeable rubber end caps and body-hugging accents mean it can be comfortably chucked in your bag or mistreated at the beach without fear of damage. Large play/pause, volume up and down, and sync buttons act as the on-device controls, with their oversized, plastic form making them easy to access when dealing with fingers chilled by the sea or caked in mud. On the rear, the essential power control sits above a handy battery indicator, with five small LEDs giving an at-a-glance view of how close you are to needing a recharge. Adding options to the minimalist design, the Flip 4 is available in six different colours, including the traditional black and less outdoor friendly white, as well as blue, red, grey, and green. Things can sound a little muddled in the mids, with tracks like Nathaniel Rateliff’s Howling at Nothing seeing the vocals and guitar struggling to come to the fore over the strong drum line. Fortunately, the JBL Flip 4 has solid staying power, with its 3,000mAh capable of pumping out an impressive 12-hours of tunes between necessary trips to the mains. It’s rough, tough design makes it perfect as a portable speaker to accompany all aspects of your life while its sound is solid without worrying your home audio system. It’s all weather friendly design is a win, but a lack of definition and distinction in the mid-range ultimately means its sound quality is not quite up to scratch when compared with some, more high-end portable speakers.
De Meest Complete Portable Bluetooth Speaker
De JBL Flip 4 heeft overall een warmer geluid dan zijn voorganger. Het enige nadeel wat wij hebben ondervonden is dat deze passieve radiatoren onbeschermd zijn.
Je hoeft ze niet met een fluwelen handschoen te behandelen, maar let wel op dat je ze niet beschadigd als er wat lomper met de speaker wordt omgegaan.
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