With its Bass Boost feature set to ‘1’, it has a boomy sound profile suitable for listening to a wide variety of audio content. You can use the Bass Boost feature to add extra thump and rumble to your audio, which may please fans of bass-heavy music genres.
JBL Charge 4 review
While that obviously isn’t a huge deal, it’s not good news if you were relying on the portability of the speaker. Yes, the tough waterproof fabric makes a comeback along with the IPX7 certification that lets you submerge it for up to 30 minutes in a meter of water. It also floats for a bit if you do drop it in the water so you don’t have to worry about losing it if it falls off of a boat or a deck. These also have the characteristic exposed dual passive radiators on either end just like most of the new JBL speakers over the last few years.
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. The bottom is a small built-in stand with five tiny LED lights that let you know how much battery life is left when you tap the power button, and around back is a rubber flap that keeps all of the ports protected from water.
The Charge 4 has all of your bases covered with a strong connection up to around 30 feet just like most Bluetooth speakers. The Charge 4 also doesn’t have a built-in microphone so if you tend to use your speaker for phone calls you might be annoyed.
Unfortunately, if you bought an older speaker with the regular JBL Connect (like the Charge 3), it isn’t compatible with this new plus version. So if you and a few friends are going to splurge on 100 of these and throw a “Project X” style party, this could be a feature that you might be interested in.
This was the part where I was most surprised because I was expecting the sound quality to be an improvement over the Charge 3, but it seems to be extremely similar to my ears. JBL went with a single driver over dual-drivers this time around, but besides a few minor complaints, I don’t think many people who buy this speaker are going to notice.
Just like the previous model, the new JBL Charge 4 has a strong low end for its size which is no doubt helped by those passive radiators. Bass notes throughout the song Tearing at the Seams by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats were distinct and easy to follow along with, but the speaker suffers from the same lack of clarity in the mids that the last model did.
This was especially true in the song Lost on You by LP, where the vocals sounded like they were in competition with the strings and background melodies throughout the chorus.
Otherwise, you’re better off springing for the JBL Charge 5, with its newer tech, better battery life, and better IP67 rating.
Waterproof Bluetooth Speakers
Be careful what devices you leave on and open to access when you are not nearby. Turn off any Bluetooth devices you are not using to save power and protect your digital security. Whether you are on the train, in a car, or walking down the street, someone with the right technical skills could hack your Bluetooth device without your knowledge. Use these confirmation codes to limit who has access to your devices and quickly tell if someone is trying to connect so that you can stop them.
• Turning off visibility: If you have an option to toggle your device’s visibility, keep it set on non-discoverable until you want to connect, as leaving your device in public or open mode could let a hacker know your signal is available to exploit. You can unpair keyboards, mice, speakers, and more devices with a few simple clicks.
The JBL Connect app helps you configure your speakers, so they operate in the best modes for your needs. Completely turn off the device, then hold down the power button, look for blinking lights, or listen for an audio sound indicating something has changed.
The most common indicators of pairing mode are blinking lights and a noise like a beep, but every brand is different.
JBL Go 2 review: A mini Bluetooth speaker that offers maximum portability
This new version, which comes in many color options and costs $40, has been bulked up a bit — it weighs 184g — and has its corners rounded off. While the speaker is a little heavier, it’s very similar in size to the original and is designed for maximum portability. It takes up little room in a backpack, laptop bag or purse, and will even fit in a lot of pockets.
Even so, as you might expect, this speaker overall is short on bass and won’t exactly rock a room, even a small one.
Bose’s more expensive SoundLink Micro plays bigger and sounds substantially better, but it costs 2.5 times as much. It should cost closer to $30 or about £22 or AU$40 converted (you can find the original Go for close to $25), but I’m not going to knock it too hard for that.
JBL Clip 4 Bluetooth speaker review: A new design and improved sound quality
For its first three generations, JBL’s Clip micro Bluetooth speaker had a circular design. But for the fourth-gen Clip 4, JBL has moved to a more oval shape and bulked up the speaker slightly. It’s not a big bump in performance, but the overall package feels like an upgrade over the Clip 3, which remains available. 8.1 JBL Clip 4 Like Compact speaker with impressive sound for its small size
Its backside has a set of rubber ribs, so if you lay the speaker on a smooth surface, it won’t move around. At higher volumes, the bass does make the speaker vibrate, so you can see why the rubberized back is necessary.
It also works well for supplying richer sound for movie playback than what your phone or tablet speakers are capable of. The Clip 4 is louder and has better clarity and bass, but the Go 3 costs $30 less and some people may prefer its design.
Neither the Go 3 or Clip 4 has speakerphone capabilities or pairs with a companion JBL app (the Clip 3 has a built-in microphone for speakerphone calls), so you can’t link up multiple speakers in “PartyBoost” mode like you can with some of JBL’s step-up Bluetooth speakers such as the Flip 5 and Charge 4.
The same is true for the Clip 4, which has a nicely upgraded design and slightly better sound than its predecessor.
Customer Reviews: JBL Go 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Black JBLGO2BLK
With this, I am now able to listen to morning news on demand (NPR app is my choice) and hear it loud and clear without worry about water damage. The only con is that the sound clarity on the higher end is not has crisp as I would have preferred, but is understandable given that it is 100% waterproof.
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