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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 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.
JBL Flip 4 review
But the great British summer is notoriously temperamental, so when that inevitable rain hits and you run for shelter – leaving your speaker outside – you want something that’s going to survive the heavy shower, or that you can keep floating in a pool. Impressively, JBL has also put a 3.5mm input on the speaker, hidden under a rubber flap alongside its micro-USB charging port, as a supplement to its Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.
If you’ve got at least two speakers, you can make them play the same song simultaneously, or set one of them as the left channel and one as the right for a greater sense of scale. Specifically, you can change the play/pause button to activate your smartphone’s voice assistant, and take calls using the Flip 4’s in-built microphone.
Starting it off with the iconic Star Wars theme from Revenge Of The Sith, the brass horns come in with a decent stride, the high blasts confidently fill the room and, importantly, there isn’t any sense of harshness or sharpness even at higher volume levels. It doesn’t roll with the upward trills of the strings or the tense intrusion from the trumpets in John Williams’ score as well as it should, leaving the resounding climax of the song a tad empty.
Similarly, changing to Radiohead’s Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors, the processed, start-stop drums that begin the song – boosted by the two passive radiators at either end of the speaker – come across as one amorphous chunk of bass power, rather than showing off the differences in the multiple rhythms layered in the beat. Play the same song through Ultimate Ears’ Wonderboom speaker and, while the low frequencies are a little overstated, there’s notably more detail in them and a good deal more punch too.
The Flip 4 is a good portable speaker – intuitive to use, with pretty solid sound quality, and small enough to slip into the side pocket of any rucksack.
JBL Flip 4 Review
They’ve managed to create tough, highly functional speakers that sound and look good, at a price that doesn’t require a second mortgage. The subject of our Flip 4 review continues this tradition, making a number of improvements over the previous incarnation. In a crowded market, the JBL Flip 4 offers the same kind of rugged usability and features that their competitors display, but at a much more affordable price. The Flip 4 employs the same classic cylindrical design with passive bass radiators at each end that JBL use for their range of Bluetooth speakers.
The main difference is that the Flip 4 uses a tightly woven mesh fabric that has received an IPX7 waterproof rating. It is also dust and sand proof, adding a level of usability absent in the Flip 3, and making this highly portable speaker perfect for trips to the beach or lounging around the pool. The JBL Flip 4 comes in a range of six colors, namely red, blue, grey, teal, white, and black. The large raised buttons are easily identifiable by touch, which makes for easier use in dark conditions.
A super handy carry chord can be used to conveniently hang the speaker anywhere, in the shower, or from the bottom of your backpack, for example. Up to two devices can be paired to the Flip 4 simultaneously, which is a handy feature if you have the kind of friends who constantly argue over playlists. It’s hard to imagine a situation where you’d make full use of this ability, but it’s certainly a useful feature if a couple of friends also own the correct JBL speaker. Two JBL Flip 4’s can also be linked up to create a stereo sound by individually playing either the left or right channel.
Most, the Flip 4 included, will be used outdoors where a little more power and bass comes in handy to counter the less confined stage. Which for such a compact speaker, has a sound that’s easily on a par with its direct and more expensive rival, the UE Boom 2. Improved bass response and the ability to get very loud without distortion, give the Flip 4 an ever so small edge. This gives the Flip 5 a little more clarity in the lower end, whilst still retaining a deep and resonant bass. If you’ve got the extra cash floating around, the Flip 5 is the better sounding speaker, but either way, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for a tough Bluetooth speaker that can pump out a surprisingly loud sound, with an IPX7 waterproof rating, the Flip 4 ticks all those boxes at a most reasonable price point.
For its versatility and unbeatable value for money, the JBL Flip 4 still has a role to play in the ever-expanding Bluetooth speaker market.
JBL Flip 4 Review
The power and Bluetooth buttons also have light indicators to inform you of their status, as well as the speaker’s battery level.
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: Next-gen Flip mini Bluetooth speaker is a little bigger and a little better
Enlarge Image The JBL 4 is fully waterproof and its fabric cover has a tighter weave. So, how much better is the Flip 4 and how does it stack up against the wireless mini Bluetooth speaker competition at this price point? I compared this speaker to Ultimate Ears’ similarly priced Wonderboom and the more expensive UE Boom 2. One of the problems of reviewing the performance of these small Bluetooth speakers is that their sound quality isn’t consistent.
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