![]() ![]() Once you've narrowed down your search, it's time to draw up a shortlist of contenders. Naturally, you should only consider treating a buying decision as a box-ticking exercise based on the features you think you'd benefit from. Some portable Bluetooth speakers even allow you to charge a smartphone or tablet using their own built-in battery. Generally, the more you spend the more features you get, such as multi-room functionality, higher-quality Bluetooth codec support (for aptX or aptX HD, for example), and the ability to answer calls hands-free. How durable a Bluetooth speaker is can quickly become a determining factor, especially if you want to, say, take one to the park or the beach and on holidays. Turn on your JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker.If it's the former, you'll want to think about battery life and other aspects such as how waterproof, dustproof and rugged the design is. Hold down both the “Volume Up” and “Play” buttons at the same time for roughly two seconds.You can confirm that the Charge 5 is powered on when the backlight under the Power button is lit up. ![]() Press the “Power” button again to turn the JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker back on.After two seconds, the LED ring around the Power and Bluetooth buttons will briefly light up before the JBL Charge 5 powers itself off, making this sound. The Charge 5 will instantly turn on in Discovery mode, with the Bluetooth LED blinking on and off, and the speaker making a pinging sound. This confirms that you’ve successfully reset your JBL Charge 5 portable Bluetooth speaker to its default factory settings. You’ll need to pair or re-pair any devices you want to play audio through the JBL Charge 5 speakers with the device. My video on how to pair Bluetooth devices with your JBL Charge 5 is linked in the video description.If you’re looking for big Bluetooth sound in a portable and durable package, it’s hard to beat JBL’s wireless waterproof speakers. That being said, JBL seems to enjoy torturing us with their frequent upgrades to their most popular models. Is it powerful enough to meet your partying needs? Or is it worth upgrading to the larger, Charge 4? And if you already own a JBL speaker, are you going to run into any compatibility issues by adding the Flip 5 to your collection? Let’s take a closer look in this JBL Flip 5 vs JBL Charge 4 Review. DESIGN Controls and Functionalityīoth of these speakers offer the same standard controls, including, play/pause, track skipping (though you can’t skip backwards) and volume control. Neither of these models have microphones. And if your mobile device is paired with your speaker when you get a call, the caller will be audible from your phone speaker, not from the JBL speaker itself. Some JBL owners will be disappointed here. ![]() JBL has updated its “Connect+” feature (employed by the Charge 4) to “PartyBoost” with the release of the new Flip 5. These features allow you to pair or synchronize multiple JBL speakers. But Connect+ and PartyBoost are not compatible. So I couldn’t connect the Flip 5 to the Charge 4. Therefore, if you buy the latest JBL flip speakers, you won’t be able to connect them to older models. Battery and ChargingĪt 20 hours of playtime, the Charge 4 offers 8 more hours than the Flip 5, which will only provide 12 hours of usage. The Charge 4 takes 4.5 hours to fully charge, while the Flip 5 takes 2.5 hours. And both models use a USB-C connection for charging. (Charging cables included in the box).īoth speakers have battery level indicators that light up when you turn them on. The Charge 4 uses a series of glowing dots to show you how much battery life is left, while the Flip 5 uses a single glowing white line that reduces in brightness as the battery life begins to drop. Unlike the Flip 5, the Charge 4 has a 3.5mm audio input so that you can connect the speaker to your device via a cable. However, even with the cable connected to your device, the Charge 4 still has to be powered on. Of course, one of the main advantages of going for the larger Charge 4 is that the speaker also works as a charging bank, allowing you to juice up your mobile device. Waterproof Ratingīoth models have an IPX7 waterproof rating, which means the speakers can be submerged in up to 3 feet of water for about 30 minutes. So, if the speaker falls off your pelican floaty, just enjoy the the show and crack open a beer. And certainly, both speakers can withstand being left out in the rain for a while. Surprisingly, the Charge 4 doesn’t get much louder than the Flip 5. (JBL has boosted the Flip’s volume since the Flip 4). However, compared to the Flip 5, the Charge 4 displays vast improvements in sound quality, and the increased soundstage creates a more expansive feel overall. ![]()
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