JBL Charge 4 portable wireless speaker review

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The wireless speaker market is saturated. No matter what size, shape, colour or power level you want, you can find it. If you really want to make a splash, though, you have to find ways to stand out.

The latest entry into the space is another new offering by JBL. The JBL Charge 4 is a cylindrical, wireless, rechargeable Bluetooth portable speaker with 30 watts of power. How durable is it, how does it sound and is it a good buy? I had a chance to spend a week with the device to find out.

What's in the Box?
The contents of the box are appropriately slim; you'll get the speaker plus a Type C USB cable for charging, and the associated paperwork.

Setting up JBL Charge 4

The speaker is super simple to set up and use.
Turn it on by pressing the "Power" button along the top of your JBL Charge 4 Bluetooth speaker, then press the "Bluetooth" button along the top of the speaker next to the Power button. The Bluetooth button will start flashing, and you'll hear a pinging sound. Go to your Bluetooth settings and look for "JBL Charge 4." Tap to connect. The JBL Charge 4 will make a sound after a successful connection.

Alexa/Google connectivity?

A major feature manufacturers are building in is voice assistant control, but sadly here JBL is lagging. There is no Google or Alexa connectivity built in. I feel like that's a bit of an oversight here, particularly with a speaker that's so fresh on the market. If you want to talk to your speaker or use it to control your smart home, you'll need to choose a different device.

Use it as a Power Bank
One of the handy features of this speaker (though one I have yet to actually use) is that you can use it as a power bank. Just connect your cable to the USB **?? in the back and you can juice up your phone or tablet in a pinch.

Battery Life

JBL has endowed this speaker with a built-in rechargeable Li-ion 7500mAH battery, and says that should give the device up to 20 hours of playtime. Worth noting is that it takes about five and a half hours to fully recharge it, so be prepared if you're heading off grid.

The speaker will power off automatically when it's not in use, helping you save battery.

**Test results

Connect two devices
The JBL Charge 4 allows you to connect up to two smartphones or tablets at the same time, meaning you can keep it connected and controllable from your phone and your tablet, or share DJ duties with a pal. This seems to work well and
**can one cut off the other???

Perfect for the water

Another key feature of the Charge 4 is that it's water resistant. It has an IPX7 waterproof rating, meaning it's protected from accidental submersion in 1 meter (3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes.

There's no speakerphone on this speaker, which might be a disadvantage since most other portable speakers do offer that feature, but for me, that's yet another feature I never actually use in practise, so I don't really feel like I'm missing anything.

The speaker does also allow for a direct connection to a device using the 3.5mm Aux jack, if you're analogue like that.

How does JBL Charge 4 sound?

I was kind of ‘meh’ on the JBL Charge 4 when I was getting ready to do the review and checking out the features. The. I turned it on. Wow!

The sound is incredible; the bass is out of this world, and it’s strong and rich. The overall sound quality is really great. Indoors it fills my living room/kitchen area with high quality sound that’s even and doesn’t lean to either the high or low end unnaturally.

-Power & volume

Overall review of JBL Charge 4

Overall, what this speaker is lacking in smart assistant functionality it more than makes up for in sound quality. If you’re getting a portable wireless Bluetooth speaker for the sound, this one won’t disappoint.

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Комментарии

The lack of a microphone may be a good thing for those people concerned about apps monitoring conversations. I picked up a blue one last week and so far so good.

bruceh

That is the one thing I like about it.. nothing more annoying than having you're speaking ringing when you're listening to music..I can immediately tell when I get a call when it goes silent.. love that

SteveMiller-ywkv

I didn't get this speaker for Alexa etc.. I got it to play music it's an awesome speaker

shadowraider

I have a DINDIN bluetooth speaker that I have used for a year and the sound quality is really good, this product deserves a lot of praise.

DinDin-hqmp

I'm glad it doesn't have an assistant feature or take calls. Just want a good wireless speaker.

kcfan

Love the review great work as always. Love the information and the fact you used it for a week. Keep it up Amazing Job 👍💪

eddiezamora

Can't wait for my own charge 4 with so many features and a low price it a steal

vali_

No Alexa on this speaker is why I am buying it.

Sn-tkrq

Awesome! Thanks for sharing Erin!! Happy St. Patrick’s Day Erin! 👍🏻🍀

OFOFBORG

Sounds good to me. I was looking for one that focused on music. I don't want to make phone calls on it, I don't want to talk to it or it to talk to me, I'm quite happy pressing the buttons myself.

rocknrollhippy

At 2:32 mark, did we just hear Moby's "Extreme Ways"? I was on the cusp of this vs Denon Envaya but playing the Moby song used at the end of The Bourne Supremacy made me want it even more!

chrishabrock

Thank you this was very helpful, I'm currently trying to choose which JBL speaker to buy.

kabukiyasmin

Nice to have a woman reviewing tech products! 👍🏽 Seems most of these are male perspective dominated. Using the red helped me decide it’s for me!

tbintijuwa