JBL CHARGE Portable Bluetooth Waterproof Reviews Summary

Sound Quality

Pros:

• "Overall the soundstage was good for a speaker this size, and sounded natural and open on well-recorded material."
• "It sounded almost as good as my $500 Sonos Move."
• "The tweeter and woofer work very well with each other. Super flat response across the spectrum."
• "The sound is amazing! For this size of the speaker (not big) the sound is amazing!"
• "This little speaker is not so little when it comes to sound."
• "The speaker delivers rich, clear audio that's a perfect match for everything from my favorite playlists to the latest tech podcasts."
• "The sound quality is very crisp and you can hear most of the frequencies pretty clearly."

Cons:

• "This new speaker does sound better. It sounds more clear, but the treble is far too high."
• "The treble is far too high."
• "The highs and mids are clean but maybe get a little muddled by the bass at times."
• "It’s a little tinny at the top but that may mellow out."
• "I loved this speaker at first until it started to have moments where it would break up and sound chalky."
• "Many of the regular flac files sounded very 'tinny' and too bright, so maybe some EQ would help here."
• "Could sound a little better for the price though my old speaker I felt like was louder at the highest volume."

Battery Life

Pros:

• "It is very portable, has a great battery."
• "I feel like I've never charged this. I got it around three months ago, use it nearly daily, and have charged it just once or twice."
• "Good sound and lasts a very long time before needing charged."
• "Not to mention the battery life is incredible."
• "Battery life is still exceptional."
• "The battery life on this thing is long! I once had the speaker provide some background noise for about two days and the battery life was barely lower than 70%."
• "Battery life is amazing and was super nice being able to charge my phone at the beach with the speaker."

Cons:

• "I can press the on button all day long and it doesn’t turn on. Yes it has a full charge. Waste of money."
• "Also, it takes literally 4 to 10 or MORE hours minimum to get a full charge."
• "You are able to use this speaker for four hours before it’s battery life runs out."
• "However, my excitement quickly turned into frustration when the speaker stopped working in November 2023, just under a year after receiving it. The issue was that it wouldn't hold a charge."
• "Even turned off the battery drains in a temperature controlled atmosphere."
• "It only lasts a couple of hours after usage on a full charge which is really disappointing."
• "Fully charged and it only lasts an hour."

Design and Build

Pros:

• "The new one certainly looks much better."
• "This particular one is light weight and will get very loud! Perfect for indoor or outdoor activities."
• "It’s definitely the loudest speaker I have that’s this size."
• "The design is sleek and eye-catching."
• "The design of the speaker is very modern, yet functional."
• "This thing looks absolutely amazing."
• "The design is also very well constructed and feels solid."

Cons:

• "The charger is not a quality charger. It is made very poorly, and the little metal prong broke off into the port where you cannot charge it anymore."
• "The item battery drains quickly."
• "Unfortunately the speaker stopped working would not turn on after about three weeks, did not come with a charger, it had issues with static from day one."
• "The bass starts to fall off at 80% though."
• "The little rubber grips on the bottom of the speaker are coming loose and hanging off."
• "The passive radiators are pretty exposed, and although most of the visible and touchable area is hard plastic, there's no say if a ballpoint pen or other won't puncture the softer silicone ring."
• "After about 3 months of using it probably about 5 days a week 5 hours a day It no longer seems to accept a charge."

Connectivity

Pros:

• "Connectivity: Works perfectly."
• "Paired immediately with my Samsung Smart TV."
• "It also paired immediately to my phone and laptop."
• "Pairing the speaker with my devices is a breeze, thanks to its Bluetooth connectivity."
• "Bluetooth installs instantly, and the sound is truly excellent, including deep bass and soft nature sounds."
• "Excellent speaker, connected to Bluetooth almost instantly."
• "Pairs to my devices very quickly."

Cons:

• "What is not great is the miserable Bluetooth functionality."
• "Connectivity goes in and out and other phones can cancel it out."
• "Now partyboost won't work with the Bluetooth on my computer, only one speaker at a time works."
• "I am not a fan of the Bluetooth connectivity to my laptop."
• "JBL does not have as rich of a sound, and the Bluetooth connection is not as solid."
• "The sound quality is great and the connection is solid once pairing is done... mostly."
• "In addition to standard bluetooth latency, PartyBoost will make this delay greater."