
We’ve done in-depth reviews of all current portable JBL Bluetooth speakers, but understandably you folks don’t want to read all that. So here’s a quick set of comparisons, mini-reviews, and an FAQ to help you choose the right JBL sonic portable delight for you.
JBL makes great-sounding, well-regarded, very reasonably priced portable Bluetooth speakers that are durable and road-worthy. Any of them could be smart picks; which you get depends largely on the size you’re willing to carry, the price, and a few other feature factors.
We’ve got the basic facts in a side-by-side table below; we also have a variety of FAQs below that.
Update History of This Article
JBL Speakers: A Side-by-Side Comparison
We’ve ordered the speakers below from most portable at the beginning (that is, the lightest and smallest) and going up in size to the boombox-sized portable party monsters at the end.
Further down on this page we also offer more in-depth side-by-side comparisons of specific JBL speakers plus some non-JBL speakers to recommend.
Our take in a nutshell | Interface | Notes | Connectivity | Frequency range | Output power | Battery life (advertised) | Speakerphone | Voice assistant | Pair multiple units | Waterproof? | Length (in.) | Height (in.) | Depth (in.) | Length (cm.) | Height (cm.) | Depth (cm.) | Weight (kg.) | Weight (lbs.) | Check latest prices | ||
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![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Go 3 | • This tiny, palm-sized speaker offers better sound than typical laptop or phone speakers on their own • Highly durable; completely waterproof and dustproof | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume up/down • Power • Play/pause button | • Available in black, blue, blue & pink, red, squad, pink, green and white | • Bluetooth v5.1 • USB-C charging | 110 Hz - 20 kHz | 4.2 W | 5 hours / takes 2.5 hours to fully charge up | No | No | No | Completely waterproof and dustproof; can be submerged (IP67) | 2.7 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 6.9 | 8.6 | 4.0 | 0.21 | 0.46 | • Amazon • BestBuy • JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Clip 4 | • Just slightly larger than the JBL Go 3 and much more convenient to carry with its hook • Much more complete and powerful sound than the JBL Go 3 • Highly durable; completely waterproof and dustproof | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume up/down • Power • Play/pause button | • Available in black, blue, blue & pink, red, squad, pink, green, and white • USB-C charging | • Bluetooth v5.1 | 100Hz - 20kHz | 5 W | 10 hours / takes 3 hours to fully charge up | No | No | No | Completely waterproof and dustproof (IP67); can be submerged and withstand dirty environments | 5.3 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 13.5 | 8.6 | 4.6 | 0.24 | 0.53 | • Amazon • BestBuy • JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Flip 6 | • A bit larger than a soda can and still quite portable, with much better mid-range performance and bass than the JBL Clip 4, can fill a larger room or outdoor patio with sound • Offers equalizer controls for those who like fiddling to meet their tastes • Highly durable; completely waterproof and dustproof | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume up/down • Power • PartyBoost (for pairing multiple JBL PartyBoost speakers) • Play/pause | • Transducers: 45 x 80 mm woofer and 16 mm tweeter • Colors: teal, grey, red, black, blue (though we expect more color options will eventually be available) | • Bluetooth 5.1 (expect slightly better syncing with video) • USB-C charging | 63Hz–20kHz | 20 W RMS for woofer, 10 W RMS for tweeter | • Lasts approximately 12 hours; fully charges in 2.5 hours | No | No | Can pair with any other JBL PartyBoost-compatible speaker for portable stereo sound, and with multiple speakers for bigger sound | IP67 waterproof and dustproof (can be completely submerged for 30 minutes with no damage; unit is better able to stand up to dirt and grime) | 7.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 17.8 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 0.55 | 1.21 | • JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Charge 5 | • Stronger bass than the JBL Flip models; better evenness and clarity; loud enough to animate a small picnic or beach gathering, suitable more demanding indoor listening too • Highly durable; completely waterproof and dustproof; external-device charging capability | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume controls • Power • PartyBoost+ button for pairing with compatible speakers • Play/pause | • One 52 mm x 90 mm woofer • One 20 mm tweeter • Available in 5 solid colors as well as camouflage | • Bluetooth v5.1 • One USB-A output for charging other devices • Charges via USB-C cable (included), but you need a (quite handy) wall outlet to USB-C converter like this if you don't have one) • No audio input jack | 65 Hz - 20 kHz | 30 W | • 20 hours from a 7500mAh battery • You can charge a phone or other device off of the speaker's battery • One-light battery indicator dims as battery gets weaker | No | No | Yes; connect multiple JBL PartyBoost speakers (not compatible with JBL Connect or Connect+) for bigger sound or stereo | Completely waterproof and dustproof (IP67) | 8.7 | 3.76 | 3.67 | 22 | 9.6 | 9.3 | 0.96 | 2.1 | • Amazon • BestBuy • JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Pulse 4 | • Customizable, flashy light show expanded to fill entire speaker • Excellent 360-degree performance; designed to be placed in the center of the room, unlike the JBL Charge 5 which is a more potent speaker with more convincing bass, but is directional and sounds better from the front • If you buy two Pulse 4s, the light and sound can be synchronized between both | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume up/down • Power • Connect button (for pairing multiple JBL Connect+ speakers) • Play/pause • LED Lightshow | • 57 mm transducers • Available in a range of solid colors | • Bluetooth 4.2 | 70Hz - 20kHz | 20 W | 12 hours / takes 3.5 hours to fully charge up | No | No | Yes, Connect multiple units for bigger sound (any JBL Connect+ speakers work) | Completely waterproof; can be submerged (IPX7) | 8.15 | 3.78 | 3.78 | 20.7 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 1.26 | 2.78 | • Amazon • BestBuy • JBL |
![]() | JBL Xtreme 3 | • The same shape as the JBL Charge 5, but a bit longer and wider, like an American football and twice as heavy • Much louder and stronger performance at top volumes, suitable for outdoor listening for a mid-sized party and inside has the ability to deliver nuance approaching nice bookshelf speakers • Bluetooth 5.1, external device charging • Includes a shoulder strap with a built-in bottle opener | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume controls • Power • Play/pause • PartyBoost button for pairing with compatible speakers | • Two 70 mm woofers • Two 20 mm tweeters • Available in black, blue, and camouflage | • Bluetooth v5.1 • Charges via USB-C (wall plug to USB-C included) • Powerbank feature: One USB-A (5V / 2A) and one USB-C (5V / 1.5A) output for charging a phone or other device from the speaker's battery (total max output 2.5A) | 53.5 Hz - 20k Hz | 2 x 25W | 15 hours / takes 2.5 hours to fully charge up | No | No | Yes; connect multiple JBL PartyBoost enabled speakers for true stereo or for bigger (mono) sound | Completely waterproof and dustproof; can be submerged for up to 30 minutes (IP67) | 11.75 | 5.35 | 5.28 | 29.8 | 13.6 | 13.4 | 1.97 | 4.34 | Amazon BestBuy JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL Boombox 2 | • Twice as big and heavy as the JBL Xtreme 3, but still within the realm of "portable" • Potent, even delivery is enough for outdoor dance parties, with gripping, present bass • Durable design, textured handle for easy gripping, fully waterproof, extremely long battery life • Further boost the sound by pairing with any other JBL PartyBoost-enabled speaker | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume up/down • Power • Play/pause button • JBL PartyBoost button (for pairing multiple speakers) | • Two 101.6 mm woofers • Two 20 mm tweeters • Available in black and camouflage | • Bluetooth v5.1 (allows two connections, improves sync when watching videos) • One USB output for charging other devices off of the speaker battery • 1 mini stereo input for playing music from older devices | 50 Hz - 20 kHz | 2 x 40W | 24 hours / takes 6.5 hours to fully charge up | No | No | Connect other JBL PartyBoost-compatible speakers | Completely waterproof; can be submerged for up to 30 minutes (IPX7) | 19.1 | 10.1 | 7.9 | 48.5 | 25.7 | 20.1 | 5.9 | 13.03 | Amazon (in your country) BestBuy JBL |
![]() [Click the + for more...] | JBL PartyBox Encore Essential | • Less battery life and rough-and-tumble durability and waterproofing than the more portable JBL Boombox 2, but similarly designed to go quite loud and animate an indoor or outdoor party • 3.5 mm aux or mic input with karaoke options and echo effect option for your voice • For the similarly less-portable but more party- and karaoke-oriented JBL speakers, check out the JBL party speaker line | • Bluetooth pairing • Volume rotary up/down • Power • Play/pause button (also for skipping/going back on tracks with multiple presses) • Gain (microphone) adjustment knob • TWS pairing for linking multiple speakers • Light pattern switching and lights on/off button • Bass boost button • Battery level indicator | • 1 x 5.25 inch woofer • 2 x 1.75 inch tweeters | • Bluetooth v5.1 • One USB output for charging other devices off of the speaker battery • 1 mini input for microphone or playing music from wired devices | 50 Hz - 20 kHz | 100 W RMS | 6 hours / takes 3.5 hours to fully charge | No | No | Pair with one more JBL PartyBox speaker | Splashproof (IPX4) | 10.87 | 12.87 | 11.54 | 27.6 | 32.7 | 29.3 | 5.9 | 13 | Amazon (in your country) JBL |
Find Out More About JBL and Other Portable Speakers
Also note that while JBL speakers are quite well regarded by others (and by us), we have another pick for our top travel speaker as well as for our favorite larger, louder Bluetooth speaker. JBL speakers particularly excel, however, if you want full waterproofing and strong, even sound in a portable, durable package.
We have specific comparison articles devoted to the following JBL speakers if you’re just deciding between two or three. From smallest to largest, the comparisons are:
- JBL Go vs JBL Go 2 vs JBL Go 3 — The smallest JBL speaker line
- JBL Clip 3 vs Clip 4 — The palm-sized speakers that clip onto a backpack strap
- JBL Flip 5 vs Flip 6 — The most recent update of this portable line
- JBL Charge 4 vs Charge 5 — Mid-sized, gorgeous-sounding speaker: A comparison of the upgrade
- JBL Pulse 4 vs Flip 5 vs Charge 4 — A direct comparison of the mid-sized JBL options
- JBL Charge 5 vs Xtreme 3 — Still portable but loud: Mid-sized vs. mini-boombox speakers
- JBL Xtreme (original) and Xtreme 2 vs the new JBL Xtreme 3— A comparison of the upgrade
- JBL Xtreme 3 vs Boombox 2 — For super-loud outdoor parties: The mini-boombox vs. the mega-boombox
- JBL Boombox vs Boombox 2 (as upgraded back in 2020) and JBL Boombox 2 vs JBL Boombox 3 (upgraded in 2022) — The boss outdoor party speaker and our total favorite for really cranking the volume
- JBL Link 10 vs Link 20 — JBL’s attempt at a smart speaker, with Google Assistant (we’re not huge fans of these two)
F.A.Q. on JBL Portable Bluetooth Speakers
We’ve tried to answer the most key questions we’ve gotten from readers in the process of choosing speakers.
If this mega-JBL-coverage somehow doesn’t do the trick, feel free to drop your own questions in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer (and improve this article) if needed.
Questions on Choosing JBL
Still can’t decide between JBL speakers? The table at top should help, but here are answers to the most common questions.
What’s the loudest JBL portable speaker?
Though it stretches our definition of portable, the loudest JBL Bluetooth speaker that you could still consider taking around is the JBL PartyBox 300. It weighs 41.5 lbs. (18.84 kg) and only has a five-hour battery. It’s also not at all water resistant. But it can put out a wallop of a sound, and you can plug a guitar or mic into it for karaoke.
More realistically, the loudest truly portable JBL speaker is the JBL Boombox 2, which is soon being replaced by the JBL Boombox 3. It’s 13 lbs (5.9 kg) of pure party madness on the go. It’s rugged, it floats, and it is fully waterproof (IPX7 rated). There’s a carry handle, which is key, and still relatively compact and easy to carry for its outsized sound.
Which portable JBL speaker has the best bass?
As with the previous answer, the JBL PartyBox 300 can deliver the deepest bass, but is quite a lot to carry around. The JBL Boombox 2 (also just above) is the closest you can get to a true, quality subwoofer-style bass experience in a speaker on the go.
What’s the smallest JBL Bluetooth speaker?

The smallest JBL speaker we’d recommend is the JBL Go 3. It’s about the size of a bar of soap, and if your phone, tablet, or laptop isn’t producing enough sound, this is an excellent option to boost things a bit on the go. It’s a great travel speaker.
Add to this the fact that the Go 3 syncs well over Bluetooth and generally causes no problems for matching dialogue with whatever device you’re watching videos on. It’s certainly not going to sound as good as a home theatre system, but if you’re watching Netflix on a laptop, this little speaker will certainly improve the audio experience.
What’s the best JBL shower speaker?
Hands-down the speaker we’d opt for in the shower is the JBL Clip 4, though with their full-on waterproofing any of the JBL speakers above would also work in a humid environment.
The Clip 4’s advantage is its small size, solid construction, and built-in, wide carabiner that allows you to easily hang it from a toiletry shelf or towel hook. The JBL Clip 4 is a solid improvement on the JBL Clip 3 and we think a better overall deal than the JBL Go 3; it sounds much better and is only slightly bigger and more expensive.
The Clip 4 goes plenty loud enough to be heard over spraying water and your own terrible crooning. The mix is even and there’s plenty of clarity for such a small speaker with an emphasis on the mids.
The Clip 4 doesn’t have a lot of bass (to be expected for a speaker of its size) — if you need some thump with your shower experience, check out (from smallest to largest) the JBL Charge 4, Xtreme 2, or Boombox 2 in the table above. But those are kind of overkill for a shower.
What’s the trippiest JBL speaker?
Could any speaker seem more expressly designed for passing a joint or tripping balls than the JBL Pulse 4?
This modern take on the lava lamp pumps out detailed 360-degree sound while offering a fully customizable light show. Place it in the middle of a room for best effect.
What’s the newest JBL Bluetooth speaker?
New speakers are released all the time, but as of this writing, the newest speakers in the main, popular, portable JBL lines are the JBL Boombox 3 and JBL Pulse 5, coming out in summer/fall of 2022.
The Future of JBL Portable Bluetooth Speakers
We’ve been following JBL quite carefully for years. So while the following is conjecture, it’s very carefully considered conjecture. We update this section as new information is released/leaked. In the past, JBL has sometimes previewed its new speakers for journalists at electronics shows, and we’ll be all over that too if it happens.
If you’re shopping, it’s not worth waiting around for a new speaker model to be released, in our opinion. The last several models of various lines of JBL speakers have been consistently good, so we wouldn’t bother waiting for the latest version in general. Also, it can be wise to wait until a speaker has been out for a few months in any case; this gives you a chance to wait for review sites (especially us!) to cover it thoroughly, and notice any firmware or manufacturing problems that JBL may need to correct. There’s really very little sense in being a first adopter.
Will there be a JBL Flip 7?
Since new JBL Flip speakers have been released about every two years, if the schedule is maintained we would expect a future JBL Flip 7 speaker to come out in mid-to-late 2023.
That’s guesswork, but it’s based on the following: The JBL Flip 3 was released in September of 2015, the JBL Flip 4 was launched in April 0f 2017, and the JBL Flip 5 was released in August of 2019. As we originally predicted on this page, the JBL Flip 6 was released in late 2021—and exactly as we predicted JBL prioritized better high-volume performance in this latest version.
You can find out more in our review of the JBL Flip 5 versus Flip 6; there’s some definite improvement between versions.
Will there be a JBL Charge 6?
Given JBL’s past schedule of new Charge releases every two or so years, we’d expect a JBL Charge 6 (if it is indeed made) to be released in late 2022. In the meantime, consider our previous review of the JBL Charge 4 with the current JBL Charge 5.
We’re basing this educated guess on the past: the JBL Charge 2 was released in late 2014, the JBL Charge 3 was released in May of 2016 and the JBL Charge 4 was released in Oct of 2018. The JBL Charge 5 came along in April 2020.
Will there be a JBL Pulse 5?
Yes. The JBL Pulse 5 is coming out in summer or fall of 2022. This JBL Pulse series of unique digital-lava-lamps-cum-speakers has been a hit, and we expect minor improvements from this one, especially better sync of the lights and sound.
The release timing fits JBL’s patterns; the JBL Pulse 2 was released at the tail end of 2015, the JBL Pulse 3 was released in January of 2017, and the JBL Pulse 4 was released in September of 2019.
Note also that some features tend to be both gained and lost, as happened in the upgrade from the JBL Pulse 3 to Pulse 4, which we covered here. In particular, speakerphone features have been on their way out with current JBL Bluetooth speaker models.
Durability of JBL Portable Speakers
Don’t expect any piece of electronics with a battery to last for life. But compared to other such speakers (and electronics products generally) JBL speakers do pretty well.
How long do JBL portable Bluetooth speakers last?
All of JBL’s powered speakers have a one-year warranty, so you’re at the very least guaranteed that they’ll last at least that long. But we’d expect any JBL portable Bluetooth speaker to last for at least a few years beyond that.
JBL speakers are quite well-built and survive some degree of rough handling; most of those discussed above are also IPX7 waterproof, which is to say that they can survive up to 30 minutes under a meter of water.
It’s instructive to look back at the JBL Bluetooth speakers that have been around for a while. Amazon reviews of the durability of the JBL Flip 4 show that people can be total jack-donkeys with their speakers: dropping them, throwing them down stairs, leaving them in the pool, etc. Generally the results are very positive in terms of survival stories in such reviews. JBL speakers deal with quite a lot.
The most likely part of a JBL portable speaker (or any Bluetooth speaker) to fail is the internal battery; all such rechargeable speaker batteries have a limited number of cycles. I have one that has lasted for about five years of frequent use, but I think I just got lucky. It wouldn’t be surprising for a speaker battery to conk out after 3-4 years.
Individual results will vary widely based on your usage and the temperatures that the speaker is operating at.
When the battery doesn’t hold a charge any more, you can use the speaker plugged into the wall as either a kitchen or bathroom speaker, for example. Or you can replace the batteries yourself, as discussed just below.
Note that if you’re interested in durability we also strongly recommend speakers from JBL’s competitor Ultimate Ears. They have twice the warranty period of JBL at two years and are at least as well built if not more so. See for example our review of the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 (which is similar to the JBL Flip 5), the smaller, cheaper Wonderboom 1 or 2, or how the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 stacks up against JBL Charge speakers.
Are JBL Bluetooth speaker batteries replaceable?
The batteries are unfortunately not replaceable directly from JBL. If you’ve had your speaker for less than a year, you can expect the battery to be replaced by them under the warranty policy.
Otherwise, you can check IFixIt for your speaker model (for example, here’s the JBL Flip 4 battery replacement); they have do-it-yourself guides and sell the battery and tools to open your speaker. These run about $30, which is certainly cheaper than a new speaker and extending your speaker’s life is more environmentally friendly as well.
By the time your speaker’s battery does give out, there will also likely be newer, better models to consider and tempt you to simple replacement. You can keep the old speaker to use as a bathroom speaker, exercise space speaker, or in any other space where you can keep the speaker always plugged into an outlet and not have to use the battery any longer.
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