


We’ve heard bookshelf speakers that produce less bass than the Charge 5. Bass is impactful and deep, which is surprising for a speaker of this sound. Tonally, the JBL Charge 5 sounds balanced at medium to low volume. There’s an additional tweeter in the Charge 5 that helps with overall clarity, and bass is slightly more impactful than the Charge 4, too. Overall, the sound quality of the JBL Charge 5 hasn’t changed much from the Charge 4.

If you’re pushing the speaker at higher volumes or are using it as a battery bank to top off your phone, expect that number to drop. The audio is powerful and accurate, and it has improved dust resistance. In terms of battery life, the JBL Charge 5, like the Charge 4, is rated for 20 hours of playback, which we had no problem reaching while playing at 50% volume. For those who want a loud, durable speaker to use on days out at the park or beach, the JBL Charge 5 is an excellent choice. Priced at 229.95 (we’ve seen it for 199.95), the JBL Charge 5 is a great all-round package it sounds good, it looks goods, it has good build quality and it has an.
Jbl charge 5 review portable#
JBL offers a nice mobile app that allows you to customize its speakers and to download software updates, though it's worth noting that firmware updates can take upwards of 15 minutes. If you’re looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker with excellent sound and that can go anywhere and handle the conditions then look no further than the JBL Charge 5. It’s also nice to get true stereo playback out of a pair of speakers. The feature is great if you want to play music across a large area where multiple speakers can help amplify sound. However, like other JBL portable speakers, the Charge 5 features the “PartyBoost” mode, which allows users to pair a second JBL speaker to either amplify music or use as a stereo pair. While its advertised to last around 20 hours from a single 4-hour charge, it lasted over 14 hours in our. In terms of technical specs, the Charge 5 includes Bluetooth 5.1, a 7500 mAh battery capacity, and a frequency response rated 65 Hz - 20k Hz. The JBL Charge 5 has an excellent battery performance. We preferred the stability of the Charge 4’s square design to allow for easier vertical placement. This difference isn’t a big deal until you want to set the speaker up vertically, allowing the speaker to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. One subtle change is that the JBL Charge 5 is shaped like a trapezoid with the sides tilting inward. Featuring optimised, long excursion driver, dedicated tweeter and dual radiators, the Charge 5 punches hard.
Jbl charge 5 review drivers#
The drivers are protected by a lip around the speaker, but you’ll still be able to touch the drivers without damaging them. The Charge 5 retains the exposed bass drivers on the left and right of the speaker, which lets you see the woofers moving in and out. The Charge 5 drops support for the 3.5mm aux jack from the JBL Charge 4, which is a bummer for some who have legacy devices they want to hook up. It’s also worth noting that tracks from services that offer lossless streaming (such as Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music) sound noticeably better on the Charge 5 than the lossy tracks available from Spotify or YouTube Music.Around the back, the JBL Charge 5 has a waterproof USB-C charging port as well as a flap hiding the USB-A port that can be used to charge up your smartphone.

Jbl charge 5 review pro#
If your tastes run to more contemporary hits like those by Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, and Kate Bush, the Charge 5 sounds so good that I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that contemporary mix engineers use the JBL portables as reference speakers during their mix sessions. The JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker we reviewed has the following features and specifications: Bold JBL Original Pro Sound. On notoriously low-fi recordings like Question Mark and the Mysterians’s “96 Tears” and the 13 th Floor Elevators’s “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” the Charge 5 doesn’t sand off the rough edges that give garage-rock classics like these their sonic teeth. Tambourine Man,” the Charge 5 delivers exceptional detail and separation between voices and instruments, whereas lesser speakers tend to turn the midrange into an indistinguishable wall of sound. On Apple’s ‘60s Rock Essentials playlist, the Charge 5 consistently impresses.
