Best JBL Speakers

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David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews

Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Kobo e-books and audiobooks.

With each new version of the Flip, JBL makes small improvements, and while the latest model, the Flip 6, doesn't look much different from the Flip 5 on the outside, it does feature improved sound. It has two-way drivers with a woofer and tweeter and dual passive radiators that help the Flip 6 deliver much deeper bass than you think it could. 

It's fully waterproof and dust-proof with an IPX67 rating. Like the Flip 5, it's rated for up to 12 hours of audio playback at moderate volume levels and charges via USB-C. Available in multiple color options, it's one of the best-sounding speakers for its compact size.

You can still buy JBL's original Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker, which comes in multiple color options, but the portable speaker is now available in a new version that features both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity that links up with JBL's other Wi-Fi speakers in your home and is both Chromecast- and Apple AirPlay-enabled. It currently only comes in black and is a little more expensive than the Bluetooth-only version. But the dual wireless connectivity options offers a little more versatility, and streaming music over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth can help get you slightly better sound quality.

The Charge 5 Wi-Fi is bigger than your average portable Bluetooth speaker, but it's got some good kick to it. And like previous Charge speakers, it has a USB out port that allows you to charge a device like a smartphone. Battery life is rated at up to 20 hours at moderate volume levels. It's fully waterproof and dust-proof.

Released in 2021, the PartyBox 110 packs some serious punch and delivers bigger sound than many portable boombox speakers, including JBL's own Boombox 3. There's an integrated handle for toting the speaker, but the PartyBox 110 is pretty hefty, weighing in at 23 pounds and measuring slightly more than 22 inches tall. You can stand this Bluetooth boom box up vertically as shown in the picture above or place it horizontally, as it has rubber feet on both sides of the speaker.

It's rated for up to 12 hours of playback time at moderate volume levels and has a redesigned light show that syncs to the beat of your music (you can customize the light show from the speaker itself or use the JBL PartyBox companion app). 

The speaker has Bluetooth or a wired USB connection and there are guitar and mic inputs. It's also worth noting that the speaker is IPX4 splash-proof and you can wirelessly link two PartyBox 110 speakers together for stereo sound.

The JBL Partybox Encore Essential is the company's smallest PartyBox speaker to date, but it's still got some heft to it, weighing in at 13 pounds (5.9 kg). It's a 11.54 by 10.87 by 12.87-inch cube that has a ring of light over the driver that pulsates and syncs to the beat of your music as it changes colors. The Essential is IPX4 splash-proof and has an integrated handle for easy toting. 

Rated for 100 watts of power (we always take power ratings with a grain of salt), the speaker doesn't have quite the volume or sound quality of the step-up PartyBox 110 (see below). But it has a 5.25-inch woofer and two 1.75-inch tweeters and has plenty of kick to it, and it's easier to carry around. In that sense, it offers a nice balance between size and power. 

Battery life is rated at 6 hours at moderate volume levels, and this speaker charges with an included AC adapter. It also has a charge-out port on the back along with a microphone port if you want to talk or sing to a crowd (microphone not included). 

To be clear, this is a mono speaker that's designed to put out a lot of sound (there's a bass boost mode) from a reasonably sized design. You can wirelessly pair two of these speakers and get significantly better sound (in stereo). But that would get a little pricey.

JBL Pulse speaker is now on its fifth generation and both the sound quality and 360-degree light show have been improved. JBL has "expanded the transparent outer body" so the customizable light show (there's a companion app for iOS and Android that allows you to alter the colorful lighting effects) looks more impressive. The speaker is also IP67 dustproof and waterproof, and it offers up to 12 hours of battery at moderate volume levels.

The speaker now has a separate tweeter and a passive bass radiator that delivers fairly punchy bass. I'd say the speaker delivers very good but not great sound for its size and price (it distorts a little at higher volumes). For sound, it's sort of in between JBL's Flip 6 and Charge 5, so you'll arguably get slightly better sound from the Charge 5. But you're really buying this speaker for the light show -- that's what makes it unique and special and it does look mesmerizing.

Note that you can pair this with another JBL PartyBoost compatible speaker for stereo sound or link multiple JBL PartyBoost speakers for augmented sound.  Also, you can find this speaker on Amazon as part of a bundle with a protective carrying case thrown in for the same price as the speaker by itself.

JBL's third-generation Boombox 3 features some design changes from its predecessor, including a new swankier handle and a new 3-way driver system that delivers clearer more detailed sound and similar impressive bass performance, creating bigger, richer sound overall. I could easily hear the difference when comparing this model to the Boombox 2. 

While the battery life rating remains the same at up to 24 hours at moderate volume levels, this Gen 3 model includes Bluetooth 5.3 instead of Bluetooth 5.1. Also, the speaker weighs about 1.7 pounds more (14.7 pounds or 6.7 kg) and just feels that much more substantial. 

Like the UE Hyperboom (see below), this has a USB-out port that allows you to charge external devices like your phone, and there's also an analog audio input if you want to go wired and connect a device without using Bluetooth connectivity (the Hyperboom adds an optical digital input).

For outdoor use, I like the design of the Boombox 3 better than UE Hyperboom. The portable bluetooth speaker is easier to carry around and just looks more like an outdoor speaker. It's also fully waterproof and dust-proof with an IPX67 rating (the previous model was waterproof but did not have a dust-proof rating).

With the JBL Boombox 2, I felt that the speaker, while well designed, didn't quite live up to its expensive price tag from a sound quality standpoint. The Boombox 3 is still pricey, but its sound does now have a more premium quality to it -- for portable boomboxes anyway. And if you have really deep pockets, you can link two together to create a stereo pair (or link several together to cover a wider area with sound).   

JBL Authentics line of retro-style wireless speakers includes the Authentics 200, 300 and 500. They're all good speakers, with the 500 producing the best sound. But I'm most partial to the Authentics 300, which is fairly beefy but not too beefy and costs significantly less than the 500. While the speaker has more of a home vibe to it -- and I do like its retro look -- what's nice is that it's also a portable speaker with up to 8 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels.

The Authentics 300 features punchy bass and good clarity and can fill a small to medium-sized room with sound (while it has multiple drivers, including two 25mm tweeters, a full-range 5.25-inch woofer and a 6.5-inch passive radiator, it's essentially a mono speaker). Equipped with treble and bass dials on top of the speaker for tweaking the sound, it also has an integrated handle that makes it easy to move around (think of it as a rectangular boom box). At 10.8 pounds (4.9kg), it's got some heft to it, and has both WiFi and Bluetooth options for wireless connectivity. Using WiFi, you can stream music through AirPlay or create a multi-room audio system with other Authentics speakers using Alexa Multi-Room Music (MRM) or Google Chromecast (you use the Amazon Alexa or Google Home apps to link speakers and control playback, depending on what multi-room option you choose).

The JBL PartyBox Stage 320 is the successor to the PartyBox 310 and has some small but important upgrades, including a replaceable battery (extra battery sold separately) that allows to keep the party going for several hours (the speaker is rate for up to 18 hours of playback, but that's at moderate volume levels -- if you crank it, party life drops considerably). It also has dual mic and guitar inputs, so you can use it as an amp for your guitar or turn it into a karaoke machine when you buy the optional microphones.

Like other PartyBox speakers, the Stage 320 has a built-in light show, and because it weighs 36.38 pounds, it has wheels and a handle to help you transport it (you can stand it up vertically or lay it down horizontally). If you can afford it, you can pair it with another Stage 320 and create a stereo pair, which sounds great. This speaker can really play loud and has impressive bass response. It's IPX4 splash-proof.

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