JBL Charge 5 review

JBL is America’s sweetheart when it comes to waterproof Bluetooth speakers. The company makes several new products yearly, and theoretically, they keep improving. The most recent addition to the Charge series is the JBL Charge 5. It has all the tell-tale signs of a good JBL speaker, but is the upgrade from the JBL Charge 4 worth the price hike?

What’s it like to use the JBL Charge 5?

The JBL Charge 5 is roughly the shape and approximate weight of a football. The unit is wrapped in durable fabric, with silicon bumpers on the side protecting its passive radiators. Rubberized silicon strips on the bottom of the enclosure keep it in place while you crank up your tunes. Safe to say, the Charge 5 is ready for your next beach day or weekend camping trip.

While this speaker is marketed as portable, it won’t fit into your pocket—for something like that, get the JBL Clip 4. The Charge 5 is surprisingly lightweight, so if you can find a place to put it, it won’t weigh you down too much on a hike or trip to the beach. The speaker has onboard controls, and while it doesn’t include a button to skip backward a track, double-pressing the play button will skip forward.

On the back of the unit, you’ll find its USB-C charge port and a courtesy USB-A outlet for charging your devices in the field.

Is the JBL Charge 5 waterproof?

Some people don’t trust the waterproofing that IP ratings promise, and we don’t blame them. The Charge 5 has an official IP67 rating, which means it can withstand dust and handle submersion in up to 1 meter of tap water for up to 30 minutes—this squares with our experience. Even after a firm dunk in a bucket of water, the Charge 5 sounds just as good as when it’s dry—make sure the charging port flap is securely closed.

Should you download the JBL Portable app?

Download the JBL Portable app to access JBL PartyBoost and firmware updates. Once you open the app, it will prompt you to pair your Charge 5. The app’s interface is easy to use and offers helpful information about each component. The app also provides a simple equalizer with studio-style sliders to adjust bass, mid, and treble frequencies.

PartyBoost is JBL’s tool that allows you to connect multiple speakers for a louder sound. You can connect two of the same speakers to listen in Stereo Mode or up to 100 compatible speakers for Party Mode. Under Party Mode, all speakers will play audio in mono. If you opt for Stereo Mode, the next time you play music from the primary speaker, it will play music in stereo through both speakers. If you want to sometimes use the Charge 5 by itself, set it as the secondary speaker. The JBL Flip 5, Pulse 4, Boombox 3, Xtreme 3, and Charge 5 are all compatible with JBL PartyBoost.

How is the Bluetooth connection on the JBL Charge 5?

Pairing the JBL Charge 5 is easy enough—simply press and hold the Bluetooth symbol on the top of the speaker and select it from your device’s Bluetooth menu. It uses Bluetooth 5.1, which is slightly more energy-efficient than Bluetooth 5.0. The Charge 5 also has Bluetooth multipoint functionality, so if you and a friend want to take turns playing music through your speaker, you won’t have to switch source devices each time.

The speaker can also stay connected over a decent range, easily handling the walk from my dining room to outside my house. Thick walls will get in the way and cause stuttering, which may limit the connection range for some. Locking my phone or opening up a different app like Instagram can also cause a rare hiccup while streaming music from Spotify. Unfortunately, the JBL Charge 5 doesn’t have an aux port, so wired listening is not an option.

How does the JBL Charge 5 sound?

The Charge 5 gets decently loud, enough for a medium-sized gathering. In fact, our Executive Editor Chris Thomas once DJed a small wedding with a pair of JBL Charge 3 speakers—the Charge 5 could certainly pull that off. Regardless of where you are positioned around the speaker, it sounds pretty good, which makes it excellent for parties. Even up to 30 meters away, sitting outside in my backyard sounds excellent.

The vocals are clear thanks to the driver setup inside the speaker. It features a long-excursion driver and a separate tweeter, and each side houses a passive bass radiator. Taylor Swift’s Mr. Perfectly Fine sounds excellent through the Charge 5, with her vocals ringing out clearly during the bridge at 3:32, but it doesn’t mask the quieter guitar parts. When the drums and bass return at 3:46, you can identify all the instruments and vocal tracks in the song, an impressive feat for a single speaker.

To contextualize the sound quality a bit more, the JBL Charge 5 has a louder sound than the famous Bose SoundLink Mini and Bose SoundLink Flex. JBL’s bass response is more powerful, which makes sense considering the speaker is larger.

Should you buy the JBL Charge 5?

The JBL Charge 5 doesn’t necessarily have enough upgrades to be worth buying if you already have the JBL Charge 4 or even the Charge 3. However, if you don’t already have an earlier model, the Charge 5 is a great choice. Its audio quality is good for a Bluetooth speaker, and I’m impressed with its volume output. It is a little bit bulky, so if you want a portable speaker, check out the JBL Flip 5—it’s essentially a shrunken version of the Charge 5 for $89 at Amazon.

JBL Charge 4 vs JBL Charge 5: Which Bluetooth speaker is better?

If the near-$200 price tag of the JBL Charge 5 scares you, we’d recommend looking at the older JBL Charge 4. This speaker comes with an aux port, which may make it a more attractive option for some people. You can also check out our list of the best cheap Bluetooth speakers to save some cash.

It’s annoying that JBL keeps implementing new methods to connect their speakers to one another—JBL PartyBoost is the same feature as JBL Connect+ in the Charge 4. Still, the two versions are not compatible with one another. The other main difference is that the Charge 5 has Bluetooth 5.1, and the Charge 4 has Bluetooth 4.2. The Charge 4 otherwise has almost the same specs as the Charge 5.

JBL Charge 5 VS JBL Flip 6: Which Bluetooth speaker is better?

If you prioritize audio performance and longer battery life, the JBL Charge 5 is the better speaker choice. The Charge 5’s larger size produces a fuller bass response and louder volume output than the Flip 6. It also has a significantly longer battery life at 20 hours versus 12 hours on the Flip 6. However, the Flip 6 is more portable and travel-friendly due to its smaller size and lighter weight. It sacrifices some sound quality and battery life for the sake of portability. So, if you need a speaker that can easily be thrown in a bag for trips, the Flip 6 may be preferable. But for pure audio performance at home or outdoor parties, the Charge 5 is the superior JBL portable speaker of the two. You can read our full versus article to see how they compare.

What should you get instead of the JBL Charge 5?

JBL has a number of new speakers on the way to release this summer, so you may want to hold off for a little while longer if you are looking for something under the same brand umbrella. There are also likely to be discounts on their older stock once those hit shelves in store.

Listeners who want something with an even louder output should look at the JBL Xtreme 3. Like the LG XBOOM 360, the Xtreme 3 isn’t a genuinely portable speaker at 2.68kg, but you can sling it over your shoulder with its strap, and it has a long battery life of 15 hours. The speaker has a USB-C in/out port and USB-A out port—so you can either charge two external devices simultaneously or charge the speaker while charging an external device. Unlike the Charge 5, the Xtreme 3 has an aux input for hard-wiring your connection. It’s available for$279 at Amazon.

We also recommend checking out the UE MEGABOOM 3. This speaker takes a different approach to its design as it delivers 360-degree audio but is similar to the Charge 5 in many ways. It has an IP67 rating, can be paired with another MEGABOOM 3 for a more powerful sound, and has a strong bass response. The cylindrical speaker has a 20-hour battery life, and you can set it up for one-touch access to your streaming service of choice. The MEGABOOM 3 is available for $157 at Amazon.

Should you use the JBL Refurbished program?

To save even more money, look into JBL’s refurbished program. Customers send back defective products, and JBL fixes them before reselling them at a discounted price. Products purchased from the refurbished program still have the full 1-year warranty and should not be distinguishable at all from a brand-new product.

Frequently asked questions about the JBL Charge 5