Verdict

A playfulness portable speaker that ’s one of the best - sounding attempt in its price bracket . With its tough design , beneficial battery sprightliness and potent phone , the JBL commission 5 present itself as a peachy option for indoor use and outside .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

The Charge 5 is part of JBL ’s range of larger portable speaker system , the option for those who need a full-grown sound both indoors and out .

give it is the fifth iteration of the series you might wear there ’s trivial the Charge 5 could add to its lineament set , but while the improvements over the flush 4 are little , the series stay a massively pleasurable one .

Design

conceive of a wireless speaker that looks like an American football , and you ’d have the Charge 5 – you might even need to play a secret plan of pinch with it in the park .

At just under 1 kg , you would n’t desire to spoil the apprehension lest it hit you square in the typeface ( or any other part of the body ) . It ’s built like the proverbial brick house : long-lasting , heavy and dense . I ’ve dropped it down on hills at Greenwich Park from a few substructure and I conceive the background itself came worse off as the speaker system landed with an uncompromising thud .

There ’s no handle , strap or flow loop to have a bun in the oven but the verbalizer ’s framework surface is grippy when held in the bridge player – though you ’re going to require a bigger palm to hold back the Charge 5 if that ’s how you intend to ferry it about .

It comes in an raiment of color – blue , white , calamitous , camo , grey , greenish , ruby-red and pink – so there ’s a generous bit of finishes to pick from . As is unwashed with portable loudspeaker , the Charge 5 has a rating ofIP67to defend against ingress of water supply , detritus or dirt ( tough than the accusation 4’sIPX7 ) . If it catch dirty a rinse should clean up any dirt .

Around the back is aUSB - Cport for charging and the Charge 5 can perform duties as a powerbank to rouse a nomadic gadget with a USB - A porthole concealed beneath a flap . There ’s no auxiliary port for connect a portable instrumentalist , and while that should n’t finger surprising it does storm me . I half - await portable speakers of this size of it to have one .

On the verbaliser ’s undersurface is a rubbery repair that bar it from roll over ( it is cylindrical in shape after all ) . On top are volume , playback , power , PartyBoost and Bluetooth buttons , with an audible click that indicates a successful crush – all that ’s needed is a nudge to engage . One thing to take note about the playback control is that while you could skip ahead ( two presses ) , you ca n’t skip back – it ’s full steam forward when it derive to medicine playlist .

In - between the forcible buttons are contribute light that signal when the speaker is powered on and Bluetooth is connected , while below the JBL logo is a beam of igniter that flickers into liveliness when any of the buttons are pressed , and it ’ll also show how much is left in the armoured combat vehicle when the speaker is being charged . The lights might not be too helpful during the mean solar day , but as the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. get shorter , they ’ll be a little more helpful to have .

Features

There ’s nothing out of the average on the feature side , with the Charge 5 deck with the common features anyone who ’s had a JBL wireless speaker system would anticipate . Battery life-time is 20 hours , which is around double theSonos Roam(11 ) but less than theMarshall Emberton II(30 + ) , for comparison to wireless loudspeaker system in the same toll square bracket . That stamina is dependant on what you ’re listening to ( bassy track will tire the speaker out faster ) and how hard the volume is pushed .

There is no fast charging useable and a full bearing of the tankful from zero takes four hour . At least there ’s that option of using the verbaliser as a powerbank to charge another twist when you ’re remote .

The JBL Portable app demonstrate a sprinkling of features but nothing too in - depth . There ’s a three - ring equalizer for customizing audio , the name of the speaker change , or battery levels checked its assault and battery life . microcode updates and the power to enable JBL ’s PartyBoost functionality make up the eternal sleep of the features .

PartyBoost allows for mate the Charge 5 to another for stereo listening as well as entreat allow the verbalizer to wirelessly chain more than 100 JBL PartyBoost compatible Speaker together . In case you ’re concerned in try a Guinness Book of Records , the world criminal record is 1000JBL Flip 4speakers .

With Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity the strength of the connexion is reliable over long distances . Playing The Beatles Hey Jude at full blast and walking from one closing of a garden to the other and the signal did n’t break up once , which was better than the Emberton II get along under the same conditions .

Sound Quality

My first effrontery before listen to the speaker was that it would be heavily bassy , but it twist out that while the Charge 5 does produce large amounts of bass voice , it ’s also it ’s a clear , concise and imposingly powerful performer , easily vault itself into the category of the best - sounding speakers around the £ 150 marker .

The Charge 5 presents a unclouded and well - specify soundstage with every track I evanesce through it . There is a great level of clearness to Childish Gambino ’s vocals in This is America , as well as a unspoilt amount of width to the soundstage partnered with undecomposed tier of breakup between the instrumental role and vocals .

The point of clarity , item and detachment help to ascertain the track did n’t follow across as dingy or unclear as it rose to a crescendo . I ascertain the carrying out – name by JBL as its ‘ Original Pro Sound ’ – to be quite mature for a portable loudspeaker , nigher in tone to the Sonos Roam than the richness of theSony SRS - XG300 .

The width of the soundstage is the same as the speaker , but it can fathom bigger when the volume is raised . Immanuel Wilkins ’ Grace and Mercy builds into a evenhandedly dense piece with its percussive and train elements , but the Charge 5 give it place to rest to learn the piano , drums , cymbal crash and vertical bass part without them coalescing into one amorphous blob .

With Alex Isley and Jack Dine ’s Love Again , it puts forth a weighty basso carrying into action ( thanks to those dual pumping bass voice radiators ) , and it does so without imposing on the midrange . vocal take the lead in tracks , described in a big fashion but at time this is to the detriment of background elements as they drop off further out in the mixing . This especially noticeable with busier - sounding tracks .

I ’d say the JBL is solidly balanced but if I had a unfavorable judgment , it would be the heraldic bearing 5 is n’t the brightest - sounding speaker . While high frequency notes are decipherable , there ’s an prospect where they sound dulled despite having a disjoined tweeter to cover those high-pitched frequencies .

It ’s a slight bash against the Charge 5 ’s performance but not enough to put it off its stride . I like the dynamism it offers in both a small sensory faculty ( the fluctuation of bank note ) and at a larger scale as it represents the difference between quiet and flashy . With Iggy Pop ’s The Passenger it show good rhythmical power , the frosty cymbal clash attain with DOE and there ’s a nice , engaging sense of momentum that propels the track forward . It ’s a systematically energetic and unstable performer with music .

It can also go very loud , louder than the cock-a-hoop SRS - XG300 . Even at lower mass ( well below 50 % ) it manage bass with punch and exponent that I would n’t bear , pitching itself as a portable speaker not just for the outdoors but for usage in enceinte rooms in the home .

With The Beatles ’ Hey Jude ratcheted up to full volume and there ’s no hearable twisting or sentience of strain , the sound of Paul McCartney ’s spokesperson well fills the garden I ’m in . It does appear the digital signal processing ( DSP ) kick in and nerfs the basso performance at high volumes , which is understandable .

The Charge 5 also has a directive approach shot to auditory sensation – any listener will need to sit towards the verbaliser and not behind or to its sides as its performance can fathom decrease . The size of its speech sound at higher volume does help to combat that way out though .

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Should you buy it?

: A big spacious performance delivered with lots of superpower and energy , if you find portable loudspeaker are lacking for bass then the Charge 5 is the answer

The Charge 5 is big and heavy and does n’t fare with a handgrip or cringle to carry or bind to a travelling bag , which is worth bearing in mind when ship it .

Final Thoughts

The Charge 5 is a fun portable speaker unit with a big sound and plenty of basso . It ’s an energetic effort for indoor use and outdoor use , its rugged design mean it can come through plenty of hard knock and its barrage biography means it ’ll last a reasonable while – as long as you ’re not blasting songs at full volume all the time .

This is a portable speaker with a fun outlook , and sound quality to match . Its power to go very loud makes it a fine choice for parties or crowing mathematical group , and for those who find portable loudspeaker system lacking in the basso department , you ’ll appreciate what the Charge 5 brings to the board .

Trusted Score

How we test

We try every wireless verbaliser we survey exhaustively over an extended geological period of clock time . We apply industry - standard tests to compare characteristic properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , assume money to review a ware .

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FAQs

There is keep for an audio equalizer in the JBL Portable app for the Charge 5 .

Full Specs

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