Truly, JBL’s Flip offering sounds great for the price.
If all you want is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds as good as £100 can buy, you’ll struggle to better the Flip 5 or Flip 6 (above). For a nominal price hike over the launch price of the Flip 5, there’s certainly more detail here, too. If you want more from the midrange and less from the treble, you can now tweak it thanks to a new EQ feature in the app, which adds significant value. We might have thought we’d be advising JBL to rework the Flip by now – add a few more features, change it up a bit to keep up with the competition – but instead, we are left praising the sonic chops of a proposition that now offers extra durability (it is now IP67 water- and dust-proof, over the waterproof-only IPX7 Flip 5) as well as an extra ounce of space within its trademark zealous and musical presentation. Yes, it's still 'just' a Bluetooth speaker – but what a great-sounding Bluetooth speaker it is. Given that the Flip 5 (listed, below) is a past What Hi-Fi? Award winner, it will come as little surprise to learn that the Flip 6 is another resoundingly five-star product. More critical of recording and source quality One day JBL may produce a Charge that can be outdone by a new and plucky rival, but rest assured, that has not happened with the rather splendid Charge 5. It boasts marginal improvements, both sonically and aesthetically, over its predecessors. Thanks in part to a new 10W tweeter and racetrack-shaped driver, the Charge 5 is currently as good a sound as you can get in a portable Bluetooth speaker design for under £200 ($200, AU$300). Want a speaker roughly the dimensions of a bottle of wine that'll charge your phone and sound great? You've found it. The Charge 5's predecessor carried an IPX7 rating, meaning it could handle being submerged in water to a depth of 1.5m, but the IP67-rated Charge 5 builds on that durability by also being fully dustproof. The JBL Charge 5 is even more durable and better sounding than the four Charges that came before it – and if you needed any more proof than its five-star review, it's a current What Hi-Fi? 2021 Award-winner. For the best portable Bluetooth speakers on a budget, these factors are essential.īudget Bluetooth speakers can be small enough to fit in a coat pocket or big enough to fill a room with serious sound, so it's imperative that you also check the dimensions before clicking "buy" (don't worry, we've listed these below as well). IPX7 and IP67 (the latter meaning that on top of waterproofing, the speaker is IP-rated against dust ingress) are good numbers to look out for – and we have listed each speaker's rating below.
It's surprising what even a small outlay can buy you, too – some of these below will only set you back the price of a pizza! How to choose the best Bluetooth speaker for youĪside from something that sounds good for the money, we advise a durable design and waterproofing at this end of the market. Wireless (and often portable) Bluetooth speakers have always been a great addition to any music lover's kit bag, and a budget Bluetooth speaker option is a must for lazy days at the beach or more energetic mornings clearing storm debris from the drive.