I wanted to get a portable travel speaker in addition to my home Sonos setup. Googling for ratings and reviews, I came up with UE Boom 2, JBL Charge 3 and Bose SoundLink Mini II as the frontrunners from nearly all reviewers. All 3 of these have very high ratings on Amazon both in the US and the UK, so the choice likely comes down to personal preferences.
I decided against the Bose since it can’t pair with a second speaker for a stereo setup, is slightly older, doesn’t look as attractive (quite a dated look in fact) and the sound quality reviews do not put it above the other two.
Then I couldn’t decide between the UE and JBL, so purchased both. I compared them side-by-side for a week with the following observations:
1) Batteries on both last for a ridiculously long time. Yes, JBL lasts longer, but the 15 hour battery on UE is a week of regular use. What other electronics do you charge so rarely?
2) Both speakers are very loud. Assuming you’re not hosting an actual dance party, it would be surprising for either to run out of volume. JBL stays composed all the way to the max, maybe keep UE one notch above the very max on the bass-heavy songs.
3) UE has crisper high and mid frequencies, while JBL has a deeper, bigger bass. It took me a week to decide that this constitutes a tie for me, but most people would likely prefer the bigger bass of the JBL. Also, UE gives you the 360 sound, which is quite neat: you can put it in the middle of the room rather than against a wall. This could work as an effective sound multiplier since you reduce the distance to people if using it in a group.
I compared both to a single Sonos 1 speaker (much heavier and non-portable), and Sonos is significantly better across the entire frequency range than either UE or JBL. This is not to say that that UE or JBL produce low quality sound: they both sound surprisingly good for their size. My point is that we shouldn’t obsess with the sound quality comparison between the two because neither is close to being a reference sound device.
4) Size is important here. JBL is over 50% larger than the UE, which makes a huge difference. Please see the photos: the JBL is longer, wider and heavier than the UE. This was the main factor in declaring UE the winner by a good margin. The speakers are roughly tied before the size comes into play, and the UE is just a lot smaller. I am simply more likely to take it with me when travelling.
5) Other features. Both speakers are waterproof. Charge 3 will charge your phone, which is not exactly useless, but probably not a deciding feature. UE feels much sleeker design-wise, with fewer buttons and better symmetry.
To summarize: JBL Charge 3 is a great speaker, worthy of a 5 star rating. However, for my preferences, UE Boom 2 was the clear winner given its much more compact size and neater design due to them being close to tied in other areas, including sound quality.
JBL is in it, to win it. I own the JBL Xtreme, the Charge 2+ and now the Charge 3. If I had to pick one it would be the Charge 3. I love the sound of the Charge 2+ but the volume is not loud enough. If you are going to listen to the speaker right next to you, the Charge 2+ is very good as the treble and bass are boosted like a smiley face eq setting. The Xtreme is pretty much the same, treble and bass are boosted and the volume goes pretty loud, however it is not very portable as it is a medium to larger size speaker. The JBL Charge 3, on the other hand, is a lot smaller than the Xtreme and slightly larger than the Charge 2+. The sound is very well balanced with an emphasis on midrange and vocals. The treble and bass are not boosted like the other two yet the volume can go twice as loud as the Charge 2+ and almost as loud as the Xtreme with less treble and bass but with better midrange. If you stream music using Spotify on an iOS device you can go into the settings, into playback and adjust the eq settings to boost up the treble and bass a bit and make the Charge 3 sound even better. I have to give a shout out to Spotify for adding a much needed eq that does not lower the volume when activated like most other eq apps do, including the one that comes integrated with the iOS devices. As soon as you activate any of the different eq settings you can hear the volume slightly decrease which drives me nuts as some speakers are not that loud to begin with. Kudos to Spotify for nailing it straight from the beginning and kudos to JBL for making an already great speaker even better and with twice the volume level.
Pros:
Volume level
Midrange
Waterproof
JBL Connect
Battery life
Size
Cons:
I would have loved to see a removable shoulder strap similar to the one on the JBL Xtreme.
While I am seasoned in writing Amazon reviews to help my fellow millennial shoppers and older alike... I don't know where to start with this bad mamajama. So I'm going to give you an unbiased review of this awesome speaker from this point on... OK.
Overview- I got the JBL Charge 3 in black. It is a bulky design for your more extravagant consumer. The red JBL plate on the front is almost reflective, making it look like it lights up under indirect light. The Charge 3 is 100% water submersible and the bass subs on either side are able to house water which bounces to the tunes when your particularly bassy hip-hop starts booming. Has a stand built in on the bottom made of rubber to prevent rolling. 6 buttons on the top, four protruding to make it easier to know what you're pressing while not looking, and two flush. Behind the rubber tab on the back (built for waterproofing) houses an auxiliary port, probably 3.5mm, a micro USB port for charging the speaker itself, and a USB port for charging your mobile device (can be used as a power bank). There are 5 LED indicators for battery on the bottom of the frontal side. They are covered by rubber so they provide a very matte, non intense light. Same goes for the dual connect (read later) and the power indicator. A non voice activated pairing system uses various pulses, light coloring and sine waves to notify you when it is searching, pairing, and paired. It does not have NFC. The dual pairing feature allows you to pair two JBL speakers together. It has a built in speaker phone, I haven't tested it myself, but uve heard from many people there's no difference in sound quality from a normal phone microphone.
Specs- The loudest read I got on the Charge 3 (using the app "Sound Meter" not an SLM) was around 88 dB while playing "Congratulations" by Post Malone (see pictures). A step up on the 75 dB from the original Charge. With a 6,000 mAh power bank and a 13 hour battery life at full and 25 hours at half (measurement I took myself), the playtime is above most available speakers on the market today. The Charge 3 has a rated power of 2 x 10W and a frequency response of 65Hz-20kHz.
Application- Amazing outdoor/pool speaker. Great for rain or shine because you don't have to worry about splash damage. However, if you want a travel speaker, I'd go with the JBL Flip 4 ($100) or the Bose Soundlink Mini II ($180, an oldie but a damn goodie). Or if you're just "that guy", I'd recommend the JBL Extreme or the JBL Pulse... they're for the flashier of people.
Biased- For the price, it can't be beat. For the partying, rock n roll, hip-hop, rap, EDM listener. The bass cannot be beat in a speaker this size if you like your music bassy (part of us all do). For a relatable example of the bass, at full volume, if you cup your hands around the subs while playing the song "Feel the Bass" by DJ MagicMike, you can feel the vibrations in your legs... crazy power.
I hope that this review has made an impression on your choice of what speaker to purchase. If not, I highly recommend Jim's Review Room on YouTube for highly professional, unbiased reviews! Have a wonderful day.
SOUND:
I bought two and I can't believe how awesome they sound.
I had the original JBL charge. The Charge 3 blows the older out of the water.
I bought and returned the JBL extreme (1st generation). Way too much bass for me. It you like a thump without mids then that is your speaker.
I wanted a more intertwined and seamed together theater sound. It took weeks of searching.
Finally ended up with Two JBL Charge 3's connected to the stereo app.
Wow wow! Close your eyes and the singer is directly in front of you and the music comes from left and right.
JBL hit it out of the ballpark on these guys.
Portability:
Buy the case that Khanka EVA hard case. It can store the charger and cable. I take both in a backpack and they fit perfectly.
Outside:
I took them in the backyard and put each of them about 20 feet away. I received a lot of compliments about the sound. Music today is produced so well and it is a shame that you really can't hear the separation and work that the artists make. With these speakers, you can hear everything.
I am very happy with the Charge 3's. When you compare durability, ease of travel, sound per unit.. I really don't think you can get better. I looked into the Sony's with tweeters but if you want portable, the JBL's is the only way to go.
A bit bulky, but worth it. This speaker is a better deal than the UE Boom 2. Ive had both, and the UE Boom 2 had abysmal battery life, seemed to get hot, which is probably due to poor ventilation and why the battery didn't last very long. You can check my reviews to see I'm a verified owner of both. I returned the UE Boom 2 because of the battery issue being the same as the UE Boom 1. I use the Charge 3 riding to and from work and around to the store etc. after work. It will last for around 5-7 days with a usage of around 1h 20m of use each day. I listen to aggressive/fast music at full volume, so it consumes the battery faster than if you listen to a slower paced music. I have also owned the Sony XB20 and wouldn't recommend it. The sound distorts at loud volumes and it will automatically go to a lower volume when the battery gets below 20%, which seems to be fast. Out of the three, I recommend this.
FEB 14TH 2018 UPDATE: The battery time is still excellent. Very happy with the item overall and would recommend it for certain. The only issues Id like to bring up are that I dont really like the waterproof flap that covers the ports. Its like a big heavy rubber flap that is set up in a way that it springs closed if you open the flap and let it go. The flap pushes up on the charging cable when it's plugged into the charging port and causes stress to the cable jack. I find that to be the only design flaw. The tip of charging cable is sorta bent due to it and may have to be replaced at some point.
DEC 5TH 2018 UPDATE: Still going strong. The door flap did damage the charging cable a few months ago. I bought a replacement and its working fine. Still recommend over the competition.
Feature Product
- Bluetooth - Wirelessly connect up to 3 smartphones or tablets to the speaker and take turns playing powerful stereo sound.
- Battery type : Lithium-ion Polymer (22.2Wh)2) 20 hours of playtime(varies by volume level and content)
- IPX7 Waterproof
- Take crystal clear calls from your speaker with the touch of a button thanks to the noise and echo-cancelling speakerphone.
- Build your own ecosystem by connecting multiple JBL Connect enabled speakers together to amplify the listening experience.
Description
JBL Charge 3 JBLCHARGE3BLKAM Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Black)
The main reason I am writing this review is because of JBL/HKs fantastic customer service. Mine started having issues at about 11 months in that it wouldn't connect very well with any phone I tried. The music was just static. I procrastinated and contacted JBL via email after the warranty expired and they got back to me within a couple hours on a Sunday. I had a shipping label the next day and now a new one on the way back to me. One of my best customer service experiences.
That kind of customer service from a big manufacturer is rare. They made me feel like I was their only customer. Yes its unfortunate the unit failed but that happens. Considering how responsive they are, I can live with that and they will be my first choice in speakers from now on.
And yes it is a very good sounding speaker.
I've done exhaustive research here on Amazon and watched tons of review videos on YouTube, and this is THE best speaker in its class, hands-down. The sound quality is incredible, so I was bummed when we ran into an issue with the speaker. The good news, however, is that we found a fix!
We use this primarily as a sound bar with our projector for watching movies, and found the sound would cut out intermittently, causing us to miss some of the dialogue.
We have it connected directly to the projector via an AUX headphone cable, and the sound is incredible. It fills the room and has amazing range, from lows to highs, but the sound cutting out was a deal breaker. We thought this had to do with the speaker temporarily going into standby mode during quieter scenes, and then waking up when it detected sound. We initiated a return, since we thought we wouldn't be able to use this for the purpose we bought it for, but then I had an idea:
I lowered the volume on the speaker itself to somewhere less than 100% volume, and then turned up the volume on our Apple TV to bring the volume to approximately the same level it was at before. This worked! The speaker is no longer cutting out, and we think it's because when it was at 100%, the speaker was trying to protect itself from blowing. Movies can sometimes emit sudden erratic sounds (like gunfire) and, at 100% volume, the speaker is most likely going into safety mode (for lack of a more technical term.) Whatever the case, this fix worked.
After searching for "audio cuts out" in the reviews here on Amazon, it seems a few others have also experienced this. If you're using this speaker as a sound bar for watching movies, try the above -- it should work!
First, a bit about the situation that this product is being used in. I am a Sanitation Worker for The City Of New York. Not only are we required to dispose of curbside trash, we are also responsible for snow removal. This particular task requires many hours of drive time when large storms hit our city. This is where this fabulous piece of engineering comes into play. Before, during and after a storm, many hours are spent in a plow truck alone. The only company we have is music. The shifts are normally 12 to 13 hours a day and last many of days in a row. The JBL Charge 3 stands up to this task without a hitch! The battery is challenged daily for days on end. This unit never fails to impress. The battery hasn't a problem with supplying music at a reasonable volume, not only for one shift, but sometimes close to 2-12 hour shifts without a charge! The sound is incredible for such a compact unit. It's easily stored and stays in place where ever you chose to put it which could be quite challenging in a work truck. The Bluetooth set up couldn't be easier. Clear, uninterrupted music for many of hours! Keep up the great work JBL!
This is a fantastic speaker. JBL has truly hit a home run with this one. I have a charge 2, a clip, and I've had a JBL Xtreme for about 4 months. This speaker is far superior to the Charge 2. It has a much fuller sound without the boosting of the bass and treble. The mids were lacking with the Charge 2 and it will not get nearly as loud as the Charge 3. This speaker has much better battery life, is completely waterproof, and allows for linking to my Xtreme..
I see this speaker as a great compliment to the Xtreme. The Xtreme is much larger and heavier. It has tremendous bass and loudness, but lacks easy portability. This speaker gives a lot of what the Xtreme doesn't. When you link the two and play them at the same time, the sound is incredible.
I've also compared it to a Bose Soundlink and a Sony SRS X55. It blows them both away! I highly recommend the Charge 3. For the price, it's the best speaker on the market!
(Disclaimer: This is not a much a review as it is advice for avoiding getting ripped off.) As for the review on the JBL Charge 3, it definitely does not disappoint! It gets very loud for the size and the mids and highs are very crisp. The bass is decent, but it's not gonna shake any windows. I dont own a flip 3 or 4, so I can't do a side-by-side comparison, but I have used one in the past, and from what I can remember, this one seems to get about 20-30% louder. So that is nice for a $20 price difference. I have owned several JBL products over many years and have never had an issue, and I definitely do not anticipate having one with the Charge 3 ***THIS NEXT PART IS VERY IMPORTANT*** There are a LOT of 1 star reviews of this speaker, but if you read through them, you will see that the majority (probably 90%) of the negative reviews are due to the fact they the purchaser received a counterfeit unit. This is easily avoidable. Amazon uses multiple vendors to ship the same product, and these vendors change quite frequently. Once your item is in the cart, you are able to see who is actually selling it. It is extremely important that you make sure the seller is listed on JBL's authorized seller list. I bought mine on Amazon from Acoustic Sound Design, and they are listed on JBL's authorized seller list, as are several others. If the name of the vendor does not show up on their list, chances are, you are going to be receiving a refurbished soon-to-be paperweight or just an outright fake.
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