This is the review of the comparison between two portable Bluetooth speakers from the same brand known as the JBL. The comparison here is between the JBL Flip 5 and the Charge 3. Both of these speakers are retailing for the same price currently on Amazon but their features and performances differ. To know which one is worth buying for the price, go to the detailed review.

JBL Flip 5	JBL Charge 3
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Simple design, Excellent sound,11 color options, Able to pair multiple JBL speakers. Good sound quality, waterproof, long battery life excellent sound quality, very loud, long battery life excellent sound quality, water-resistant, great battery life good overall sound, great volume, great battery life, waterproof good sound quality, waterproof.	Fully waterproof. Charges your device. Links up with other JBL Bluetooth speakers. Plays loudly with strong bass for its size.
CONS	CONS
Need compatible models to use PartyBoost, Checking battery life requires you to press the top buttons, No speakerphone or voice assistant functionality. Not the best sounding nor most portableExpensive, relatively large and heavy expensive, relatively heavy not the strongest bass, a bit priceyLarge and heavy.	Can distort at high volumes. Exposed woofers. No support for true wireless stereo (TWS).

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

JBL Flip 5

The JBL Flip 5 is the updated version Bluetooth speaker of the Flip line-up speakers from JBL. This speaker is retailing for around a hundred and twenty dollars currently on Amazon. The Flip 4 was one of the popular speakers from the Flip line-up speakers but these don’t have a lot bunch of great features like the Flip 4.

JBL Charge 3

The JBL Charge 3 is going about 100 to 120 dollars depending on where you look for it. Currently, this speaker is retailing for around hundred and twenty dollars on Amazon. The JBL Charge 3 is the updated version speaker of the Charge line-up speakers. Compared to the Charge 4 this speaker doesn’t have better features but still worth the price. 

DESIGN: 

JBL Flip 5

The JBL Flip 5 is available in a lot of different colors, it’s available in blue, red, gray, teal, white, black, yellow, and much more. The speaker is pretty tiny, it is 7.1 inches wide or in length however you want to see that and it’s a tiny little speaker. It’s just 1.19 pounds, it’s pretty much the same size as a plastic water bottle. So, if you’re going to be carrying this around, you can literally just put it on the side of your backpack where you would put a water bottle and listen to your music as you’re hiking.

In terms of build quality and design, it’s similar to the JBL Flip 4 except it’s like an inch bigger. The speaker feels tough, it’s rugged, so no need to be afraid of these falling down and it’s also covered with the same fabric-like material that’s covering the 20-watt drivers which sounds better than the Flip 4.

JBL Charge 3

When it comes to the JBL Charge 3, the look and feel of it is really sturdy and it really does have the weight to it. You can feel the weight of it, it’s really compact though it’s really tight. I really like the feel of it, and I love the durability of it. I’ve dropped it a few times from high places not super high but, and it’s still held up. I really like that there were times where I thought they broke for sure like something’s gonna be wrong with it but it’s ready to go every time. So, you get a nice little basic feel of it on the outside and then you get the JBL logo on the radiator on the side. It’s really like a modern speaker looks, and I really love the simpleness of the JBL.

In the back, you have your little latch right there, if we just pull it down and then you’ll have your ports it’s to charge it up, and then you have an aux-in but you also have a USB port to charge your phone with. This could be really dangerous, I’ve used it a couple of times as a last resort when my portable speaker or when my portable charger dies, so I had to settle for this as my last resort and my phone just sucks the life out of this.

FEATURES:

JBL Flip 5

As far as the battery life, the JBL says it’s going to last around 12 hours which might be true if you’re playing music at around 20 to 30 percent volume. I tested my JBL Flip 5 at 50% volume and they lasted around 8 hours. Just like Flip 4, the Flip 5 is also waterproof it is IPX7 certified, so you can take it to 3 feet under the water because the speaker floats. In terms of connectivity, this speaker has Bluetooth 4.2, it’s a little outdated but it does have a USB Type-C port, and it also does not have JBL connect but it does have a solid connection. I can walk around my house with the speaker and leave my phone downstairs and I won’t skip a beep or miss a beat, so the JBL Flip 5 is great.

In 2017 JBL announced the JBL Flip 4 and with that, they also announced the JBL Connect Plus before that all the other speakers only had JBL Connect. And it’s been working good, every speaker that I’ve relieved ever system the JBL Xtreme 2, the Pulse 3, the Charge 4, the Boombox they’ve all had a JBL Connect Plus. Even the Charge 3, if you update it you can also have JBL Connect Plus on it. So, it’s been good so whatever you get you can connect it to all these JBL Connect Plus enabled speakers, so they can play together whether it is in stereo mode or in a party mode where they just you can connect whichever model and they would play together. But with the release of the JBL Flip 5, they have JBL Party Boost so instead of JBL Connect Plus, which they introduced on the Flip 4 which works great, they introduced Party Boost.

The Connect Plus is so easy, you basically hit the connect plus button and they do the rest you don’t need an app, you don’t need anything, and it happens really quick but with the release of this speaker, I was trying to make to connect the two speakers and they would not connect. The JBL Party Boosts button on this speaker is also different from that of the JBL Connect Plus. You can only connect these with other Flip 5 speakers or else those speakers which gonna introduced by JBL in the future that have the Party Boost. Also, I’ve been not happy with JBL recently because they’re moving away from the dual drivers and going back to single drivers. They studied that with the JBL Charge 4 and the Flip 5 is the same thing, it’s also mono sound instead of stereo. 

JBL Charge 3

This comes in six different colors, they have a whole bunch of different colors but I always go with the typical black. With this portable speaker, you get 20 hours of battery life which is really consistent because I use it at work all the time. This has been my go-to speaker, I love this speaker a lot and it has lasted me for about 20 hours. I went like three days without charging it and I’ll finally like just die right before the end of work on the third day, so it does definitely last for 20 hours for sure and that is one thing I really do love about this portable speaker.

The Charge 3 and the Charge 4 look about the same and there are only small minor differences like the subwoofer, bass area, they have a different logo, and the Charge 4 is a little bit more cushiony and a little bit wider than the Charge 3 but it’s hard to tell just off the eye which one is which. A few different designs on the Charge 4 but they basically look the same and the size is really close. When it comes to the call quality on these JBL, it says crystal clear calls. I’ve always felt like the sound was a little muffled, I tried to talk to people at work all through this and the people on the other side said they can’t hear me properly. 

SOUND QUALITY:

JBL Flip 5

I found the JBL Flip 5 to sound better and bass and it just got a little louder than the Flip 4. So, the sound quality on this has improved, it sounds good, it sounds great for how small it is, and for how compact it is. It actually gets really loud, it can fill up my basement really easily. This JBL Flip 5 sounds really good but the only con about is when I’m playing music at 100% volume, the bass dramatically drops and it does not sound as good but it definitely does get loud.

During my test, the bass takes a major hit when I turn the volume up all the way. If I’m playing music at 50 percent volume everything sounds balanced and the speaker sounds great, there’s bass, there’s everything. I’m not a big audiophile person but as long as you’re playing the speaker with 50 to 70% volume the speaker sounds great when you increase the volume the sound does gets affected.

JBL Charge 3

As far as the sound quality on this, it is amazing, JBL products normally produce great sound when it comes to like portable speakers. I believe they’re one of the best and I’ve heard a lot of different types of speakers, I love the sound quality of this JBL charge 3. When it comes to the bass on this speaker, the bass is really good. I like the bass, it sounds pure, doesn’t sound cheap, and manufactured like a fake little bass note. You get a nice pure little bass, and you get the rumble, the little shakiness that you want. So, when it comes to the bass definitely it’s really nice on this Charge 3.

Other than the bass, the instruments sound really good on these, and they really pop as well, and then the vocals still sit on top of everything, you can hear people singing, rapping, whatever they all work really well to give you a full rich sound, I really like that. It really controls and it’s really good where people’s “s’s” are EDM’s high instruments they’re not hurting your ears when you have it on maximum volume. It’s just a real clean sound that you’re paying for.

WHICH ONE IS WORTH BUYING?

Both of these speakers are retailing for the same price currently on Amazon that is for around a hundred and twenty dollars but only one out of these speakers is worth buying which is the Charge 3, in my opinion, because the Charge 3 has better battery life than the Flip 5, the Charge 3 sounds better than the Flip 5, and also, the Charge 3 has speakerphone but the Flip 5 doesn’t have that.

Expert Reviews of JBL Flip 5:

By Tech Radar
The JBL Flip 5 is a simple soul – perhaps too simple for some in this world – but that minimalist approach has allowed JBL to focus on performance and create one of the best-sounding budget portable speakers around. Thanks to its neat design and IPX7…

By What Hi-Fi?
JBL’s latest offering sounds great for the price. If you don’t mind the lack of in-app EQ settings, aux-in port, battery life, inbuilt microphones, or partnering with older JBL speakers, it’s an excellent proposition for the money. It may be low on added…

By Pocket-lint
If you’re looking for a small, portable, and waterproof Bluetooth speaker then your options are many. The JBL Flip 5 delivers ample audio output and ticks all those boxes too, making it a tempting little portable. It also updates the design over the…

By TheStreamingBlog
JBL is a company known for producing affordable yet durable audio devices that deliver excellent sounds, and the JBL Flip 5 is not an exception. It may not be the perfect speaker, but for its price, it offers a lot more than what we expected. The JBL…

By techgearlab.com
Finding a reasonable balance between sound quality/volume and portability/ruggedness, the JBL Flip 5 is the quintessential jack of all trades, master of none. It’s melodious enough that you’re almost certainly going to enjoy listening to any type of…

Expert Reviews of JBL Charge 3:

By Mashable
The JBL Charge 3 doesn’t feature the best sound you can get, but it’s a feature-packed Bluetooth speaker ideal for outdoor parties.

By TechRadar
Despite a bit of extra weight, the JBL Charge 3 is a Bluetooth speaker you can take anywhere – including your backyard pool thanks to its new waterproof exterior. And while it falters on the high notes, overall the Charge 3 strikes a great balance between sound, features, and price.

By Trusted Reviews
Sturdy sound and build make JBL’s Charge 3 a solid choice if you’re not looking to pay top…

By GoodHouseKeeping
The JBL Charge 3 is made for parties and outdoor events. Using Social Mode, you can add up to three devices to connect and choose the music. The waterproof design means you can keep the party going no matter the weather and keep listening to music by…

By What Hi-Fi?
There’s no riddle where the JBL Charge 3 is concerned and the evidence speaks for itself. This is a versatile wireless speaker with a fine feature set and very good sound quality for the money. See all our JBL reviewsSee all our wireless speakers…