This is the review of the comparison between two Bluetooth speakers from different brands. The comparison here is between the Wonderboom 2 and the JBL Charge 4. Both of these speakers are the updated version speakers but is that update really worth its price? To know your answer and to know which one is better than the other, go to the detailed review.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2	JBL Charge 4
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
IP67 dust and water-resistant. Pair to another Wonderboom 2 for stereo sound. Two-year warranty. Portable and floats.	Powerful audio performance with rich bass. Gets quite loud for its size. Waterproof. Long battery life. Can charge your portable devices. USB-C charging.
CONS	CONS
No microphone. Distortion increases with volume. Micro USB charging.	No speakerphone function. Basically the same sound as the Charge 3. The buttons that aren’t lit up are hard to see in the dark.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 is the updated version Bluetooth speaker. The original version of this series is the Wonderboom. The Wonderboom itself became very popular on its release, this is it’s updated version so it will definitely be great with its 360 degrees audio. This speaker is retailing for different prices based on the color you prefer on it.

JBL Charge 4

Charge 4 from the JBL is also an updated version Bluetooth speaker. One of the huge updates in this compared to its predecessors is the USB Type-C for charging. This feature lets you get fast charging and it also makes your speaker future-proof. This speaker is retailing for around a hundred and twenty dollars.

DESIGN: 

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

From the first impression, looking into the quality around the Wonderboom 2 you can only tell one thing it’s fantastic. It also comes with dust proofing as well, so technically if the covering around it gets dirtier you can actually clean it with tap water, no problem whatsoever. In front of the speaker, you have a volume control plus and minus to control the volume, and on the top, there is a power on and off button, one multifunctional button in the middle which will help you to play-pause, and a Bluetooth button as well with the status indicator light on it as well. They also include one Ultimate Ears hanging loop too which will help you to be handy when you’re doing hiking actually. Under the bass, we have a boost button which you can use indoor and outdoor if you want to with the status indicator light on it as well.

JBL Charge 4

As far as the physical features, it looks nearly identical to the previous charge 3. It’s ever so slightly bigger a centimeter or two, and it’s a little bit heavier and the two buttons on top have basically just moved around. We still have the same very durable abrasion-resistant fabric cover, the IP67 certification makes it retain meaning that you can submerge this underwater for up to 30 minutes and with my testing, the Charge 4 is able to float making this ideal for the pool or the lake. We have the same passive bass radiators on the side, that moves with your vibe.

In general, compared to the competition the Charge 4 is still a great design in my personal opinion, still highly durable, still highly functional, practical, it still looks very modern too. The only critique though it is starting to push that boundary of being portable or more specifically that is it starting to get on the heavier side for the midsize speaker. If we get a closer look, the buttons are pretty straightforward. Behind the water-resistant flap, JBL graciously made the switch to USB-C which is awesome which is future-proofing in this speaker. A pin port for physical connections and JBL keeps the charge name with a USB out in there to charge your devices, so using this speaker as a power bank, you can charge your phone.

FEATURES:

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 is a wireless Bluetooth speaker that comes with 5.0 connectivity, with surprisingly bigger 360 degrees sound and additional bass. It comes with 13 hours of battery life, powering 13 whopping hours of killing sound, and a long-lasting battery if you are through the great trip, Beach, and biking adventure if you are into it. It also comes with an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating and also it’s drop-proof from up to 1.5 meters. I have done all these tests, and it still works perfectly.

The Wonderboom comes with an extra new outdoor boost button feature which will help you to increase the volume of your outdoor with one click of a button. The good thing is very loud and clear in outdoor listening. You can also double up in a true stereo by pairing 2 Wonderboom 2 speakers and enjoy the true wireless stereo. The process of pairing this Wonderboom 2 with your mobile phone device or any Bluetooth enabled device is easy and straightforward, power it up first, on the top is your Bluetooth button and if you don’t see it flashing, you need to press and hold of it to get into the pairing mode. Then straight away jump into the Bluetooth settings of your mobile phone and locate in available devices Wonderboom 2, select it, click onto the pair button, and that’s about it. You also going to hear audible notifications on your Wonderboom as well as the status indicator light will be going solid too.

The only thing which I would prefer to have in this one is the option of having a micro SD card so I can use it as an mp3 player as well. Because on the beach connecting the mobile phone, using your data, I don’t like that kind of a thing. So, having an SD card would always give a plus point to it and the second thing is the feature of being having microphone input to use it as hands-free as well. It’s not always you are on the beach sometimes you are in the office too, so it would have been a multi-purpose Bluetooth speaker and would have kept it all the time with me as well.

JBL Charge 4

The notable feature for those who are unfamiliar with JBL is the JBL Connect Plus feature. You can pair multiple JBL Connect Plus speakers at the same time, even the older Charge 3, even mix-and-match speakers if you’d like. Keep in mind to get stereo sound, you need 2 of the same model speakers, you can’t mix and match. It’s to keep the same audio quality as it wouldn’t sound great if you had one channel stronger and the other one weak or you can say not in the volume button audio characteristics.

One thing that is no longer available is the speakerphone option which is very odd considering because every other Bluetooth speaker offers this. You basically can’t take phone calls, and second, the Charge 4 oddly did away with the voice assistant on. Most competitors pressing down some sort of multifunction button that would activate Siri or Google assistance but we don’t have that option available in the app to enable anymore, maybe a firmware updates download would fix that.

As far as the battery life, the charge for it retains on up to 20 hours which is still up top or on top of most competitors. But by testing this at 50% volume, I was able to achieve only 9 hours and 14 minutes into the unit died. This is common among Bluetooth speakers as that’s there up to the value that could have been tested at little volume. Despite a larger battery inside, Charge 4 doesn’t necessarily be out of the competition.

As far as signal performance, the Charge 4 has Bluetooth 4.2 which is okay but I would have preferred Bluetooth 5.0 to future-proof this thing. Again but the 4 to the 4.2 that is I was able to achieve a range of 89 linear feet outdoors which for the average consumer should be enough. Testing this with movies on the Samsung phone no syncing issues, no delays in the audio, as for Apple Netflix works fine if there was a delay it’s probably a nanosecond or so but with YouTube that was completely jacked up, horrible delays here.

Most of the front-facing speakers have dual drivers even Charge 3 has dual drivers. In Charge 4 one speaker is fixed to the right side, it’s not even in the center for some reason. So you may hear the audio coming more so in your right ear but again it’s very minimal. When we compare this with Charge 3, the audio difference is very minute but a difference nonetheless and Charge 3 is still an exceptional speaker. With the missing features on the Charge 4 honestly, I didn’t see why you would want to upgrade to the Charge 4 coming from the Charge 3 unless you want USB-C or so.

SOUND QUALITY:

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

If you’re using this mostly outdoors or bigger open environments that’s where the Wonderboom 2 shines. As far as the bass, the Wonderboom 2 does sound to have improved over the previous model, it’s a bit more pleasing, it’s warmer overall, it’s in the right direction. The mid-range is clean and with the outdoor mode, this is pushed quite forward which I’m sure many will like. The best feature which I like the most about this Bluetooth speaker was this boost button actually in the bottom, which actually increases the sound quality like anything. The bass is punchy and very loud as well for the size you are going for, that is a great thing I like the most about it.

JBL Charge 4

The audio difference between the Charge 3 and 4 from my assessment switching back and forth over and over again, your Charge 3 has ever so slightly deeper bass, while the audio frequencies were still very close together. The Charge 4 was ever so slightly less in bass though but the frequency separation was much more apparent, making bass rumble in the frequencies and the vocals create a bit more depth in the audio allowing you the consumer to experience a wider variety of audio.

Also, on Charge 4 I noticed the vocals were cleaner, not brighter but the clarity is slightly more pronounced. Also, I interpreted Charge 4 as being slightly airier or having a wider soundstage and vocals hits a slightly higher note. The Charge 4 is slightly better but honestly, if you didn’t have them side by side for most average consumers, you’re not going to realize it. It has cleaner punchy bass, the vocals are more pronounced and detailed, it’s lively, and the high notes worth still hits but it’s never sharp on top and ever since that being dull born or even severely rolled off.

WHICH ONE IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER?

In my opinion, the JBL Charge 4 is better than the other here even though its price is more because it really sounds good, has better battery life than the Wonderboom 2, and also it has USB Type-C for charging which is a future-proof in this. But if you want a Bluetooth speaker at a lower price you can go for the Wonderboom 2 it is also really good for its price.

Expert Reviews of Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2:

By TechHive
This tiny speaker is entirely unimpressive, with thin, closed-in sound and wimpy bass. It’s hardened against the elements, but that doesn’t make up for poor sound quality.

By Craving Tech
Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 2 is a wonderful piece of compact, portable, Bluetooth speaker that can withstand some punishment while letting out loud, clear sound even outdoor. While most small portable speakers can struggle in the midst of wind and chatter,…

By TheStreaminBlog
The original Wonderboom was already a well-designed speaker that delivers high-quality audio, and this newer version comes with enhanced features. The Wonderboom 2’s design has slight changes, while its 360-degree sound has a better bass response. It…

By MobileSyrup
“Its compact size, 100 percent passable sound, battery life, and waterproofing has made it the perfect speaker for me — and likely you as well depending on what you’re looking for from a portable…

BY TrustedReviews
With the Wonderboom 2, UE succeeds again – delivering a superb, big sound, with some useful features to boot – for the same price as the original at launch. Even though that model is now available at almost half its price, the Wonderboom 2’s refinements make it a choice pick.

Expert Reviews of JBL Charge 4:

By Expert Reviews
Despite cutting a couple of handy features, the Charge 4 is an impressive fourth entry into JBL’s mid-range Bluetooth speaker series…

By What Hi-Fi?
Great sound plus rugged design and handy features equal a top Bluetooth speaker…

By TheStreamingBlog
JBL’s Charge series just gets better with every new release. With Charge 4, we’ve seen that its audio quality has highly improved compared to the previously released Charge 3. It delivered cleaner, clearer, and more refined sounds with mids and…

By Tech Radar
For the money, the JBL Charge 4 is a definite no-brainer. For just $150 (£160, AU$200), you get a speaker that lasts all day, sounds great, can put up with all kinds of abuse, and tops your phone up in a pinch. Yes, there are better sounding speakers…

By PC Mag
The JBL Charge 4 is an excellent option for those who want a waterproof, powerful-sounding portable Bluetooth speaker in a moderately sized frame.