What Bluetooth speaker to buy?

Alex Carr · July 8, 2018

I'm looking to buy a Bluetooth speaker for around 100$. I'm deciding between buying the JBL Flip 4 and the UE boom 2. Which should I buy or do you have any other suggestions?

Kill3rblack · July 8, 2018

I own the Flip4 and i can honestly say that it is nothing short of fantastic. Solid Sound, solid build, amazing battery life and with IPX7 "waterproofing" its a really good buy for $60-$80 USD. IPX7 is kind of misleading labeling it as waterproof but if you do your research you should be just fine, IPX7 is defined as "immersion of up to 1 meter" so if you want to take it in the shower with you, then by all means, do it. But if you think you can just drop it in the 5' deep pool your experience may vary. With JBL's smartphone app, you can connect multiple JBL speakers together to get a more stereo sound (or just have a smart phone with the native capability.)

kokakolia · July 9, 2018

On 2018-07-07 at 7:19 PM, Kill3rblack said:

I own the Flip4 and i can honestly say that it is nothing short of fantastic. Solid Sound, solid build, amazing battery life and with IPX7 "waterproofing" its a really good buy for $60-$80 USD. IPX7 is kind of misleading labeling it as waterproof but if you do your research you should be just fine, IPX7 is defined as "immersion of up to 1 meter" so if you want to take it in the shower with you, then by all means, do it. But if you think you can just drop it in the 5' deep pool your experience may vary. With JBL's smartphone app, you can connect multiple JBL speakers together to get a more stereo sound (or just have a smart phone with the native capability.)

Do not immerse the speaker in water! These “IP” tests are done on a short duration. “Immersion of up to 1 meter” should also say “for 30 seconds only”. Or 1 minute...or however long the test took. There’s another side of this story that’s quite underwhelming.

Anway, the OP basically found out what the two best Bluetooth speakers are around $100. IMO, the reviews don’t say a whole lot. It’s worth your time to go to a shop and try the speakers out. The difference in sound may surprise you. The last time did something like that I was surprised how good the Bose speakers (loud, clear and no distortion at high volume) were and how little difference there was between the $100 model and the $250 model of similar size. And the SONY speakers were terrible (not as loud as Bose, distorted at high volumes) Unfortunately, I haven’t tested anything from JBL or UE.

Velcade · July 9, 2018

I picked up an Altec Lansing Jacket H2O speaker and have been impressed with the sound quality for an outdoor speaker. Excellent battery life, good shape design, IP67 rated. Works great for patio parties or working in the yard.