#Flip boom classic 2.0 portable#
Ultimate Ears has really made a splash in the Bluetooth speaker market with a number of colourful, fun-sounding and portable models.
The Flip 5 (above) is cheaper and lighter, but the Charge 4's rugged design, excellent battery life and ‘battery sharing’ make it a near-perfect speaker for camping, beach trips and home use. And unlike the Flip 5 (above), you can also use the Charge 4 to juice up your phone – or any other device that will charge over USB from a 5V supply. The IPX7 water resistance means the Charge 4 can handle being submerged in water to a depth of 1.5m. You get a nice array of features for the money, too. Obviously there's a limit to the bass floor in a speaker of this size, but the low-end is tasteful – and there's plenty of punch. JBL fine-tuned the sound in this iteration to please even pickier ears. Not only is this one of best-sounding Bluetooth speakers around at this end of the market, it serves up a whopping 20 hours of playback from a single charge and, thanks to the arrival of its newest sibling, you'll find this slightly older model discounted across several retailers. The fact that we really like the JBL Charge 4 should come as no surprise to those who read our Charge 3 review – or the latest Charge 5 (above). Assuming you don't mind the lack of an aux-in port or inbuilt microphone (as seen in the Flip 4), you'll almost certainly be wowed by this speaker's sonic chops. Sound is impressively weighty and agile, with a good punch of bass and a real sense of openness and texture. There's also a PartyBoost button that helps you pair two PartyBoost-enabled speakers to create a stereo pair, or link over 100 PartyBoost-compatible speakers in mono. It's a pleasure to use and scores highly for portability, with a wrist strap that slips comfortably over our hand. The Flip 5 is waterproof to an IPX7 rating, boasts a 12 hour battery life and has a USB-C charging port, meaning it goes from flat to fully juiced in just 2.5 hours. JBL’s offering sounds great for the price and is more than rugged enough to cope with a day at the pool.
If all you want is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds as good as you can currently buy for around £100 ($100, AU$119), you’ll be hard-pressed to better the fantastic Flip 5. 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 waterproof 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
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