JBL has a long history of making beautiful Bluetooth speakers and the charge line has always been established at its value. Historically, the fee series offered an incredibly impressive sound for its size. The life of the battery has always been impressive, allowing users to use their load speakers like a battery pack in a pinch.
In terms of features, the JBL 5 load is relatively basic compared to something like the JBL 4 pulse – which provides customizable lighting for users – but for this fifth generation JBL has improved sound quality and a volume enhancing all the day.
We heard every accusation from JBL Charge 2 and it was interesting to see that the speaker line evolves from a bass monster to something more balanced and mature.
In short, the JBL 5 charge offers only subtle changes, but add them to the speaker’s legacy as a solid portable Bluetooth speaker, and you have a serious candidate for one of the best speakers. Bluetooth on the market.
The JBL 5 load launched in 2021 and is currently available worldwide for $ 179/159 £ / 229. It’s actually a very good price given what’s offered here, but there are more affordable portable speakers like JBL FLIP 5, Anker Soundcore Flare 2 and Tribes XSound Go for people who do not want spend so much.
The design of the load JBL 5 is an iteration of the cylindrical design it has had for years. The biggest visual change is the big JBL logo at the front of the speaker. On the front, the individual power indicators are moved from the base lower than a LED strip under the JBL logo, which looks diluent.
Physical controls remain the same with slightly elevated buttons on the speaker. There are buttons to control playback, volume, power, Bluetooth package and “party boost” (more about this in the Features section).
Around the back, the JBL 5 load has a waterproof USB-C loading port as well as a masking flap the USB-A port can be used to charge your smartphone. The load 5 drops at the outlet of the 3.5 mm plug jbl 4, which is a bummer for some that have legacy devices they want to connect.
The load 5 keeps the bass conductors on the left and right of the speaker, which allows you to see the woofers move and go out. The drivers are protected by a lip around the speaker, but you can always touch the drivers without damaging them.
A subtle change is that the JBL 5 load is shaped as a trapeze with the tilting sides inward. This difference is not a big deal as long as you want to set the speaker vertically, allowing the speaker to look like the tower leaning of Pisa. We preferred the stability of the square design of the load 4 to allow an easier vertical placement.
Characteristics
In terms of technical specifications, the load 5 comprises Bluetooth 5.1, a battery capacity of 7500 mAh and a frequency response denoted by 65 Hz – 20k Hz. However, like other JBL portable speakers, the load 5 has the “Partyboost” mode, which allows users to pair a second JBL speaker to amplify the music or use as a stereo pair.
The functionality is excellent if you want to play music on a large area where several speakers can help you amplify the sound. It is also nice to get a real stereo reading from a pair of speakers.
