Customer reviews from jbl.com
JBL - Authentics 200 - Retro Style Smart Home Speaker with Built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Voice Assistants, Alexa and Googl - White
Average customer rating
4.7
(81 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 81 reviews
5 Stars
64
4 Stars
14
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Star
1
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
69 out of
69)
Customer Reviews for JBL - Authentics 200 - Retro Style Smart Home Speaker with Built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Voice Assistants, Alexa and Googl - White
Customer Rating
5
Retro looks, top shelf sound.
on September 20, 2023
Posted by: Koool
from Hampton, VA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The JBL Authentics 200 is a retro-styled smart speaker that delivers big sound and impressive versatility. It has a Quadrex grille, premium aluminum frame, leather enclosure, giving it a sophisticated look. The Authentics 200 also sounds amazing. I use it for streaming music in my home office and family room. The sound quality of the Authentics 200 is top-notch. It's equipped with a pair of 25mm tweeters and a 5-inch woofer, as well as a downfiring 6-inch passive radiator and delivers rich, full-bodied sound with deep bass.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
High end cabinet and sound
on September 16, 2023
Posted by: JD Ford
from North Carolina
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] First off this is a higher end piece of audio equipment, the box itself is nicely designed and looks very durable and fancy. The sound quality is amazing to come out of such a small package. The lows are crisp and clear, the midrange is perfect and the bass is incredible and provides a full sound you would expect from a larger speaker. Bluetooth works well with no issues and connects each time after you pair it. I like the separate knobs for bass and treble, they are large and easy to use. It has voice control by switching it on in the back. It has a aux port for a wired connection and a favorite button for your playlist. Also an ethernet and USB connection. Overall I highly recommend this unit it sounds amazing and has a lot of features in a small package. It is a speaker you would want to set somewhere and leave it because it looks good but it also has to be plugged in there is not a battery to charge which I get because you have this incredible sound in a small package. Two thumbs up for sure. Thanks again JBL, this compact speaker is great.
I would recommend this to a friend!
(click to see the video)
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
4
Simple to use with a punchy sound!
on September 15, 2023
Posted by: dcardona
from Brooklyn, NY
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to set up the speaker. I didn't even need to dive into the instruction manual; it just felt intuitive and straightforward.
What really stood out to me were the tactile buttons and the speaker's compact size. It's refreshing to have physical controls that are easy to use. Plus, the ability to customize the equalizer was a big win for me. Personally, I'm all about cranking up the bass, and this speaker lets me do just that.
However, I did encounter a bit of trouble when trying to connect it to my Wi-Fi network. Despite multiple attempts, including troubleshooting and restarting, I couldn't get it to work. It left me wondering about potential missed capabilities that require a Wi-Fi connection.
One minor improvement I'd suggest is having the buttons display the treble and bass levels without needing to open the app. It would make adjusting the sound settings even more convenient.
Overall, this speaker has a lot going for it in terms of simplicity and sound customization, but the Wi-Fi hiccup and button functionality could use a little refinement.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Awesome design! Great quality of sound!
on December 28, 2023
Posted by: Charge123
from Charleston West Virginia
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] You absolutely get room filling sounds! And its perfect for a small apartment, but really anyplace you want to relax and enjoy it I'm very happy with the features I really like the design and finish and feel it really takes me back to what was built with quality. I would recommend any one that loves the good old days and some of the new tech to give it a try i don't think it will disapoint.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
1
Beware of Google Assistant issues
on November 18, 2025
Posted by: MickeAX
The speaker worked great when I first bought it. Unfortunately, for the past couple of months Google Assistant has stopped working for several hours each day, which makes the speaker practically unusable for its intended purpose.
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
4
Great sound, wish it was wireless
on December 29, 2023
Posted by: StillGrindin87
from Memphis, TN
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great sounding speaker with options to quickly adjust bass and treble. Setup is quick and easy. The only flaw for me is that it isn't wireless. In today's environment, I am accustomed to speakers having the option to be wireless.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Retro Look with modern features
on September 20, 2023
Posted by: ThatGuyYouKnow
from Spokane, WA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Ok, this was a speaker that I was really excited for. When it was announced I immediately loved the look of the speaker as did my wife. Also the aesthics matched my wife's plant room where she likes to sit and listen to her vinyl records. So she was more excited for this speaker than I was. Well after about a week of playing with it and listening to music I have to say that this speaker is fantastic.
Sound - This speaker sounds just like many of the other JBL speakers, which is to say very very good. The bass is very good and carries throughout our house. The Mids and Highs are also very good. Bluetooth sound is good and honestly playing from our bluetooth record player, the speaker sounded fantastic. But using wifi for music is what we normally do and everything just sounds great.
Setup - One thing I have always been impressed with is how easy JBL speakers have been to setup and this speaker is no different. All I had to do was plug it in and open the JBL One app or download it if you don't have it already. The app immediately found the speaker, I setup the wifi connection, enabled Google Assistant and Alexa and I was done. I was then able to add the speaker to my Speaker groups in Google Home and/or Alexa and start playing music.
Google Assistant and Alexa - Google Assistant and Alexa were both easy to setup and work well, but having both in one device is fantastic. I was able to use Google Assitant to play music while also using Alexa to change the volume. You can also choose to use none, one or both like I did.
JBL One app - The JBL One app is great and adds easy ways to adjust the speaker without being at the speaker. While yes there are buttons and knobs on the device to change the bass, treble and sound. You can also do it from the JBL One app. You can even setup an equalizer to adjust the bass, mid, treble.
In conclusion, I seriously love this speaker. The retro look is great to the synthentic leather look and feel, to the gold trim and the knobs on the top. The sound is really great and it makes me want to place one of these speakers in every place I have smaller smart speakers with Alexa and Google Assistant. Sadly I did lose this speaker to my wife, who now enjoys all her records on the couch with this speaker by her side.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Unreal sound from a speaker this size
on October 5, 2023
Posted by: Jimbo Jones
from Overland Park, KS
The JBL Authentics 200 punches well above its weight, sounding better than any Bluetooth speaker I’ve used. No nuance allowed in the rating but it’s a solid 4.5 stars.
Pros
• Exceptional tonal clarity from top to bottom once you tweak it
• Simple setup and rock-solid WiFi connectivity
• Unique retro aesthetic (it’s grown on me)
• Big, BIG sound!
• Typical JBL reliability
• Exceptional tonal clarity from top to bottom once you tweak it
• Simple setup and rock-solid WiFi connectivity
• Unique retro aesthetic (it’s grown on me)
• Big, BIG sound!
• Typical JBL reliability
Cons
• Not designed for portability
• Styling’s not for everyone
• Bluetooth connection is spotty out of the box
• Quite pricey
• Needs another JBL app
• Not designed for portability
• Styling’s not for everyone
• Bluetooth connection is spotty out of the box
• Quite pricey
• Needs another JBL app
Right off the bat let me say that I don’t use smart speaker functions so I’ll leave that for others to weigh in on.
It’s a dense little thing, packed with bits and bobs that make the magic work. I say magic because the sound this pushes is magical.
There’s nothing in the box other than the speaker and a power cord. (There’s no battery so don’t lose it.) You can link straight to it with Bluetooth, triggering the JBL connection chord, but that limits its functionality. Hook it up to WiFi and link the JBL One app to get the update that fixes the Bluetooth glitches. Having done that, you likely won’t use the Bluetooth again as the WiFi use is solid. I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem so the inclusion of AirPlay is most welcome and allows seamless integration into existing audio setups. I can have this and my Denon theater playing the same music in different parts of the house.
The JBL One app is pretty simple, but it’s the third JBL app on my phone. Having one for ear buds, one for my Charge 5, and this one is just kinda dumb; but I don’t use any of them very much so it’s merely an annoyance.
But being Apple-centric also limits my access to the on-boarded music connections. You can set up a scene function that lets you start a selected playlist with the touch of a button. It sounds neat but Apple Music isn’t supported (though Tidal curiously is).
Yet sound is the key and the Authentics 200 delivers. I am shocked at how much sound this puts out with incredible clarity. My go-to test track is “Midlife Crisis” by Faith No More. The bass guitar rumbles, the layered vocals are clearly separated, the guitar and synth ring true, and the high-hat hits without a hint of hiss. It doesn’t have the immersive quality of an Atmos system, but it sure has the quality of any of my individual speakers.
You can read the specs in the listing, but they don’t really represent how well the whole package works together. A key element I didn’t see mentioned it the springy rubber feet; they isolate the vibrations of the cabinet allowing a bit of movement for the bottom-mounted radiator.
There’s not much to adjust, just bass and treble knobs alongside the volume knob – each is backlit in a way that indicated level briefly before fading out. A switch on the back allows voice prompts for Google and Alexa services. Siri is left out as usual, but I don’t mind. I don’t like that if you switch them off you’re stuck with a red light behind the speaker grille. It’s an eyesore.
The volume knob allows for very fine adjustment while the iPhone buttons have pretty big jumps; you can get fine control with the on-screen slider. The in-app eq only has three adjustments but it’s actually enough. This is designed for people with good ears who love music, not audiophile tweakers. JBL claims it auto-adjusts for the room each time you plug it in which accounts for the slight delay when you plug it in after moving it.
So the price… it’s a lot for a Bluetooth speaker but well worth it for all this packs in. JBL has really hit it out of the park with this line and they continue to lead the way in small powered-speaker technology.
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com