Customer reviews from jbl.com
JBL - Charge 5 Wi-Fi Portable Wireless Speaker - Black
Average customer rating
4.2
(23 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 23 reviews
5 Stars
16
4 Stars
3
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Star
3
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
12 out of
12)
Customer Reviews for JBL - Charge 5 Wi-Fi Portable Wireless Speaker - Black
Customer Rating
5
A thumping football sized speaker!
on August 3, 2023
Posted by: jbarnr
from Seymour, TN
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Before I touch on the speaker itself I have to give props to the JBL folks for once again thinking through their packaging and making it extremely easy to open / work with. It grinds my gears when products are clearly tossed into cumbersome plastic encased tombs you have to butcher just to get to. Unboxing took a minute or so (literally) - wonderful.
The speaker itself surprised me right away - we connected over Wi-Fi - which isn't the usual (bluetooth being more common) - just to give it a whirl and found it was easy to do (via the JBL one app). To my ears I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in regards to connectivity or the quality of the sound. I have a fairly robust Wi-Fi network / access points (work in IT) so I don't imagine I would have issues using WiFi as the primary connection - but you may want to be mindful of that in your situation.
Clarity was apparent from the moment our music started playing - no hissy poor sounding audio - and funny enough I happened to go to move the speaker (which I would say is exactly like grabbing a football - the rubberized grip on the bottom is a nice touch and works well to grab in the hand and also plant the speaker on a surface) when the song changed and I put my hand a bit close to the right end and the bass thumped enough to slap my hand with the woofer which I didn't notice was setup the way it is.
After that I spent a good 5 minutes just enjoying watching the woofers bounce around on the ends of the speaker :)
A nice extra is the ability to charge another device off the back of the speaker - phone batteries can go quick these days and you aren't always around an outlet to charge from. We gave it a quick test but didn't keep our phone hooked up very long.
For our uses the 20 hour playing time is well beyond what we'd need and we're pretty particular about keeping devices charged so its nice to not have to worry about running out of juice when we take the speaker with us (we go to a lot of car shows, etc and it's nice to have a portable speaker).
We haven't touched the equalizer settings in the app just yet since the audio sounds great to us (to be fair we aren't extreme audiophiles) - but at quick glance it seemed to be easy to do and I am confident I could tweak settings to fit different genres of music (I tend to listen to metal and my GF listens to rock / pop, etc.).
Really nothing negative to say about this speaker - sound quality is typical goodness JBL provides, I am able to pick up the speaker with my smaller hands and it's comfortable to move around - doesn't budge despite having pretty good woofers on both ends. If I happen to drop it in the pool it'll survive - and if a sandstorm hits I don't have to worry about that either. All good in my book!
For the price and features I don't think you can go wrong.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
JBL CHARGE 5 WI -FI
on August 24, 2023
Posted by: Whiskerswoman
from Camden, Ohio
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] WOW
I love this speaker. To begin JBL product packaging is awesome. This speaker amazes me. Using wi-fi is a game changer for me. I don't have to stop my music to take a call. This speaker is so durable. We have used it by the pool, camping , and lots of outdoor activities. We love the long battery life. It definitely goes 20 hours without a charge. I would and have recommended this speaker to all of my friends. Everyone that has seen and heard it wants one !!The app is very user friendly. The charging port for phone has definitely came in handy. I like that it has ridges it sits on. Once again very durable. It design is perfect. The sound is awesome. Very clear sound with deep base. I will be purchasing another JBLCharge 5 wi -fi for our second home. Once again JBL exceeded my expectations.
I love this speaker. To begin JBL product packaging is awesome. This speaker amazes me. Using wi-fi is a game changer for me. I don't have to stop my music to take a call. This speaker is so durable. We have used it by the pool, camping , and lots of outdoor activities. We love the long battery life. It definitely goes 20 hours without a charge. I would and have recommended this speaker to all of my friends. Everyone that has seen and heard it wants one !!The app is very user friendly. The charging port for phone has definitely came in handy. I like that it has ridges it sits on. Once again very durable. It design is perfect. The sound is awesome. Very clear sound with deep base. I will be purchasing another JBLCharge 5 wi -fi for our second home. Once again JBL exceeded my expectations.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Great sound, easy to carry
on August 2, 2023
Posted by: StillGrindin87
from Memphis, TN
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Sound is amazing. Connecting the speaker to my phone was super easy. Once connected, i started playing my music and the sound was incredible from the jump. The product is easy to carry around so you can take your music with you all over the house or outside the house.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
4
Great sound & long battery life.
on August 15, 2023
Posted by: Kalicat
from Florida
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The charge 5 wifi is an upgrade to my JBL flip 3 that I’m used to using daily. The charge 5 does have a long battery life, but it can take up to 7 hours to charge. The battery can last you about a week with daily usage. I love that you’re able to use it to charge your phone/devices. I normally carry a power bank with me, but now I won’t need to when I bring the charge 5.
I also really love the wifi feature. I normally have my phone connected to my Bluetooth speaker, so it’s annoying when a call comes in and cuts off the music. The wifi feature is perfect, because this doesn’t interfere with it. Being able to choose between Bluetooth & wifi is a nice touch.
In order to setup the speaker you will need to download the JBL One app. The thing I like about the app is that it shows you the battery percentage and you can adjust the bass/tempo/etc. The only thing I dislike about the app is that it requires your location, which I find to be completely unnecessary for a Bluetooth speaker.
Lastly, the sound is crisp & has some good bass. It does get pretty loud, which is awesome for its size. It’s perfect for daily use and when you’re out & about. The design is very sleek and has ribbed support on the bottom. That way it won’t roll around. It’s also waterproof, so there’s no need to worry about it getting wet.
If you’re looking for a portable speaker that has great sound quality, long battery life, doesn’t interrupt your music (wifi feature) and can charge your phone, then this is the speaker for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
JBL Charge 5 WIFI, Bluetooth and charge on the go
on August 29, 2023
Posted by: Tedschaumburg
from Chicago, Illinois
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Charge 5 WIFI is one of very few portable Bluetooth speakers that are available today with Wi-Fi 6, which means that the speaker supports high-resolution 24 bit/96kHz playback over your home network. This feature offers more versatility than other speakers this size because you do no need to tie up your phone to stream music because it will play any streaming service directly from your Wi-Fi connection, and the JBL one app makes it possible to use your phone as a remote control. You can connect streaming services, adjust the sound quality with the 3 band graphic equalizer, or connect another speaker that is compatible. I will mention the sound quality is amazing whether you are streaming via Bluetooth or the WIFI connection, but the sound quality is audibly better through WIFI. I have used it as a musical backdrop for the balcony or at the beach, it’s excellent. As a nice feature you can reverse the charging chord and use the battery in the speaker to recharge your phone. It’s a good size to take on the go.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
My go-to Bluetooth speaker for taking everywhere
on September 19, 2023
Posted by: Happy_dad
from SF bay area
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I extensively used this speaker and think it's everything I need in a relatively compact, rugged speaker. I have owned a Pulse before, and while the sound quality was great, it was an inherently fragile speaker. Not in the sense that it might break, but in the sense that I didn't want it get scratched up, hence I was babying it.
The Charge 5 is covered with the famous rugged fabric that JBL compact speakers have been known for, and this fabric is great. I am not afraid to toss the speaker in the backpack, put it on the granite next to the pool, and sometimes even chuck it into the pool. The fabric takes up all the abuse without showing any signs of wear.
The sound, of course, is signature JBL. It's got bass, it's got crystal clear treble, and vocals and such sound true to life. You can adjust the equalizer to your liking, but I trust the JBL engineers and just leave everything by default. I can hear all the key moments and instruments that I enjoy using my studio headphones, and that's all that matters.
The manufacturing quality is high; as mentioned above, fabric looks and feels great. The passive bass radiators at the ends of the cylinder look nice and faithfully pump out that impressive bass. The charge port on the back is covered by a door that seals very well; enough to withstand a swim in a pool. The buttons are clicky and tactile. The logo is a very dark blue with golden sides, which looks very classy on a black speaker.
The speaker has noticeably slanted sides, but stands up surprisingly straight, as visible on one of the pictures. Magic of geometry, I guess.
The only negative moment is very fleeting, but is always there. When I go to turn on the speaker, it takes about 10-15 seconds to fully load and sound the wake-up trill; only after that can I press the bluetooth button to connect it to my phone. If I only turn it on, the speaker doesn't automatically establish Bluetooth connection.
Overall, the speaker is great and is my go-to Bluetooth speaker for taking everywhere: camping, pool, outdoor party, and sometimes even listening indoors.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
A Great Mid-Range Speaker
on August 7, 2023
Posted by: JimB77
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] As the title of this review states, this is a great little speaker. It is very well made and very portable. The battery life is excellent. The battery life on this unit is remarkable. I have used it for twelve strait hours and still has a lot of life remaining. The sound is crisp and clear for the full range of the music spectrum. I was especially surprised by the bass response, which I think is amazing considering the small size of the unit. Setup is very easy. I got my unit up and running in a very short period of time. The Bluetooth pairing was flawless across multiple devices. There are only two cable interfaces on this device, one is a USB port that is only used for charging. The second port is a USB interface that can be used to charge other devices. This is a very handy feature given its excellent battery life. One limitation that you should be aware of is that this unit only operates as a blue tooth device. The no auxiliary input jack. It also does not have an equalizer; all fine tuning of sound must come from the external source. It is advertised as having the capability to pair with other JBL speaker systems, but I have not tested this option. The unit is also waterproof, but I have not tested this feature. In summary, this is a high quality well-made speaker that I really enjoy using and highly recommend.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com
Customer Rating
5
Charge 5 WiFi is the way to go
on August 16, 2023
Posted by: Baynes
from Cincinnati, OH
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This speaker has it all. First, the Pro Sound with deep bass is outstanding. Next, it goes without saying the ability to connect over WiFi is a game changer. You can AirPlay, Alexa or ChromeCast to seamlessly connect. I haven’t needed the power bank yet as I charge my phone every night, but think this is a great value add.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting jbl.com