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This is the review of the comparison between two portable speakers from two popular brands in the market such as Bose and JBL. The comparison here is between the Bose SoundLink Micro and the JBL Flip 3. There is much difference in their features and performances. To know which one is good for you to buy, go to the detailed review.
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| Bose SoundLink Micro | JBL Flip 3 |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Fully waterproof. Ruggedised and portable design. Multiconnect. Massive sound from a palm-sized design. Speakerphone capabilities. | Good Connectivity. Louder volumes without distortion. Lightweight. Water-resistant. |
| CONS | CONS |
| Average battery life. Doesn’t float. Latency issues. Micro-USB for charging. The Micro-USB port should be USB-C for faster charging times. | Slight distortion on some tracks. Charges via micro USB. Not portable at this price point. |
SPECIFICATIONS:
| HEADER | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Brand | Bose | JBL |
| Model | SoundLink Micro | Flip 3 |
| GENERAL | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Manufacturer | Bose | Harman |
| Design Features | ||
| SPEAKER SYSYTEM | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Hands-Free Function | Yes | |
| Amplification Type | active | active |
| Crossover Channel Qty | ||
| Frequency Response | 85 – 20000 Hz | |
| Output Features | ||
| Output Level (SPL) | 80 db | |
| Audio Amplifier | integrated | integrated |
| Connectivity Technology | Wireless | Wired, Wireless |
| Built-in Decoders | SBC decoder | |
| Controls | activate Bluetooth, power on/off, volume | |
| BATTERY | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Rechargeable Battery | rechargeable | rechargeable |
| Run Time (Up To) | 6 hour(s) | 10 hour(s) |
| Recharge Time | 4 hour(s) | |
| POWER DEVICE | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Power Source | Battery | Battery |
| Options | USB Charging | |
| NETWORK AND INTERNET MULTIMEDIA | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Connectivity Interfaces | Bluetooth 4.1 | |
| Internet Streaming Services | ||
| SPEAKER SYSTEM DETAILS | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Speaker Type | Bluetooth Speaker | Speaker |
| Speaker Channel Qty | 2 | |
| Speaker Channel Type | mono | Stereo |
| DRIVER DETAILS | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Driver Type | full-range driver | full-range driver, passive radiator |
| Driver Qty | 2 | |
| Driver Diameter | 40 mm | |
| CONNECTIONS | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Type | audio line-in | |
| DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Width | 3.9 in | 6.7 in |
| Depth | 1.4 in | 2.5 in |
| Height | 3.9 in | 2.5 in |
| Weight | 10.23 oz | 15.87 oz |
| FEATURES | BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO | JBL FLIP 3 |
| Features | Crisp, balanced sound. Durable silicone strap. Clear & loud outdoors. Rugged, waterproof design (IPX7). Up to 6-hour battery life per charge. Pair two speakers for Stereo or Party Mode. Works with Amazon Echo Dot. Access your phone’s Siri or your Google Assistant. Built-in speakerphone. | With Bluetooth technology, the JBL Flip 3 wirelessly streams music from almost all Bluetooth-enabled devices, and has the ability to simultaneously connecting to three smartphones/tablets. Hear the bass, feel the bass, see the bass. Dual external passive radiators demonstrate just how powerful your speakers are. Build your own ecosystem by connecting multiple JBL Connect enabled speakers together to amplify the listening experience. This ultra-compact speaker is powered by a 3000mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery that offers 10 hours of continuous, high-quality stereo audio playtime. Splashproof means no more worrying about rain or spills. You can even clean it with running tap water. Just don’t submerge it. The durable fabric material and rugged rubber housing allows your speaker to outlast all of your adventures. |
Detail Review:
INTRODUCTION:
Bose SounLink Micro
This speaker sounds really good if this is the best micro-sized speaker I’ve heard. Lastly, I had a lot of problems and troubles with the Sony XB10 which is also a micro-sized speaker. But the Bose SoundLink Micro sounds way better than that speaker and for the size, I cannot find any competitor out there so far. This is the best SoundLink speaker in this class period.
JBL Flip 3
The JBL Flip 3 is a great speaker from the JBL brand. This speaker is a popular speaker from the Flip series speakers. This speaker is available in eight different colors such as black, blue, red, pink, orange, yellow, teal, and gray. The price on this differs on the basis of the color you prefer to choose.
DESIGN:
Bose SounLink Micro
The body has a rugged design, it is soft to the touch and is certainly designed more towards the outdoor listening experience. The strap doesn’t actually take up any space, as you can see the strap just stores and clip down on the back of the body. Unlike the JBL Clip or the Micro Wireless, they have a carabiner or a loop on the top of the speaker, which does take up some space. The SoundLink Micro also uses a micro USB charging port which is universal. There are no bows for power supply plug or anything like that which will share any micro USB charging supplies you have around.
JBL Flip 3
The first thing I really love about this speaker is its design. It has this really cool fabric mesh design that covers most of the speaker except for this back portion right there which houses a couple of buttons and battery life indicator, and Auxilary import, so if you do not have Bluetooth on a device you’re wanting to pair this with you can just plug the device directly in with an auxiliary cord, and it also has a micro USB port at the back is covered up by a little flap to help make sure that it retains the splash-proof features. It also has some really cool tactile buttons there at the top, the first of which is a Bluetooth button, a minus and plus for our volume, and the ability to answer and take calls using the call button right there.
FEATURES:
Bose SounLink Micro
Bose advertises its playback time is around 6 hours and it’s actually longer than that which is a very nice thing. If you’re not playing out hard volume all the time like me if you play at home for personal use, you’re probably playing around 40% volume and it’ll last you around 8 hours or more. For the first time, Bose also makes this speaker completely waterproof.
The Bluetooth connection on the speaker is lightning-fast. Turning it on, the speaker will tell you the percentage of the battery and its connection immediately, and the connection signal is also pretty strong. I have no problem listening to the speaker 20 feet away from my phone with two walls in between. There’s certainly more potential if you use the Bose Connect app on your phone. You can turn the speaker on and off remotely, and if you have more Bose speakers and you can also use the Bose party mode which you’ll link up to two speakers at the same time.
There are two cons that will also like to point out. You can only position the speaker at this upright position, there is no way to lay on its sideways so the speaker will only always fire upwards. It is also a little bit pricey if you choose to Bose SoundLink Micro. I think the SoundLink Micro is an excellent speaker in the size category and again the bass signature it’s so strong, you simply won’t believe how much bass this thing will produce when you listen to a speaker personally. If you have the budget and you want the best-sounding speaker in this class, definitely go with a Bose SoundLink Micro.
JBL Flip 3
When I use the call button that has both external noise-canceling and echo canceling according to JBL and used the speakerphone in this peaker for a phone call, it worked fine, and was able to take and make calls with it without any issues. I didn’t notice any special noise canceling but according to them, they put in some software to help with your phone calls they should make all of that a lot better. But overall, I love the size of this, it fits perfectly in my car, cup holder, it is the perfect ruggedness. I have dropped this several times not any issues with it being damaged or scraped up, it’s meant to take a couple of hits and be just handy.
Another thing that I really love about this speaker is that it is splash-proof. Splash-proof is very different from waterproof. On the website, they say about how you can rinse this off in the sink if it gets a bunch of dirt and crud on it and you’ll have no problem at all. But it is specifically stated, that it should not be completed fully submerged in water. This means if you take this poolside and you get some water splash on it, you’ll be fine. But nowhere mentioned that this is meant to be thrown into the pool as that could very well kill it.
As far as the battery life of this speaker, JBL states that it has a battery life of up to ten hours and while I did not test this thing for ten hours straight, I can’t say that. In my own personal use, pretty much having it running for most of the day while I’m at work, it has never died on me. It didn’t have any battery life issues in fact, I barely think I even scraped losing a single or a couple of dots of battery life on this. The charge is super quick, so you do not have to worry about it.
SOUND QUALITY:
Bose SounLink Micro
The bass is punctured than everything I heard so far. Also, on the JBL Micro Wireless which later on also called the JBL Clip or Clip 2, they all have a similar sound signature. The JBL Micro Wireless is a very nice mid and high balance but there is simply not enough bass. The SoundLink micro also boosts bass at low volume, thanks to its DSP adjustment. Although at full volume, the speaker’s bass compresses a little bit it’s still very impressive for its size.
JBL Flip 3
As far as the sound quality of this speaker, this has an amazing sound quality. It does have a tendency to emphasize the lows a little bit, and I personally enjoy that. So, that works well for my tastes but if you’re looking for a flat reference monitor, this is not it. But it does all this without distorting very much especially at the high volume levels which is really convenient because when I use these I usually blast them pretty much as loud as they will go because I love loud music.
WHICH TO BUY?
In my opinion, the JBL Flip 3 is better to buy than the Bose SoundLink Micro because have more color options to choose from, it has better battery life than the Bose SoundLink Micro, it has better features such as like you can connect the speaker with three devices at a time switch between them, and also, you can pair the Flip 3 with another Flip 3 speaker and get stereo sound while such features are not available in the Bose SoundLink Micro.
Expert Reviews of Bose SoundLink Micro:
By Expert Reviews
If you told me this speaker was £40, I’d excuse its poor sound for its multifunctional voice-assistant button and…By cnet
The well-built and travel-friendly Bose SoundLink Micro is arguably the best-sounding speaker in its tiny size class.By Sound Guys
If you’re knee-deep in the Bose ecosystem and want a travel-friendly speaker that can withstand nearly anything, the SoundLink Micro is a great addition…By Pocket-lint
As small-scale Bluetooth speakers go, the Bose SoundLink Micro brings mega sound and volume…By Craving Tech
Bose SoundLink Micro is a compact and lightweight portable speaker with the power to deliver sound, perfect for outdoor adventures…Expert Reviews of JBL Flip 3:
By GoodHouseKeeping
Flip 3 is the perfect speaker for someone who is always on the go. It’s compact and lightweight (even comes with a wrist strap), but…By What Hi-Fi?
With a sonic quality worthy of the product’s history, plus better battery life and connectivity, this should be added to your shortlist.By GadgetMac
The Xtreme is a great and powerful speaker, but not everyone can afford a $300 Bluetooth speaker. Fortunately, JBL’s new…By musicphotolife.com
The JBL Flip 3 has the perfect balance of sound quality and durability, making it an exceptional speaker to own for audio-critical…By cnet
Enhanced with better battery life and a splashproof design, Flip 3 is one of the best mini portable Bluetooth speakers…
