This is the review of the comparison between two portable Bluetooth speakers from two popular brands in the market. The comparison here is between the JBL Charge 4 and the Bose Revolve Plus. There is around seventy dollars difference in their price range currently on Amazon. To know, whether the difference in their price range worth that price range or not and to know which one is good for you to buy, go to the detailed review.

JBL Charge 4	Bose SoundLink Revolve+
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Powerful audio performance with rich bass. Gets quite loud for its size. Waterproof. Long battery life. Can charge your portable devices. USB-C charging.	Sounds excellent for its compact size. True 360-degree sound. Speakerphone capabilities.
CONS	CONS
No speakerphone function. Basically the same sound as the Charge 3. The buttons that aren’t lit up are hard to see in the dark.	The cradle that makes charging easier is an optional $30 accessory. Only 30ft (10m) range. Very expensive.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

JBL Charge 4

The JBL Charge 4 is popular in the market from the day of its launch itself as like the Charge 3. This speaker is retailing for around a hundred and eighty dollars currently on Amazon. This is definitely among the higher price range portable Bluetooth speakers in the market but this is really good for the price, actually it worth that price range.

Bose SoundLink Revolve+

The SoundLink Revolve Plus is a portable Bluetooth speaker from Bose and it does look good. The Revolve Plus is priced at two hundred and fifty dollars in the US, it’s expensive but if you are willing to buy a portable speaker in this segment, the revolve Plus will not disappoint you. It is one of the best portable speakers that we’ve come across.

DESIGN: 

JBL Charge 4

This is definitely bigger than the Charge 3 and it’s got the same durable cloth fabric. It’s still got the same adorable fabric material, and the end part or the corners of this speaker looks like rubber that is covering it and the same with the bottom there’s rubber for extra grip to place this on the table. On the back, it says Charge 4 on the flap, and when you flip it open, you get the USB Type-C port 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, and then got the regular USB port to charge your phone just like a power bank. On the front, we got a couple of LED lights that indicate the battery life of the speaker.

Bose SoundLink Revolve+

The first thing that catches your eye, when you look at this is the design. Revolve Plus is made of aluminum, and there’s rubberized material on top and bottom for protection. We also have a non-removable fabric handle for carrying it around with ease. The Revolve Plus is 7.25 inches high and weighs 2 pounds which I think is quite heavy for a portable Bluetooth speaker. The cylindrical design looks cool and helps Omnidirectional 360-degree sound meaning a uniform experience all around the speaker.

FEATURES:

JBL Charge 4

The JBL Charge 4 box claims 20 hours of playtime, it is IPX7 waterproof which means you can submerge it underwater for 30 minutes and this also can work as a power bank to charge your phone plus, it comes with JBL Connect so if one speaker isn’t enough you can connect a lot more speakers of this. This comes in different colors such as red, black, blue, and gray. The box comes in anice presentation, and it’s got a magnetic flap right there to open the box. When you open the box, you got the speaker itself, also we are getting a USB Type-C charging cable, we got the manual, and that’s pretty much everything you get in the box.

The buttons on this are tactile, you can hear the click clearly, however, it’s not a big deal. As far as the charging this uses USB Type-C for charging which is really future-proof and it has a play-back time of around 16 hours which is really good. It’s also got a power bank built-in, so you can charge your phone using the regular USB within this. But there is a downside of using this as a power bank that is your device will absorb all the power from the speaker very fastly and you may not have charge within the speaker to use it. The sound quality on this is enormous for its size plus I’ve seen videos on this and there was no lag at all. As far as the IPX rating on this, it is rated IPX7 but also it actually floats on the pool which is a great plus.

Bose SoundLink Revolve+

Pairing the speaker is easy, if you have an NFC-enabled device just tap on the top of the speaker and that’s it, you’ll be ready to play. The voice prompt from the speaker will guide you through this process. Bluetooth is not the only input source, you can connect to the speaker via an aux cable or you can even use it as a desktop speaker by connecting it to your PC using the micro USB port. To switch between inputs all you need to do is use the button on top. As far as the micro USB port, that’s what you need to use to charge the Revolve Plus. Bose claims that the Revolve Plus has enough for 16 hours of usage well that may not exactly translate in real-life usage scenarios. Also, you can buy the additional charging dock which will charge the Revolve plus every time you place the speaker on it. Via micro USB, this speaker takes about four hours to get fully charged.

As far as outdoor usability, this speaker has an IPX4 rating, which means you don’t have to worry about accidental splashes or mild drizzles. The Revolve Plus is also shock-resistant and can sustain low height drops because of the top and bottom. There’s also an inbuilt microphone, so you can directly answer calls with it making the Revolve Plus a handy speakerphone, and the quality again was quite good. On the app side of things, you get to control the speaker with Bose Connect. This app lets you change the name of the speaker, set an auto-off timer, and even enable or disable voice prompts. If you just happen to have two Revolve Plus speakers, you can get them to play in sync and create a stereo surround experience. The speaker also keeps the last eight devices you paired within memory, and you can manage that from the app remove devices, if you don’t want it to auto pair with. 

As far as the multifunctional button, you can pause or play music with a single tap, skip songs with a double-tap, you can also attend calls with this button, additionally, a long press of this button activates Google assistant or Siri depending on the phone you have it paired with, and you get to use voice commands. In the price segment I can see how some brands might have gone with a capacitive button or touch-sensitive controls but the fact that Bose has lit these as regular old buttons that are really helped with the ease of usage, hence why this button happens to be one of my favorite features in this. The universal 3/8 thread at the bottom means you get to mount it on a tripod which is kind of useful.

SOUND QUALITY:

JBL Charge 4

I tested out the sound quality on this speaker at 50% of volume in the beginning, and there’s no sound coming from the back as the speaker is located in the front of the device. The speaker is actually located on the right side of the speaker, so there is nothing coming out over the other side or on the back. There might be little areas where the air comes out from the back but the sound all comes out from the left side right here or the right side just if you’re looking at it that way. Overall, this sounds good but it sounds just a tad bit louder.

Bose SoundLink Revolve+

Bose also claims the Revolve Plus to be their best sounding portable speakers and in my testing, with iPhone the quality to be excellent. Every detail was crisp and clear, the bass was pretty good for a portable speaker, the mids and highs were perfect makings for a rich music experience overall. Even at a hundred percent volume, there was no distortion. I really enjoyed listening to music with these speakers. This will easily fill a moderately sized room with ample sound, and you should have no issues using it outdoors.

WHICH TO BUY?

In my opinion, the JBL Charge 4 is good for you to buy than the Bose SoundLink Revolve Plus because the Charge 4 sounds better than the Bose Soundlink Revolve Plus, has better battery life that is the Charge 4 has 20 hours of playtime while the Revolve Plus has only 16 hours, and also the Charge 4 uses USB Type-c for charging while the Revolve Plus uses micro USB. Even though it has all better features than the Revolve plus, the Charge 4 is retailing for a lower price than the Revolve Plus.

Expert Reviews of JBL Charge 4:

By Expert Reviews
Despite cutting a couple of handy features, the Charge 4 is an impressive fourth entry into JBL’s mid-range Bluetooth speaker series…

By What Hi-Fi?
Great sound plus rugged design and handy features equal a top Bluetooth speaker…

By TheStreamingBlog
JBL’s Charge series just gets better with every new release. With Charge 4, we’ve seen that its audio quality has highly improved compared to the previously released Charge 3. It delivered cleaner, clearer, and more refined sounds with mids and…

By Tech Radar
For the money, the JBL Charge 4 is a definite no-brainer. For just $150 (£160, AU$200), you get a speaker that lasts all day, sounds great, can put up with all kinds of abuse, and tops your phone up in a pinch. Yes, there are better sounding speakers…

By PC Mag
The JBL Charge 4 is an excellent option for those who want a waterproof, powerful-sounding portable Bluetooth speaker in a moderately sized frame.

Expert Reviews of Bose SoundLink Revolve+:

By Alphr
The most popular trend for wireless speaker fanatics is smart voice assistants right now, with the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod commanding a huge amount of attention. Is there any point in buying a speaker anymore that can’t answer…

By Pocket-lint
The SoundLink Revolve provides what you almost always get from Bose: a minimal, stylish speaker that sounds really good. While there are plenty of great-sounding Bluetooth speakers out there, it’s nice to have one that doesn’t have an attention-seeking…

By Gadget360
For its size, the Bose SoundLink Revolve offers incredibly loud and warm sound. It handles low notes effortlessly without you having to blast the volume. However, as good as the speaker is with bass delivery, this can be its downfall as it simply…

By TechHive
The Bose Soundlink Revolve+ is pricey, but an excellent omnidirectional wireless speaker that most people will love.

By Expert Reviews
Top-quality Bluetooth audio, but you pay through the nose for…