This is the review of the comparison between two portable Bluetooth speakers from the same brand and from the same series. The comparison here is between the JBL Charge 4 and the Charge 3. There is around 40 dollars difference in their price range. To know whether the increase in the price range worth that product or not, go to the detailed review.

JBL Charge 4	JBL Charge 3
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.	Fully waterproof. Charges your device. Links up with other JBL Bluetooth speakers. Plays loudly with strong bass for its size.
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.	Can distort at high volumes. Exposed woofers. No support for true wireless stereo (TWS).

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

JBL Charge 4

The JBL Charge 4 is retailing for around a hundred and eighty dollars currently on Amazon. Currently, the price on this has increased, and to get this at a lower price you need to follow the link above. This is an updated version speaker of the JBL Charge 3. 

JBL Charge 3

The JBL Charge 3 speaker is an amazing speaker, this small device outputs clear loud sound with bass, wirelessly connects to your phone, and has a rechargeable battery making it portable, it’s just incredible. I got the JBL Charge 3 about a year ago and trust me after two Bluetooth speakers and countless hours online, this is the speaker that perfectly balances all my criteria. 

DESIGN: 

JBL Charge 4

Maybe the design is a little bit polished on the Charge 4 but mainly looks pretty much the same, that is good. It’s basically the same design on both charge 4 and Charge 3. This is a little bit bigger actually, the Charge 4 is a little bit bigger than the Charge 3 but like everything else is pretty much the same. This speaker has a nice mesh material design like all other speakers from JBL and this speaker does look really nice as its predecessor.

On the front of the speaker, there is the JBL branding and below it, there are your LED lights that indicate your battery life left on the speaker. On the top of the speaker, you have got your connect button, volume up and down button, play-pause button, power button, and Bluetooth button. On the side of the speaker, there are radiators that vibrate, when the bass hits. On the back, under the flap, you have got your USB Type-C charging port, a 3.5-millimeter jack, and also, USB-S out to use this as a power bank. 

JBL Charge 3

The Charge 3 isn’t tiny but it is very manageable and can easily fit in a backpack or a bag. It has a very unique shape which contributes to its speaker placement. On the front, it has two regular drivers while on the sides are two bass radiators which are very big compared to other speakers in this class. On the bottom is a flat foot which allows it to stay upright. Unlike the JBL Flip series, this speaker is meant to lay on its side.

On the back, there is a big rubber flap that hides a micro USB charging port, a 3.5-millimeter aux jack, and a full-size USB. Upon the top, there are all the buttons and controls. They’re all rubbery and clicky and don’t wear easily. You can notice on this that everything is sealed nicely, and that’s because the speaker is IPX7 waterproof. That means it’s fully submerged up to one meter, this means it’s great for outdoor use, so that’s the first check.

FEATURES:

JBL Charge 4

There are few differences between the JBL Charge 4 and the Charge 3. The first one being the drivers that is instead of the 210 watts 50-millimeter drivers that we had on the Charge 3 we are moving over to 150 by 90-millimeter single driver in the Charge 4 and what that means also is that we’re moving from stereo speaker to a mono speaker, and I think that is a bad change. The Charge 3 was ready to go as low as 65 Hertz on the frequency curve whereas the Charge 4 is rated to go a little bit lower up to 60 Hertz on the frequency curve, so that is good. The Charge 4 has a USB Type-C charging port which I really do appreciate.

I feel like those are the main differences, everything else is pretty much the same between the two speakers. The same waterproof rating IPX7, and if you have updated your Charger 3 you should also have their Connect Plus feature on there. I do not like the fact that they moved over from a stereo speaker to a mono speaker. I don’t know why they decided to do that but I really hate it. I like stereo sound, in fact, that it moved over from that to this mono just kind of makes me sad. I really hope they move back to stereo in the future productions, that if they do up a Charge 4 at least well then you’ll be the Charge 5.

With this speaker, this form factor, I feel like it should be the exterior speaker. Most especially, comparing this to the Charge 3, the Charge 3 have fifty-millimeter drivers in there and if you put two of them together, they probably basically give you the same size as the Charge 4. So, it’s not like this they don’t have space for it because this is actually a little bit even bigger, so I don’t know why they decided to go that route, but I don’t like it. 

JBL Charge 3

The JBL has incorporated a number of awesome features that really make it a league above other speakers. First off you can connect up to three devices simultaneously to the speaker at a range of up to 10 meters and that range holds up really nicely. When one device plays, it takes control of the speaker. The buttons on top control play and pause with one press, and you can skip tracks with a double press but sadly you can’t go back to a previous track. So, you can only go forward but you can also long-press for Siri or Google assistant depending if you’re on iOS or Android.

Another useful feature is the built-in speakerphone, so you can answer phone calls while connected. Has a microphone built-in which does a decent job picking up voices but nothing spectacular. Lastly, the speaker has the ability to hook up to other JBL speakers using JBL Connect. Pressing the JBL Connect button once on each speaker pairs them together, and you can use the speakers to create either stereo segments or both can play the same tracks simultaneously, which is called party play. The Charge 3 is also compatible with JBL Connect Plus which allows up to 100 speakers to be connected together. With all these great features and lots of other little things, the JBL Charge 3 is definitely more than just a simple Bluetooth speaker.

JBL advertises 20 hours of use and I’d have to agree if you play it around 50% volume. Playing above that cuts the battery life to about 14 hours at 70%, and about 5 hours at full volume which is actually really good. The speaker has a six thousand milliamp-hour battery, which combined with the back USB port allows you to charge your smartphone using the internal battery. Definitely, this cuts down on the actual usage time of the speaker but it’s a very handy feature when you need backup power. Charging this large battery takes about four and a half hours, so best to do it overnight. You can also charge the speaker while using it which really helps when you forgot to charge it. In total, battery life holds up very well, it can definitely last a full day of music playback.

SOUND QUALITY:

JBL Charge 4

Honestly, listening to this two side-by-side kind of lowered my expectations that I had for the Charge 4 quite a bit. Actually, I was expecting a little bit more out of it, I feel like I should stop putting my expectations too high with these speakers because it sounds only a little bit better. There’s a little bit of improvement in the sound, it has the better best performance, it’s not by a lot but it is better. It goes a little bit lower, I think that lower rating really does show up in the sound. It also generally has a better balance between the mids and highs. They balance things out a little bit better than they did it on the Charge 3.

JBL Charge 3

The Bose SoundLink 3 did sound better than the Charge 3 but for its size, it has an incredible sound. The two bass radiators give it a deep rumbling bass, that’s very surprising the first time you hear it. Seriously, you just don’t expect bass like that to come out of the unit this small. The mids are more present than I’d usually like but the highs have just enough sparkle to make them seem balanced with the rest of the sound.

WHICH ONE IS WORTH BUYING?

If you’re looking for a speaker that will reproduce your sound to the best, the Charge 3 will do a better job of separating those channels better than Charge 4 will do for most people. It won’t make a big deal but I was very disappointed by the fact that it’s a mono speaker for some reason that kind of bothers me a little bit. If you’re looking for the best representation of the sound, the Charge 3 will do a better job even if it doesn’t have as much bass as the Charge 4 does.

I really like the Charge 3 speaker, it strikes the perfect balance of sound quality, build, features, and battery life. I can take this speaker anywhere and not be worried if it’ll get damaged or wet, and the sound quality is almost perfect definitely above other rugged outdoor speakers. The one thing I hoped for in the next version is a more balanced sound with crisper highs and lower lows but it was not there in the Charge 4 still. 

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 JBL Charge 3:

By Mashable
The JBL Charge 3 doesn’t feature the best sound you can get, but it’s a feature-packed Bluetooth speaker ideal for outdoor parties.

By TechRadar
Despite a bit of extra weight, the JBL Charge 3 is a Bluetooth speaker you can take anywhere – including your backyard pool thanks to its new waterproof exterior. And while it falters on the high notes, overall the Charge 3 strikes a great balance between sound, features, and price.

By Trusted Reviews
Sturdy sound and build make JBL’s Charge 3 a solid choice if you’re not looking to pay top…

By GoodHouseKeeping
The JBL Charge 3 is made for parties and outdoor events. Using Social Mode, you can add up to three devices to connect and choose the music. The waterproof design means you can keep the party going no matter the weather and keep listening to music by…

By What Hi-Fi?
There’s no riddle where the JBL Charge 3 is concerned and the evidence speaks for itself. This is a versatile wireless speaker with a fine feature set and very good sound quality for the money. See all our JBL reviewsSee all our wireless speakers…