This is the review of the comparison between two portable Bluetooth speakers from the same brand and from the same line-up. The comparison here is between the JBL Flip 5 and Flip 4. There is around twenty dollars difference in their price range. To know whether the more twenty dollars is worth that model or not and to know which one is really worth buying, go to the detailed review.

JBL Flip 5	JBL Flip 4
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Simple design, Excellent sound,11 color options, Able to pair multiple JBL speakers. Good sound quality, waterproof, long battery life excellent sound quality, very loud, long battery life excellent sound quality, water-resistant, great battery life good overall sound, great volume, great battery life, waterproof good sound quality, waterproof.	Solid audio performance with rich bass and well-defined highs. Reasonable price tag. Battery life.
CONS	CONS
Need compatible models to use PartyBoost, Checking battery life requires you to press the top buttons, No speakerphone or voice assistant functionality. Not the best sounding nor most portableExpensive, relatively large and heavy expensive, relatively heavy not the strongest bass, a bit priceyLarge and heavy.	No track navigation buttons. Underwhelming mid-range sound. Its bass is improved but it still lacks some real bass punch.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

JBL Flip 5

The JBL Flip 5 could be the go-to Bluetooth speaker for those on the go. This is actually the latest version speaker of the Flip line-up from JBL. This speaker is one of the best speakers for quite a budget-friendly price range. This speaker is retailing for around a hundred dollars currently on Amazon which neither too high nor too low.

JBL Flip 4

The JBL Flip 4 is the updated version Bluetooth speaker of the JBL Flip 3.  There are many changes made in Flip 3 that made this an updated version. This speaker does sound better than the previous-gen and also has better bass. This speaker is retailing for around eighty dollars currently on Amazon.

DESIGN: 

JBL Flip 5

The Flip 5 is small and compact at just one pound, it’s about the size of a small water flask. It’s perfect for just carrying around or clipping to the side of your backpack, it even fits nicely on your bike’s water bottle holder. I love how extremely tough the build is. Especially, with the rugged rubber housing and durable fabric material that wraps completely around, making it IPX7 waterproof. That means you can take it poolside or beachside without having to worry about it getting wet. It’ll even survive being submerged in up to three feet of water.

The design is quite minimalist on either end you’ll find there are recessed tubular housings with tough rubber to protect the exposed bass radiators. There’s a rubberized spine with power and Bluetooth buttons as well as a battery indicator and a USB-C port although a 3.5- millimeter aux port would have been nice here too. There are also big details for media controls such play-pause button which also skips a track on pressing it twice, and also plus and minus button for volume up and down that are raised including a button called the party boost button to sync to other JBL speakers. Unfortunately, they don’t light up, so you just have to feel around to find the right button if you’re in the dark.

JBL Flip 4

You can easily notice on this that it looks a lot like the Flip 3 but there are some key differences like the rubber part on this is somewhat out more so that when you set it down it can’t roll as easily. There it is written as Flip 4 on the flap on the speaker. When you open that flap, you get your charging port in there and a 3.5 auxiliary port, in case you don’t have a Bluetooth-enabled device, and that’s your waterproof seal, so you need to make sure that ties in tight.

Next to the flap, you have got your power button, your LED lights that indicate your battery life, and the JBL Connect Plus button. Also, you have got the volume up, volume down, Bluetooth, and play-pause buttons on this. Another key difference physically in this is the bass radiators which on the Flip 3 were like metal and kind of silver but on this one it’s plastic and it’s got that JBL logo and on the other side it’s actually different, has the exclamation mark. It also has a strap that comes already on it and it’s strong, so you can like swing around with your hand and carry it without letting out having to drop it. It really had a solid feel to it, it feels a lot more solid and durable like sturdy.

FEATURES:

JBL Flip 5

On the box of the JBL Flip 5, on the back it says it has 12 hours of playtime which is less than the JBL Flip 4 had, it is IPX7 waterproof which means you can submerge it up to 3 feet for about a half an hour and it’ll be perfectly fine, and then it claims right there on the box you have JBL party Boost, not JBL Connect not JBL Connect Plus but JBL party boost. When you take it out of the box, they had a little kind of plastic foam container. Then you have a fancy cardboard box in which we have some wordage, some quick our guide, and then we have the USB Type-C to charge it.

The JBL has gone with the less is more concepts with the Flip 5. Rather than offer frivolous features, they have focused on what people want which is great sound on a small rugged Bluetooth speaker so that you can bring the party with you, just about anywhere you go. Also, this speaker comes in 11 distinct color options that make Flip 5 anything but boring. I mentioned syncing to other JBL speakers above, as the cool thing is with the app you’ll be able to link multiple party boost compatible speakers together to really pump up your party with the same stream. This makes it great for outdoor spaces or you can just pair two of them together for awesome stereo sound.

The 5th Gen Flip has some great improvements including better battery life for all-day playback and a great durable build including its IPX7 waterproof rating. All of this is presented in a sleek compact design that even comes in 11 cool colors and patterns. The newly engineered drivers really seem to make a big difference to the sound quality with nicely rich details in the mids and trebles. The exposed bass radiators pump out really impressive bass. Although there are some emissions like an EQ and aux port that would have made it a bit more versatile. It’s still definitely a great go-to Bluetooth speaker for those on the go.

JBL Flip 4

The biggest improvement in this is that this has a 12-hour battery life and the Flip 3 only had 10. This one is fully waterproof with an IPX7 waterproof rating. This has the new JBL Connect Plus and it’s got a better frequency response, so it’s going to sound better. On the front of the box, if you notice it has an innovation award for 2017 from CES, and on the side, it says this speaker has the JBL Connect Plus that is the new version of JBL connect, and it allows you to connect hundred-plus JBL speakers to one phone, so you can play it all at the same time.

On the back of the box, we got some of those features such as 12 hours playtime, IPX7 waterproof, JBL Connect Plus, speakerphone, and it tells you the frequency response right there it’s 70 Hertz to 20,000 hertz. 70 Hertz is pretty good, it’s a lower frequency so it’s going to have better bass than the Flip 3. The Flip 3 went down to I think it was like 75 Hertz, this is 15 Hertz lower, so this gonna have better bass. On the top of the box, you got nice shiny stuff and says Flip 4, and JBL bottom is just of that same stuff.

This is really good, it definitely sounds better than the Flip 3, and it’s worth an upgrade for only $100. I really love the way they package these, it’s really a quality box, and just the way it looks is nice. In the box, you get your manuals, then a standard micro USB charging cord by JBL they do not include a little wall block that plugs into a wall they just provide the cord, and the speaker itself, that’s what you get in the box.

This is fully waterproof, I’ve taken on the pool already so that’s pretty nice. To turn this on press the power button it will make some noise to let you know that it is turned on. To connect this with another speaker, press the Connect Plus button on this speaker and also on the one which you want to connect to this. It will make some noise and automatically goes in pairing mode and connect with each other. 

SOUND QUALITY:

JBL Flip 5

As far as the sound quality on this with what I was really impressed with was the nice deep bass from the Flip 5 along with a detailed sound that sounded quite full without the tininess that you normally get from smaller speakers even at louder volumes. So, if you had a couple of these synced up you would definitely get some punchy bass and a great sound stage for sure. However, it would have been nicer if the JBL app had an EQ to be able to tweak the sound especially, in different environments.

JBL Flip 4

I tested out the sound quality on this speaker with 50% volume and as per my test it sounded good at 50% volume but when we increase the volume on this, it starts to get distorted, and also, the treble gets somewhat harsh there. So, I would suggest you can increase the volume up to 80% where till where you will get the sound without any distortion. If you did not get go for higher volume, it will produce a very clear and rich sound. The bass on this is definitely better on this compared to its previous generation.

WHICH ONE IS WORTH BUYING?

The JBL Flip 5 is worth buying for the sound quality and USB Type-C for charging on this but with the omission of JBL Connect Plus to JBL power boost, without a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary jack, without voice assistant, and without the ability to take calls while you’re streaming music, it’s just hard to recommend a Bluetooth speaker with so many features omitted from the previous model. So, the Flip 4 is worth buying than the Flip 5, in my opinion.

Expert Reviews of JBL Flip 5:

By Tech Radar
The JBL Flip 5 is a simple soul – perhaps too simple for some in this world – but that minimalist approach has allowed JBL to focus on performance and create one of the best-sounding budget portable speakers around. Thanks to its neat design and IPX7…

By What Hi-Fi?
JBL’s latest offering sounds great for the price. If you don’t mind the lack of in-app EQ settings, aux-in port, battery life, inbuilt microphones, or partnering with older JBL speakers, it’s an excellent proposition for the money. It may be low on added…

By Pocket-lint
If you’re looking for a small, portable, and waterproof Bluetooth speaker then your options are many. The JBL Flip 5 delivers ample audio output and ticks all those boxes too, making it a tempting little portable. It also updates the design over the…

By TheStreamingBlog
JBL is a company known for producing affordable yet durable audio devices that deliver excellent sounds, and the JBL Flip 5 is not an exception. It may not be the perfect speaker, but for its price, it offers a lot more than what we expected. The JBL…

By techgearlab.com
Finding a reasonable balance between sound quality/volume and portability/ruggedness, the JBL Flip 5 is the quintessential jack of all trades, master of none. It’s melodious enough that you’re almost certainly going to enjoy listening to any type of…

Expert Reviews of JBL Flip 4:

By TheStreamingBlog
After we’ve tested the Flip 4 Bluetooth Speaker from JBL, we can definitely say that it gives off impressive quality sounds with big and full bass, plus crystal-clear vocals. Not only that, but the other great thing about the speaker is that it’s now…

By Gadget360
The Flip 4 is a mighty performer given its tiny size and is another solid option in the sub-Rs. 10,000 segment. Its sound isn’t perfect, as the mid-range isn’t distinct enough, and vocals can be overpowering. However, it does deliver good bass,…

By Digit
The JBL Flip 4 is a more mature product, offering better-balanced sound than its predecessor, the Flip 3. However, its bass delivery is still a bit weak, and it is here that the UE Wonderboom plays better. Nevertheless, the JBL Flip 4 offers great…

By IndianExpress
JBL has for long been the go-to audio device for a lot of people. The company has been offering very dependable and affordable personal audio products and this means it has been able to create a dedicated user base over time. Its latest is the JBL Flip…

By Pocket-lint
If you’re looking for a decent and relatively affordable speaker that you can throw in your bag, take to the beach, or wherever, then the JBL Flip 4 is a convenient solution. At the right volume, it delivers a decent sound that can fill small/medium size…