This is the review of the comparison between two speakers from two popular brands in the market such as Sony and JBL. The comparison here is between the Sony SRS-XB23 and the JBL Flip 4. To know which one is worth buying for the price, go to the detailed review.

Sony SRS-XB23	JBL Flip 4
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Powerful bass depth and crisp highs in a compact design. Stereo pairing and Party Mode. Very portable and well-built design. Waterproof and dustproof.	Solid audio performance with rich bass and well-defined highs. Reasonable price tag. Battery life.
CONS	CONS
Weaker without Extra Bass option on. Doesn’t get very loud. Unclear battery level alerts. No 3.5mm port, only Bluetooth.	No track navigation buttons. Underwhelming mid-range sound. Its bass is improved but it still lacks some real bass punch.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Sony SRS-XB23

Although XB23 brings improvement in some areas over the XB22, there notably some “downgrades” in other areas. This speaker is retailing for quite a budget-friendly price range that is for around ninety-eight dollars currently on Amazon.

JBL Flip 4

Your smartphone may have a decent speaker and even though it gets the job done for yourself or for a few friends a dedicated speaker is better for bigger crowds and the JBL Flip 4 is one among them. This speaker is retailing for around eighty dollars currently on Amazon.

DESIGN:

Sony SRS-XB23

As far as the build and design first, the XB23 looks very different compared to the older XB22. First of all, the XB23 is clearly vertical oriented while the XB22 is horizontal oriented. Around 80-85% of XB23’s body is covered with woven fabric material here, while the rest is made of fiber plastic. On the sides, we find dual passive radiators which will help enhance the bass performance of the speaker. In this Sony SRS-XB23, we won’t find any party-LED that we found previously in XB22, even though I do think that feature is still nice to have as an option to use. Then we have a small hole or gap to tie the rope hanger up, in case you wanna hang up this speaker somewhere. There are some other gaps for the rope hanger at the bottom as well, as I suspect.

Moving to the back of the XB23, we found some buttons that are nicely arranged there, they are the power button, Bluetooth pairing button, play/pause, Volume up/down, and Battery, pressing the battery button once will inform us of the current % battery level of the speaker. Then you have the “party” button that acts the same way as the “WPC” button does in XB22, which is an abbreviation of “Wireless Party Chain” meaning you can pair this to up to 100 other compatible Sony speakers to play audio in sync with each other to help create louder output audio volume. Lastly, there is a Stereo pairing button to pair this speaker with another XB23, to generate stereo audio output, unlike the party/WPC which won’t produce any stereo output. Compared to XB22, the buttons in XB23 are far more neatly arranged. Moving below the buttons, we see a USB-Type C port there inside a water-resistant flap.

JBL Flip 4

The JBL Flip 4 comes in a familiar cylinder structure like we’ve seen a lot of other portable Bluetooth speakers. The body consists of some really robust feeling plastic whilst the main 40 mm driver is hidden behind a checkered cloth grille. Each end also includes a passive bass radiator which you can visibly see pulse along to your music. Even though they may look exposed these bouncing woofers are recessed and will stay out of your way. At the very top, we have Flip 4’s main source of media controls.

It consists of four raised buttons shaped into easily recognizable icons. Bluetooth pairing, volume down and up as well as a play button that can be customized to some configurable options. Towards the back includes a lanyard for easy carrying, a power button that shows an easy-to-read led light or indicating remaining battery as well as a button that enables JBL to connect plus which lets you tap into some really interesting features. To the right of that lays a waterproof flap that conceals analog headphones in a jack as well as the micro USB port that charges this powerful speaker.

FEATURES:

Sony SRS-XB23

This product comes with regular accessories included in the box, such as guides, warranty card, and USB-C to A Cable, and your speaker itself. Just like its predecessor, XB23 is also IP67 certified, meaning this speaker can withstand a dusty environment and 1-meter water submersion for up to 30 minutes. The speaker also floats on the water, which will give you a bit of peace of mind, in case let’s say, you accidentally drop this speaker at a pond or lake. Aside from water resistance, the speaker is also claimed (in Sony’s website) to be shockproof which -once again- will give you a bit of peace in mind, in case you drop this speaker on a hard surface.

Battery-wise, Sony claims 12 hours of continuous playtime, while based on my actual real-world test, after playing this speaker at 50% volume in an extra bass setting, I got a result of 11 hours 50 minutes. And this speaker, fortunately, does not share the same annoying traits as older Sony speakers when the volume decreased by 20-30% once the battery was low in charge, it is nice that Sony finally has got rid of that. Anyway, both XB23 and XB22 can still be used while they’re charging, so that’s a huge plus. This XB23 is also equipped with a built-in microphone, and as far as its sound quality, the person whom I call on the other end, said that my voice did sound robotic, boxy, compressed, and echo a lot, when I used this XB23 speaker during the call.

Connectivity-wise, this speaker is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, an upgrade from Bluetooth 4.2 used in XB22. However, when I tested the maximum range that I could get with this Bluetooth 5.0 in XB23 in an open area, I only achieved a result of 55 meters, Which isn’t a leap jump from the 50-meter result that I got out of my XB22. Just for comparison with other Bluetooth 5.0 devices, I got around 70 to even 80 meters with my Lenyes S805 in an open area. There are 2 connectivity features that are removed from XB22, as I found no NFC and 3.5 mm jack here. This is a bit disappointing as practically this speaker only has Bluetooth as its main connectivity feature. This speaker also supports a multi-device connection and can be connected to up to 8 devices at the same time but just like XB22, this can play audio only from one audio source at the same time.

JBL Flip 4

The Flip 4 is rated IPX7, the x means that the speaker isn’t rated for any dust resistance whilst the 7 indicates it can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for half an hour. However, one thing to take in mind is even though it’s water-resistant the Flip 4 does not float. So if you want to take this speaker on a boat somewhere and you accidentally drop it in the ocean, it’s not going to be easy to find. The initial setup is really easy and you can also set it up as a regular Bluetooth speaker with no problems at all. But in order to get the full functionality of this feature-rich speaker, you need to install the JBL connect app that’s available on iOS and Android.

One of the main features that the app allows you to do is reconfigure the play button to do a few other things. By default a single press of the play button allows you to pause and resume your music whilst the press and hold skips onto the next track. The JBL Connect app gives you the option to replace that play pause button to instead activate your phone’s voice assistant either Siri or Google assistant depending on your phone. This is a great feature that allows you to get quick answers and complete simple tasks without having to reach for your phone.

I just wish we didn’t have to replace the pause resume functionality as that’s one of my personally most used features for a portable speaker. Also, for some unusual reason, the voice assistant doesn’t utilize the speaker’s full dynamic range and as a result, almost half the volume rendering is almost useless. The other notable feature about this speaker is the ability to use the JBL connect plus button to extend your range of music to other speakers. While this might sound great and realistically no one will be in a situation where they’ll need to purchase two Flip 4 as one is already enough.

With a 3000 milliamp battery, the Flip 4 will provide you with up to 12 hours of battery life on moderate volumes. But takes a pretty big hit if you want to crank it up. One last thing that I do want to mention is that even though JBL has released a 170 dollar Flip 5 with improved sound quality, it essentially packs the same outer casing but only includes a mono speaker whereas the Flip 4 has dual stereo speakers. So if you’re someone who cares about having wide outputs of dynamic range from stereo speakers the Flip 4 will be the cheaper no-brainer for most casual music enthusiasts.

SOUND QUALITY:

Sony SRS-XB23

As far as the sound quality volume-wise, strangely, I found that my XB22 does sound 10% louder compared to XB23. The XB23 at 70% volume sounds just as loud as my XB22 at 60% volume. But either way, volume-wise, I think both of them should be more than enough to be used in most personal rooms and bedrooms, and sound loud enough to be used in most family rooms or medium-sized rooms, in most central rooms of studio-size or 1BR-size apartment. Audio-wise, the Sony SRS-XB23 does bring some improvement over the XB22, especially in terms of clarity, detail, and accuracy of how midrange-like vocals and instruments are articulated.

JBL Flip 4

The sound output is great from a speaker of this size. It’s loud enough to be used in and outdoors, and it does an excellent job at providing clear and concise high-pitched audio. But the biggest weakness of this speaker is its bass output. Even though Flip 4’s bass performance performs well at lower volumes, pushing the volume output towards the high end of its capabilities often leads to it becoming somewhat distorted, and trebly.

WHICH ONE IS WORTH BUYING?

In my opinion, the Sony SRS-XB23 is worth buying than the JBL Flip 4 because even though both claims the same level of battery life, the XB23 provides great sounding audio, it is both dust and waterproof while the Flip 4 is only waterproof, and also, the XB23 has Bluetooth 5.0 while the Flip 4 has Bluetooth 4.2.

Expert Reviews of Sony SRS-XB23:

By PCMag
Sony’s $100 SRS-XB23 speaker delivers solid audio for its size and price in an outdoor-friendly, waterproof design.

By Tech Radar
The entry-level Sony SRS-XB23 boasts a new design that moves the passive radiators to the top and bottom of the speaker…

By rtings.com
The Sony XB23 is decent for outdoor use. It has a great build quality with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, although…

By techguide.com.au
The Sony Extra Bass XB23 ticks all the boxes for durability, design, value, and audio quality and should be the first thing in your bag…

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…

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…

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…

By IndianExpress
JBL has long been the go-to audio device for a lot of people. The company has been offering very dependable and affordable…

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…