One of JBL’s reveals at CES this year is the introduction of the Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker. The JBL Flip 4 was a very unique speaker. Not only did it come armed with great battery life and sound quality, it ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records too! While JBL originally touted the ability to interconnect up to 100 Flip 4 speakers at once, they were able to successfully connect 1000, breaking the previous record by nearly 800 speakers!
While you’re not likely to need 1000 Bluetooth speakers connected simultaneously to each other, it’s still a helpful feature to have! This is one of the returning features in the Flip 5. Here are some of the things you can expect to see the same and what’s changed or improved.
What is returning in the JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker?
The JBL Flip 5 will remain IPX 7 Waterproof. This means that the speaker itself has been tested to be submersed in around 1 metre of water for around 30 minutes. This means that you can keep it poolside; it getting splashed a little won’t hurt it.
It also maintains the same basic cylindrical shape as the Flip 4, but is a little bit larger. In addition, you will have the ability to interconnect more than one Flip 5 in order to station different speakers in different places.
The JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker will again allow you to take calls with the push of a button and will feature a clip for a carrying strap.
What has improved with the JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker?
While the Flip 5 maintains a similar shape, it’s slightly larger in size than the Flip 4, with a new 3D design on the end loudspeakers, which JBL says will create bigger sound output.
Battery life has improved as well. The JBL Flip 4 offered around 7 hours of playback at its max volume, while the Flip 5 should have around 10 hours, which is around a 40% increase at the top volume. You should get about 12 hours or so of general battery life if you’re not playing music at the highest volume though.
The JBL Flip 5 will also have much better Bluetooth range. Between the Flip 4 and Flip 5, the distance allowable between your device and the speaker has doubled.
Lastly, while the Flip 4 had a cover housing over its charger, the Flip 5 completely changes that. The Flip 5 will charge through a waterproof USB-C input, and doesn’t have (or need) a cover at all.
With over 70 years of audio innovation to JBL’s credit, you can bet the Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker will continue that trend. You’ll be able to pick it up later this spring in multiple colours, just in time to take it outdoors with you this summer!
Check out all of the JBL portable speakers that are available at Best Buy.
