GYMCADDY specializes in in-depth reviews of headphones, earbuds, speakers, and various tech products, with a focus on providing detailed insights and comparisons across over 100+ reviewed items.
While the JBL Charge 5 remains a top recommended mid-sized speaker for its sound quality and durability, the additional cost for the WiFi version may not offer enough value for most, especially given the trade-off of losing PartyBoost connectivity.
...Sounds great thanks to its woofer and tweeter set up....
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...An unexpected upgrade… we now have the JBL Charge 5 with wifi....
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...A smaller performance improvement with the WiFi version....
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...Is Wifi worth the upgrade? You might be surprised....
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...The basic Charge 5 has a retail price of $180...
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...Most phones these days come with USB C to USB C cables....
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...You won’t notice the difference unless you use these speakers back to back....
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...I highly recommend the JBL Charge 5....
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...But personally I don't see a real need to pay extra for the wifi version....
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...The JBL Charge 5 is still one of my favorite mid-sized speakers to recommend....
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🎶 Great sound quality with woofer and tweeter setup
...So the JBL Charge 5 has been my favorite mid-sized speaker cause it sounds great thanks to its woofer and tweeter setup which is rare for a speaker of this size...
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🔋 Comparable battery life with an advertised 20 hours of playtime
...And the battery life on this speaker is the same too. They both have an advertised battery life of 20 hours, but real world use with these speakers playing at 80% volume, they’re both going to be good for about 12 hours of playback time...
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🔄 USB-A port for charging devices
...But both of these speakers have a USB A port so you can charge up your own devices...
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📡 Additional WiFi connectivity for streaming and pairing
...But the JBL Charge 5 Wifi has wifi… so if you’re connected to the same wifi network as this speaker, you’ll be able to stream to it using either Airplay or Chromecast...
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📱 New JBL ONE App for interactive streaming and EQ adjustments
...But then there's also the App, the Charge 5 with wifi is using JBL’s new JBL ONE app… and from here you can interact directly with some streaming services or more importantly, you can adjust the EQ of this speaker...
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🔊 Slightly louder max volume performance in the WiFi model
...However, I did notice that the newer Charge 5 wifi gets a little louder than the basic charge 5...
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Lack of an audio jack and inability to use USB C port as a wired connection.
...they dont have an audio jack and you can’t use their USB C port as a wired connection...
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Pointless USB A port for charging devices due to modern devices using USB C to USB C cables.
...most phones these days come with USB C to USB C cables, so this USB A port is kinda pointless and you cant plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it...
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JBL Charge 5 with Wifi doesn’t support PartyBoost, limiting speaker pairing options.
...However, the JBL Charge 5 with wifi doesn’t have party boost. So you wont be able to connect this speaker to any of your other JBL Partyboost speakers…...
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The Wifi version is more expensive without offering significant performance upgrades.
...but personally I don't see a real need to pay extra for the wifi version of this speaker...
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The JBL Boombox 3 delivers notably louder sound and more robust bass than its predecessors, complemented by its adjustable EQ and solid build, making it a highly recommended upgrade despite its brighter stock EQ and lack of USB-C ports.
...Overall, the JBL Boombox 3 is a solid speaker...
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...Surprisingly, the Boombox 3 has an adjustable EQ...
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...The Boombox 3 performs better than the Boombox 2...
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...More bass and louder performance from the Boombox 3...
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...The Boombox 3, now with a front-firing subwoofer...
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...Partyboost just works - expanding JBL's ecosystem...
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...The new Boombox 3: no longer sounds nasally at high volumes...
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...Disappointed by the lack of USB C ports, but still recommend...
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...JBL's Boombox 3: A noticeable step up in performance...
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...I like and recommend the JBL Boombox 3...
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...Now looks wise the Boombox 3 now has that huge JBL logo on the front...But something that's also a little different on this speaker is its carrying handle. The carrying handle on the Boombox 3 is now metal...
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🔋 Robust Battery Life
...The Boombox 3 has the same 72.6 watt hour battery as the Boombox 2... real world use with the Boombox 3 playing at 80% volume its good for about 8 hours of playback time...
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🎵 Enhanced Sound with Additional Subwoofer
...Now the Boombox 3 still has your exposed dual passive radiators that shoot out its sides, but this speaker now also has a front wood firing subwoofer...
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🔄 Adjustable EQ Feature
...But thankfully the Boombox 3 has an adjustable EQ which is a new feature for JBL's speakers in general...
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📡 Seamless Connectivity with PartyBoost
...Now the JBL Boombox 3 is using JBL's Partyboost meaning that you can pair it up to other Partyboost speakers...you can pair up to 100 speakers together...
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Bright stock EQ can sound a bit harsh
...Cause while in its stock EQ it is very bright and a little harsh… but when used with the correct EQ the Boombox 3 no longer sounds relatively flat or nasally at higher volumes which was an issue for the Boombox 2...
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Lack of USB C ports for charging and wired connection
...Unfortunately the Boombox 3 doesn't have any USB C ports on it like with the Xtreme 3 where you can use this USB C port as a wired connection and you can also use it to charge your own devices...
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No option for a shoulder strap for ease of portability
...Now looks wise the Boombox 3 now has that huge JBL logo on the front which I know some people just aren't a huge fan of. But thats neither here nor there. But something thats also a little different on this speaker is its carrying handle. The carrying handle on the Boombox 3 is now metal.... but I still wish that the Boombox 3 had a shoulder strap like the Xtreme 3...
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Cannot pair Boombox 3 with older JBL speakers using JBL Connect Plus
...But unfortunately you can not pair a Boombox 3 up to any of JBL's older speakers using JBL Connect Plus. So you can not pair a Boombox 3 up to an original Boombox, or to an Xtreme 2, or to a Charge 4, or to a Charge 3, or a Pulse 3, or a Flip 4...
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The JBL Charge 5 impresses with its durable design, upgraded sound quality courtesy of its new tweeter, and longer battery life, making it a worthy successor in the JBL lineup albeit with the notable omission of a 3.5mm audio jack.
...JBL Charge 5: A solid candidate for adventurers....
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...Major changes under the hood of JBL Charge 5....
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📈 Improved sound quality due to the new speaker setup
...the most crucial of which is this new speaker setup thanks to the addition of a new tweeter this speaker does sound more open and has better instrument separation because it now has a dedicated driver for the mids and a dedicated driver for the highs...
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💦 Increased durability and water resistance with an improved rating
...just like its predecessors the charge 5 is still waterproof but this time around it's rocking an ip67 rating rather than just your ipx7 rating found on both the charge 4 and charge 3...
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🔋 Long real-world battery life making it suitable for outdoor adventures
...real-world use with the speaker playing at 80 volume I'm getting about 10 hours of playback time which is not bad at all...
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🎶 Partyboost compatibility allows for an expansive audio setup with other JBL speakers
...now that the charge 5 is finally here party boost is complete so you can pair the charge 5 either to a jbl boombox 2, and xtreme 3, a flip 5, another charge 5 or to a jbl pulse 4...
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🔊 The Charge 5 has a slightly shorter battery life in real-world testing compared to its predecessor.
...now personally i don't mind the charge 5 slightly shorter real world battery life because it does have a new 10 watt tweeter to power and we'll touch on that in a minute and the charge 5 does get noticeably louder than the charge 4...
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🎵 The Charge 5 no longer includes an audio jack, limiting its connectivity options.
...but unfortunately the charge 5 no longer has an audio jack so you can't use it with a wired connection like you can with these older speakers and unfortunately the usb c port on these speakers are strictly used for charging...
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🖥️ There's noticeable latency when connected to two devices at the same time.
...and performance wise if there is zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you're using an iphone or an edge device if you're connected to one device at a time because if you're connected to two devices at the same time then a noticeable amount of latency does show up...
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🚫 Incompatibility between PartyBoost and older JBL speakers and features, causing potential frustration for users with existing JBL products.
...however just keep in mind you cannot pair any party boost speakers to any jbl speakers that are either using jbl connect plus or jbl connect so if you've got a charge 5 you can't pair it up to an original boombox a xtreme 2 a jbl flip 4 or charge for a charge 3 or a jbo pulse 3...
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🎚️ JBL does not allow for EQ adjustments on the Charge 5, which can limit the user's ability to tailor their listening experience.
...now personally i would like to go in and reduce the highs just a little bit on the speaker but jbl still doesn't allow you to change your speaker's eq...
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GYMCADDY
GYMCADDY specializes in in-depth reviews of headphones, earbuds, speakers, and various tech products, with a focus on providing detailed insights and comparisons across over 100+ reviewed items.