JBL Flip 4 vs Charge 3 vs ... - any opinions or advice? (1 Viewer)

rowlin

rowlin

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I am in the market for a portable Bluetooth speaker and want something on the cheaper side that sounds nice.

Does anyone use either of these models and/or have any preference, recommendation, or suggestion?

Flip 4 appears to be $90, which is cheap enough to get a couple if there is any merit to that. Charge 3 seems to be really positively reviewed for its $120-ish price tag.

If there are other awesome speakers in the $100-$200 range, I would love to hear about those too.

Thanks!
 
It will mostly be used indoors, either away from home or in places I don’t have sound systems, like the small garage storage area or maybe the tub bathroom. I am looking for clean sound for the price and don’t need the bumpingest bass in the world

It would be nice to take camping, hiking, and to use in small outdoor spaces and/or for smaller groups. I also like the idea of speakerphone capability and Echo compatibility, and waterproof-ness sounds useful with all of the rain in the Pacific Northwest.

Anyway, I hope that helps describe its role a bit better. Thank you for the suggestions so far!
 
While you can drop the Bosch box off of a roof with no ill affects (confirmed) it's not exactly hiker friendly unless you're in training :D
 
rowlin said:
It will mostly be used indoors, either away from home or in places I don’t have sound systems, like the small garage storage area or maybe the tub bathroom. I am looking for clean sound for the price and don’t need the bumpingest bass in the world

It would be nice to take camping, hiking, and to use in small outdoor spaces and/or for smaller groups. I also like the idea of speakerphone capability and Echo compatibility, and waterproof-ness sounds useful with all of the rain in the Pacific Northwest.

Anyway, I hope that helps describe its role a bit better. Thank you for the suggestions so far!
Click to expand...

The Fugoo XL is great sound wise, and not over-bassy like most of the JBL stuff. Does fantastic in small to mid-size rooms (and carry's pretty well in large rooms, although with any small form speaker you are going to struggle to really fill a large room I think), and I've used it camping as well. May not want to carry it hiking, as it's kind of heavy.

Something like the UE Boom 2 is great for hiking, it's quite small and fits well on the outside of a backpack. I was less than pleased with the sound though, and it doesn't get near as loud as the Fugoo XL.
 
The Fugoo and Creative both look nice - exactly the kind of things I was hoping to find out about.

I’m looking forward to hitting Best Buy and some other big retailers during the shopping season to compare the ones that I can, but will almost certainly buy from Amazon unless there is some crazy Black Friday deal that doesn’t involve camping in line.
 
Ultimate Ears (UE) Boom 2 or Megaboom (if they're available in the States. Both have very good reviews)
 
Flip 3 here. Perfect for fitting in the golf bag or cart. Pretty solid sound for the size. I would definitely buy again over the charge due to size.
 
The Flip is what caught my eye (ear?) and made me want one of these things, but it was playing crappy music in a huge space with horrible acoustics so I didn’t feel like I got a good sense of its range.
 
I️ think that it’s solid. My buddy has a charge and it’s too much bass for me. I️ think the flip is a good mix. (Damn this iOS issue!)
 
The flip is too small imo for "static" listening scenarios. It and the UE Boom are better fitted for "on the go" type listening. Golf bag, backpack, etc those are perfect. The sound quality of those smaller speakers just isn't there in my opinion for outside application or larger rooms.

I've used the 2x UE boom 2 in sync mode to fill a larger room which worked well, but the bass is lacking on the smaller speakers too.

I think probably the best sounding small form for both bass and volume are the Bose options, but IMO those are over priced and Bose is a more bass and low treble than I personally prefer.
 
I’m using Bose Companion 2 Series III (non-subwoofer computer-type speakers) for my limited traveling needs at the moment, and they fill up a yurt or hotel room or bedroom with sound just fine for me - if that’s any help as a reference. I can’t wait to unplug (on both ends) though.

It’s nice to hear good things about the Bose. I’ve had a pair of 301 Series IV for 17 years now and have been pretty pleased with them for what they are.
 
Results:

Fast Forward 7-8 weeks....

I decided to go with a pair of just-released Cambridge Soundworks Oontz Angle 3 ULTRA. They sound fine to me in a small room, and for not being much of an audiophile in terms of fancy equipment. Also, the IXP6 Water Resistance vs. IXP7 Waterproof-ness was not a deal breaker for my intended use.

At about the same cost as a single Flip 4, these will work in tandem to play in Left/Right stereo mode, or each itself in stereo.

Oontz Family Portrait.JPG

dual oontz 3 ultras.jpg


(Look at those beautiful people, and all the fun they are having! How could I not get two?)
 

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