JBL Charge 3

THIS BLUETOOTH SPEAKER STRIKES A NEAR PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN SOUND, FEATURES AND PRICE.

THERE ARE A million Bluetooth speakers on the market but JBL has always stood near the top. Its line of Charge speakers are one of the only Bluetooth speakers out there that’ll let you charge your device while playing music — hence the name. Like its competitors in the UE Boom series, the JBL Charge 3 is completely waterproof. ere were many fans of the Charge 2’s battery life, build quality and sound and the Charge 3 mostly improves on its predecessor’s legacy.

e JBL Charge 3 is big. It will take up a fair bit of room in your backpack or hand luggage and at 800g, it’ll weigh you down as well. However, you do get 20 hours of battery life and waterproo ng. e latter is the big new feature for the Charge 3, and it’s IPX7 rated, which means you can submerge the speaker in up to a metre of water for 30 minutes. On the top of the Charge 3, you’ll nd buttons for power, Bluetooth pairing, volume control, play/pause/skip and a unique JBL Connect button. is special button will allow you to connect multiple JBL Connect speakers to augment sound, in the sense that both speakers will play mono versions, not play in stereo. e Charge 3 also features a built-in mic.

e speaker features dual external passive radiators that provide a visual element to your music playing — you’ll see them vibrate with bass-heavy tracks. Although exposed radiators are weak spots, these are su ciently strong enough to withstand pokes and have a rubber guard around them that allow you to prop up the Charge 3 vertically (though we found this negatively impacted the sound quality). But these can really crank and will have no problem lling a large room. e Charge 3 o ers some of the deepest and most powerful bass we’ve heard from a portable Bluetooth speaker and it played loudly without distortion.

e only disappointment in the sound is that high frequencies aren’t as sparkly and detailed as some competitors.