The JBL Charge 3 watts figure shows a moderate to medium power, desktop yet portable unit. It has enough music power to fill a typical size room with full sounding tunes. It also has a power bank for recharging light to moderate duty phones and smaller tablets.
But what do the watts a BT speaker has, tell us about how good it is? Firstly, the watt is a measure of how much power the speaker requires and outputs. Plus, this metric is a nifty comparison measure. Why? Because generally speaking, speakers with more watts of audio output tend to play louder than those with less.
So they do cost more, have bigger, heavier batteries and chargers, and larger drivers and magnets. But they nonetheless offer some big plusses. They have more dynamic range and a deeper bass response. Furthermore, the models that play in stereo offer a better soundstage and imaging.
Thus in general, the more powerful the speaker, the better it sounds, even at lower volume. You get improved clarity due to higher accuracy reproduction of the bass, midrange, and treble parts of the music. Plus, more reserve power likely means less clipping distortion too, even at higher volumes. So, the speaker’s maximum watts output is a primary indicator of speaker quality and performance. And as such, this value is of great interest to audiophiles and novice listeners alike.
JBL Charge 3 Watts: Details
In this case, the Charge 3 is a decently loud model for all the bigger it is. Its watts can fill a small to medium size room with clear music. See below for details on its power output.
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- Battery Capacity: 22.2 watt-hours (3.7 volts, 6 amp-hours).
- USB Charger Power: 11.5 watts (5 volts at 2.3 amps).
- Power Bank Output Power: 10 watts (5 volts at 2 amps max).
- Play Time Per Recharge: Up to 20 hours.
- Total Audio Output Power on AC (RMS): 20 watts (2 x 10 watts).
- Total Peak Audio Power: 42.42 watts.
- Output Power per Channel: 10 watts RMS.
Notes on JBL Charge 3 Watts
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- This speaker may not receive enough enough power from a low power USB AC adapter. Low power we consider to be below 10 watts capacity. Low power chargers like this will not keep the battery from discharging when playing at full volume. Of course this depends on what you’re listening to. So it could happen that even with the Charge 3 plugged in, it could still shut OFF unexpectedly. Thus on these (rare) occasions, just stop playing the speaker for an hour or two. This allows it to build up some reserve battery power while charging. Then, fire it up again for continued party enjoyment.