JBL Charge 4 Battery Life

The JBL Charge 4 splashproof speaker, front view, powered On, and showing the lighted battery gauge.

The battery life on the JBL Charge 4 we will discuss here in terms of either how long the speaker will play after a full charge, before going dead again. Plus, we let you know how long the battery will last before needing replacement.

JBL Charge 4 packaging, back view.

JBL Charge 4 Battery Life Per Charge

How long should the battery last? The built in lithium ion battery, with its 27 watt-hour capacity, lasts up to twenty (20) hours per full charge. Note that this figure can vary, depending on how loud you run the speaker, and the type of program you’re playing through it. At reduced volume, you might get more than twenty hours. And at full volume, you will no doubt experience less.

JBL Charge 4 Battery Life Before Replacement

How Many Full Charges Should the Battery Take ?

The Charge 4 JBL battery should provide near 500 charge-discharge cycles before it loses much energy storing ability. You can get more if you don’t allow the speaker to get too hot. So don’t leave it in a hot car or out in the sun. Plus, unplug the charger right away once the speaker hits full charge.

Signs of a Bad Battery in the JBL Charge 4

The Speaker Takes Too Long to Charge

Using the USB-C cable that comes with the speaker, or a higher current cord, the battery should fully charge in four hours. It make take longer if your charger adapter provides less than twelve watts (5 volts at 3 amps). But if your cable and charger are beefy enough, and yet the battery takes longer than five hours to fully charge, it may be going bad. The unit is fully charged when all battery indicator lamps go dark.

The Speaker’s Battery Gauge Gives Wrong Readings

The battery indicator may show that the speaker has full, or nearly full charge, as shown next. But yet, it goes dead within minutes of reading the indicator. This is a common symptom when lithium ion battery life is declining.

The lighted battery gauge on the JBL Charge 4.

The Charge 4 Doesn’t Play as Long as Specified

You may also observe that your speaker doesn’t play as long as it did before running down from a full charge to a completely dead. If the unit doesn’t play for around twenty hours per charge, then this is another sign of a battery that is reaching the end of its useful life.

The Speaker Shuts Off by Itself or Distorts at Higher Volumes

When you raise the volume, especially on music that has lots of bass, you may hear crackling, squeaking, beeps, or other unusual noises. Or, the Charge 4 may cut out or power down when a loud drum thump happens in the music. This could mean that the battery, even when fully charged, can no longer supply enough current for the speaker to function correctly. Again, this may show a need to replace the battery.

How to Get the Most Battery Life on the JBL Charge 4

We advise against leaving the speaker connected to the charger once the battery gauge shows that a full charge has been achieved.

Also, when the battery does run dead, do not leave it in this low-charge state for very long. Instead, recharge your speaker as soon as you can, as these batteries hate being dead. A battery left dead for too long can ruin it.

Finally, work that battery ! That is, charge it up fully, and run it down it fully. The power management system in the Charge 4 JBL seems robust, and so, well safeguards the battery from over charging or completely draining, as both of these extremes are quite hard on these kinds of batteries.

Conclusion

Replacing the battery in this power bank speaker usually eliminates the symptoms discussed above. But if you do decide to try changing the battery, then replace with a battery only of similar type. Insist on the same make and part number as the original, unless a tried and true, longer lasting upgrade is available.

Finally, you can often avoid ever having to replace the battery due to shortened battery life, by keeping your Charge 3 JBL portable speaker battery charged. Don’t let the speaker sit around with a dead battery. This provides the most deep charge-discharge cycles from it in our experience.

The JBL Charge 4 charging from a JBL USB AC power adapter.