JBL Flip 4 portable Bluetooth speaker, showing logo side, horizontal view.
In this piece, we review the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker. First, we cover this portable waterproof speaker’s performance, and accessories. This JBL BT speaker sounds great and goes pretty loud. Plus, even when playing at top volume, the built-in rechargeable battery lasts up to twelve hours per charge.
The only major drawback we saw with this JBL speaker, is that the bass drivers are exposed at each end of the speaker cylinder. The instructions warn against touching or pressing them. But especially for outdoor, waterside use, we feel that JBL should have covered the woofers with a protective grill. Other than that though, this JBL 4 Bluetooth speaker is a great buy for under a hundred US dollars. So, we explore its high and low points below. Finally, we’re confident that after that, you’ll agree that the JBL Flip 4 is an excellent portable Bluetooth speaker over all. Get one this summer to take to the swimming pool.
As we’d expect from JBL, this Bluetooth speaker has far more advantages than disadvantages. Next, we tackle a little of that good list of features.
Next, this forth version of the JBL flip wireless speaker has several buttons. These include Power, Play-Pause, Volume, and Pairing.
Note the glowing white power button on this Flip JBL 4 speaker in the picture above. When you turn the speaker on, this button lights white, meaning that the speaker is running but not currently paired. But when successful pairing occurs, this button turns bright blue.
This JBL splash proof speaker can indeed take a few drops of water, and can even be submerged in water for short periods without damage. Just be sure you have the charge port door completely snapped shut. Otherwise, water might get inside and damage BT speaker electronics. IPX7 rated. Rain will not hurt it. If you drop it into a chlorinated swimming pool, just rinse this JBL Flip waterproof speaker in fresh tap water when the party is over.
The JBL Flip battery that comes in this Bluetooth speaker fully charges in under four hours. With medium play volumes, this battery lasts roughly twelve hours per charge.
How to charge JBL Flip 4? The Flip 4 has a port cover, as pictured next. Open this cover by prying with a coin or key, and find the USB power port inside. Connect the BT speaker with any 1.0 amp or higher USB charger with the included USB cable. Plug the adapter into AC power, and let charge for about three and a half hours.
The JBL Flip 4 comes with a micro USB charging cable. Furthermore, the cable we received is bright orange in color, and is about forty inches long. Quite flexible.
When paired with a smart phone, you can answer calls with buttons on the JBL Flip 4. They’re quite clear too, owing to the built in noise reduction circuits.
When paired with phones that support these voice assistants, you can access these assistants through the speaker with a button press.
You can actually see the ends of this speaker (the drivers) moving while playing bassy music and spoken word recordings.
You get 8 watts of audio power per channel, for 16 watts total sound output. You can also connect to JBL Flip speakers as a stereo pair with the JBL Connect+ app. Instantly reverse channels right from your phone.
Or, connect them in party mode so that each speaker plays the same content (mono sound from both speakers).
Supports as many as two streaming mobile devices paired at the same time. This allows quick playing music from two different libraries. Or, two people can take turns playing their favorite songs over this JBL 4 wireless speaker.
You can stream to more than one speaker at the same time with speakers that support the JBL Connect+ protocol. This is like Google Chromecast or Amazon’s Multi Room Music feature. Both of these allow streaming the same content to multiple speakers together.
You gen buy the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker in red, blue, black, gray, white, and aqua.
The Flip 4, when laid horizontally, can roll. The button panel on it often does not stop this rolling. Plus, the fabric covering can get dirty resting right on the ground. JBL might attach feet to future Flip series models, to keep the speaker more clean and to prevent rolling.
We find the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker a truly great value. It’s advanced, yes. Quite advanced indeed. Yet this is a very solid wireless speaker. It never crashes or goes out, has a lot of range, and works well even when nearby radio sources are strong.
Over all, we appreciate the workmanship and thoughtful designing that went into this JBL product. Its wide excursion speakers and acoustic design make it a high fidelity speaker in spite of its small size. So we rate the Flip 4 by JBL at 97 out of 100.
We bought our JBL Flip Bluetooth speaker at Walmart for roughly $90. But you can also find this JBL Flip speaker for sale on Amazon, eBay, and Crutchfield among other outlets. JBL Flip 4 price ranges from around $70 to $150.
No.
Yes. You can pair the Flip 4 to an iPhone just as you would pair any other Bluetooth speaker to that Apple mobile phone.
No. But JBL does provide a micro USB charging cable. Therefore, use this cable with a USB charger of yours.
Yes. In fact, you can charge your Flip 4 from the Charge 3 by connecting a micro USB to A cable from the A connector on the Charge 3 to the micro USB power input port on the Flip 4. Then, if the battery in the Charge 3 has enough power, your Flip 4 will charge, though perhaps not to full. But enough to get some extra music playing hours out of her.
Yes. When not paired with any device, or when paired by with no audio coming through for several minutes, the unit does indeed power down.
No. The Flip 4 is not a “powerbank” speaker. For this, try the JBL Charge series Bluetooth speakers. These can indeed charge your smart phone.
Yes. See our post How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo Dot Speakers for details about using your Flip 4 with the various Alexa smart speakers.
Try moving the Flip 4 closer to the paired Bluetooth source device (your phone, tablet, or other mobile device). Indeed, this spotty play can occur due to weak signal from the source device. Or, interference from other Bluetooth or WiFi devices can create cracking sounds on your Flip 4. So to fix this, try moving your speaker and mobile device to a different location.
Yes. The Flip 4 features Bluetooth pairing mode. Now you start pairing mode by pressing the Bluetooth button on the speaker. Then, you can find this speaker while scanning on other Bluetooth devices.
The speaker’s internal battery may be dead. Thus, try recharging it for several hours. Be sure that the charger used is working.
See our JBL Flip 4 Buttons Meaning, Lighted Buttons Described post for a complete description of all buttons on this speaker.
The Flip 4 can go dead quickly if either it was not fully charged the last time you charged it, its battery needs replaced, or you play the speaker at very loud volumes. In fact, the louder you play it, the shorter the battery life per recharge will be.
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