JBL Charge 4 - Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Red | Wireless Bluetooth Streaming, Up to 20 hours of playtime, IPX7 waterproof, JBL Connect, Durable fabric and rugged material

Initially, my preference was the Bose Soundlink Mini II with its smooth notes and decent sound quality in a small transportable package; that is, until I heard comparison against a JBL Charge 4 on YouTube. Based on that review and others, I purchased this speaker for its waterproof, multi-connect and sound. Great price: You can buy a Charge 3 direct from JBL for $129 with 12 color options, with price point being on par with Amazon. Sounds great; EXCELLENT better describes it. If you have a Charge 3 there isn't enough improvement to justify buying a Charge 4. The Charge 4 went from two smaller speakers to one slightly larger speaker which improved bass frequency from 65Hz to a deeper 60Hz. When the JBL arrived we conducted our own comparison against a Bose Soundlink Mini II and - Wow. The Charge 4 is much clearer, has better frequency response and has better sound presence in the room. It's a bit larger and heavier than the Soundlink Mini II which might turn some off, but to me; if I'm going to carry any speaker like this then I'm taking the same care and am sure I can find just a little more room. Good packaging but NO INSTRUCTIONS?! Not that charging and setup are all that difficult, but this is my first device that requires USB C, first anything that arrived with ZERO printed information, and rechargeable device that arrived with ZERO anything to charge it with. /// Setup was easy. I bought a USB C cable from the nearest gas station and plugged it in for 3 hours since it came somewhat charged already. Once charged, press the Bluetooth button then connect to your phone or other device. For settings, I always recommend phone volume to be no more than 1/2 to 3/4 volume then using the Charge 4 volume from there. This affords you plenty of up/down volume adjustment remotely from your phone and doesn't task the internal sound processor....this, since it's cheaper to replace/repair a Charge 4 than an expensive smartphone. You and someone else can be Bluetooth paired to this speaker at the same time. Battery Life: The built-in rechargeable Li-ion 7500mAH battery is strong. Not only does it support up to 20 hours of playtime (at lowest setting, and figure 10 hours at half volume), but it will also charge your phone and other devices via the USB port. I strongly suggest buying a protective case for it which will hold your charger, USB C charging cable AND any spare USB cable needed for cell phones. It has the same IPX7 waterproof as a iPhone, Samsung or other higher end smartphone. We place it on the deck without any worries of accidents from fluid spills, big splashes, being left in the rain, or even an accidental swim in the pool. Having that peace of mind alone is priceless. JBL Connect+: With Connect+ you can connect several of these to together for full sound experience. Put 4 in opposing corners of a large room, in different rooms, indoor and outdoors...heck, even in your car if your current stereo or speakers are crap. Bottom line - this being my FIRST Bluetooth speaker ever, and having friends that have made different choices for the speakers they have, I have zero regrets with my purchase after hearing it beside theirs. Bang for buck is spot on. I have excellent sound in a transportable package in a wireless speaker that is rugged, waterproof and allows multiple speakers as well as people to connect. I now proudly own the party favorite speaker for socials, events and private enjoyment. WIN!

So I originally was introduced to JBL speakers when the Charge 2 first came out. Loved it and was immediately a fan and remain to be. Fast forward to 2021. I have been telling any and everyone I come across that when ever in question go with JBL so this last Christmas someone baught me the JBL flip 4 and I was just confused. The sound quality the base???? Even the Bluetooth connection would kick me off about every third song. Returned no problem. I only wanted a replacement anyway. Received the second one and again like the JBL look and feel was there but the sound quality especially the base was just lacking. I was disappointed thinking that the company just dived after the Charge 2. So after getting refund from the second flip 4 spent I think it was an extra 20 25 dollar's? And there it was the sound that made me a fan to begin with. If you're just trying out JBL speakers I would recommend spending just the few extra dollars for the Charge models. I see that the flip 4 and 5 have almost a perfect rating on Amazon so maybe it's just my opinion but I believe the quantity all around of the Charge is a better representative of the JBL brand. The battery in the Charge seems to drain quicker than the Flip but I put my speaker threw it's passes from the moment I turn it on in the morning. Until I am ready to relax in the evening. I literally have nothing negative to say about the Bluetooth connection. No problem's at all. The sound quality is just awesome. I love music period I believe music is the best and purist way to control moods mentally emotionally spiritually and even physically. I listen to anything from gospel to heavy metal blues country rap etc. I have noticed that if the music being listened to is heavy in Base the lyrics will be more clear if you just lower the volume maybe 2 or 3 pushes of the button. If you're listening to sax or blues guitar??!! Albert King for example it only gets better the higher you go. Garth Brooks or Lauren Daigle just over half way of volume and the vocals and piano will be front and center and so on. Even at just little more than half way more than what you would need in the back patio or yard. Man I can't wait till I can get enough for the Extreme or the Boom Box. Hope this was helpful to someone. God Bless

The JBL Charge 4 delivers really strong, clear sound with deep bass for its size. It gets loud enough for outdoor use without distorting, and the battery life is excellent—I can use it for hours without worrying about charging it constantly. I also like that it’s waterproof, which makes it great for beach days, pool time, or just hanging outside. It feels durable and well-built, and the Bluetooth connection is quick and stable. Overall, it’s a reliable speaker that performs really well in different settings.

This thing is amazing, battery life, sound, waterproof-ness all TOP tier! It has taken a lengthy swim in the river with me, worked right away, and still a year later. Still has battery left after being the main speaker for a weekend. Can't recommend enough, so happy with my purchase!

A solid easy pairing speaker. It isn’t necessary to use the app. There is no equalizer function in the app for the charge 4 anyway. Edit 1: it is easy pairing - but after pairing when i walked 15 feet away all connection would drop. No music. Would have to re- pair. The Amazon music app has an equalizer function built in that allows you to configure custom levels for each song, even during a song. And the charge 4 is perfectly responsive to the Amazon music app equalizer. So no need for the jbl presets to limit your music style. I bought the 4 because it has the 3.5 aux input. Charge 5 does not. The aux input is a more steady, stable and stronger signal than any Bluetooth. And the sound quality is superior. In addition the battery will last longer. This charge 4 uses an older version of Bluetooth. That is not an issue because all 5 range bluetooth is backwards compatible to 4. I’ve had no problem with Android or ios or kindle fire connections. Edit 2. Distance is an issue if you pair and walk away I’m happy listening to everything on this. Most of my music is piano, orchestral and folk. I alter the preset in the Amazon music app or my device equalizer. This is not just a boom box. But it can definitely boom a deep enough bass on the factory presets. Fast pairing on all devices, great loudness, good sounds that i can alter with my own equalizer. Works for classical or jazz, too. Including symphonies. Not hi fidelity or stereo but very pleasant. Good price. Connects to other jbl connect devices. Has 3.5 aux. I liked it so much i bought it a carrying case. Edit 3: i returned the Jbl charge 4. Now i have an empty jbl charge 4 case which i will use as an ugly purse.

Works and sounds great. Battery doesn't charge anymore. Bought in June 2025/July 2026. Recommend getting the 2 yr protection.

THE FOLLOWING IS A REVIEW I LEFT FOR THE CHARGE 5 SPEAKERS. THE COMPARISON WITH THE CHARGE 4 IS AT THE UPDATE NEAR THE END OF THE REVIEW! ------------------- I purchased two of these to work as a stereo pair in my apartment to obtain a nice full sound without having to really crank the volume to have an enjoyable experience and bother the neighbors. Well it all started out great, the white look clean and are small enough to not take up too much visual space. They also sound fantastic for a battery powered speaker, relatively full low end and crisp highs without needing to be EQed. They are setup roughly 15’ feet from one another in opposing corners of my studio space. They add presence and a fullness that I was missing from my Notabrick Bluetooth speakers. Now for THE PROBLEMS: I synced the speakers together and switched them to “stereo” mode from the app with no problem using my iPhone 13 Pro running Bluetooth 5.1. When it was time to connect it to my stationary media hub it was intended for (a 2020 iPad 8th gen) it would only connect one speaker and not allow for a party link or stereo link between the two Charge 5’s anymore. It took my some time of testing and no help from the internet to find out that the Bluetooth 4.2 that the iPad uses means the JBLs could no longer connect in a pair. I figured they had their own connection protocol (perhaps wifi 2.4ghz) for party mode. This shared audio functionality will ONLY work if your device that is sending audio is Bluetooth 5.1. SECOND ISSUE: So I put the iPad aside and would only be using my iPhone for music since that’s the only way I could get the Stereo mode to function. But after 15-30 minutes of music playback the speakers will disconnect themselves from one another requiring you to manually go to them and reconnect themselves. Every third time or so they will also drop the Bluetooth connection requiring you to “forget device” on your phone and resync Bluetooth to your host Charge 5 and then relink the speakers. This is all to say that if you want to use more than one speaker, even using a compatible Bluetooth 5.1 device that they are extremely finicky. Using a single Charge 5 has proved to be very reliable, sound great and look great. I am an audiophile and have many thousands of dollars in pro audio. The current tested Firmware version is 0.8.6.0 and has not been updated for over a year so this is unlikely to be fixed. UPDATE: I purchased two Charge 4 speakers to run through all the same testing and scenarios as the newer Charge 5 Models and found that with the exception of the occasional dropout and auto reconnection (perhaps once every two hours or so) these have solved all my issues. In fact, having the Aux plug on this model has also meant I can plugin my DJ decks to them when we are at the park and the primary speaker that is being plugged into will duplicate the signal and send it to the second speaker wirelessly with no issues. There is about one second of lag with this setup so the use of my DJ headphones is a requirement, but I love the added functionality. I also find the battery meters to be much more easy to read on the Charge 4. Finally, I do not know if it's because the transmission power of the Bluetooth 4.2 in the Charge 4 over the Bluetooth 5.1 in the Charge 5, but I find that I get a longer transmission range with no dropouts with the older Charge 4 model. On paper this should be backwards but testing 4 independent units in different scenarios have shown this to be recurring findings for me. I have used the 2020 iPad, iPhone 13 pro and Macbook M1 pro and a HD Firestick as my test subjects. I do notice that the Charge 5 has a slight edge in real world testing for maximum volume and clearly has a crisper high end to it where the Charge 4 sounds a little more round but is still very pleasing to the ear. I suggest to save a ton of money and pickup the Charge 4 if you are planning on using them in a multi speaker setup like me.

Bought this to play my wedding march. It was super easy to connect to and to play the song I wanted. Sound was great for such a little device. Don't have much use for it now, but maybe when I buy a house it would make a good pool side speaker. It will not take a thumb drive of music to play from that. I hoped it would, but I made it work with my phone and Bluetooth.

Viele ausprobiert von JBL aber die Charge 4 ist mit Abstand die Beste. Warum diese nicht mehr hergestellt wird kann ich nicht nachvollziehen! Hammer Sound, Bass, Handhabung... Einfach ein Hammer Teil...

The JBL Charge 4 is, in my opinion, the best of its class for size, battery life, sound quality, and build. It's not too big at all; perfect size can easily carry it in your hand or a backpack without any problems. The advertised battery life of 20 hours is valid and lasts me a week or more depending on use and volume; it also charges up pretty fast and can be used as a power bank to charge other devices. The sound quality is astonishing. It provides plenty of base, clarity in mids and highs, as well as a lot of volumes, e.g., can fill my house will sound without breaking a sweat. In my opinion, it far surpasses the likes of its competitors like the UE Boom 3, JBL Flip 5, Sony XB32, etc... The build quality and aesthetics are also gorgeous. The mesh material on the outside provides a premium look and feel while protecting the speaker as well, given its IPX7 waterproof rating. If you are looking for a portable, premium sounding, Bluetooth speaker, I would highly recommend purchasing this. The only reason I would consider something like the UE Boom 3 or JBL Flip 5 is if you really really need it to be portable. Because the JBL Charge 4 is quite portable and provides much better sound quality and battery life, which makes it worth the extra money.

Perfect in every sense

Uso no dia a dia do trabalho e recomendo, som alto e de qualidade.

Wow! El sonido es claro, es durable, viene perfectamente bien empacando. Una de las mejores marcas para bocinas portables. La batería dura más que la fiesta!! El rango de la conexión Bluetooth es acceptable y estable.