JBL Charge 2 Splashproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker Pink

Update 2 years later - this speaker has been used, abused, and loved. I bought a fixer house and reno'd it with music blaring from this thing. It's had sawdust all of it, paint, and who knows what else. I've used it for 3 seasons at the beach, and it's gotten sand in it (I use a air can to clear it out). I've dropped it on the hardwood floor from standing height. It's still going strong, but if it died tomorrow, I'd have to say it was worth every penny. I still love this speaker!!! ----- Original review: This was my winner after casually testing out 2 other speakers: The Oontz Angle Plus and UE Boom. I initially got the Oontz Angle Plus after my Sol Republic Punk died (you can check out my review of that product there). For $35 the Oontz was capable, but not as loud as I would like. I wanted a speaker for three things: working out in the garage, in my office when I write, and for the beach. Therefore I was also looking for a splashproof speaker. The UE Boom cost 5x the Angle Plus on sale. The Boom has nice aesthetics, and is quite loud. I didn't think it was worth the difference in price, but my husband said I could not keep the Oontz after he listened to the Boom. Obviously the Oontz is not in the same league (but it is a very serviceable speaker), but my husband didn't like the wimpy sound compared to the Boom. We found the JBL Charge 2+ on Warehouse Deals, so we threw that into the mix to test. Compared to the Boom, the JBL Charge 2+ is not as loud...I say about two clicks less. Depending on the song, my husband tested about 8 db less on the Charge. A few songs, there was no audible difference, nor measurable difference in the casual db tester. However where the JBL wins is definitely the bass. The UE Boom sounded like it was screaming at you vs the full, sexy, resonating sound of the JBL. Bass is relative though...neither speaker will rumble your baseboards. But comparatively, the UE Boom had no bass to speak of next to the JBL. The JBL on my kitchen scale weighed about 3oz more than the Boom, and it is wider so it's a little bulky for my smaller hands. The Boom also just looks cooler, compared to the giant candy colored beer can look the JBL has going. But I really like several things on the JBL better in additional to the quality of sound: - The battery indicator - the 5 dots gives you a nice idea of battery level - The volume buttons to me were easier to push than the Boom, however I like that it's easier to tell in the Boom when you hit max vol (I keep just pressing on the JBL until I think I've gotten there) - The ability to skip, pause, and play from the speaker. I leave my tablet in the house as it doesn't pick up wireless well in the garage. I put the JBL in my elliptical's cup holder and can skip tracks by pressing the phone button twice quickly. (pressing once pauses, pressing it once again plays.) All you can do on the Boom is adjust volume from the speaker itself. Even the Oontz allowed at least pause/play from the speaker. I have used the JBL in the shower, no problem, and it was actually too loud for a backyard party at full strength. Battery life tested was close to the 11-12 hours, but for at least 6 hours, I was playing at full blast, so that's pretty good. I have not yet used the actual charging feature, and while I don't think I'll be using it any time soon, it's nice to have the option. Same goes for the social mode. The Boom also has NFC, but honestly I don't find the 2 extra steps for bluetooth pairing that difficult and don't miss it on the JBL. Ultimately, it depends what you are looking for. But for the $30 price difference I was judging between the Boom and the JBL, the JBL was the clear winner. Read more

Wonderful little speaker, HEAVY and solid. Works perfectly out of the box (after charging of course), and what a fantastic sound! So much deeper bass than the (admittedly cheaper) speakers I have gotten before; the high end isn't as clean as I would like, but this has bass and volume, which is sadly missing from the others I have. Very nice, I expect this to last a looooong time. I'll try to review again in a year, and definitely if it misbehaves in the meantime:) Sadly, my lovely little speaker died, after getting knocked on the floor. These may be splashproof but they are very prone to knocks and short falls. Be warned! These are not tough!! Yet another addition: after sitting for a couple of days, I plugged it in before throwing it out, and lo and behold it worked!! I am so stoked I can hardly stand it!!! Also, in a side-by-side comparison with the Bose Color Soundlink, the JBL blows it away!! MUCH better bass, slightly better treble. Since the Bose is in the neighborhood of twice the price, guess which one gets MY vote? November 29, 2018: After two years and two weeks, it's gone, for real this time. Two years isn't bad for around $80, but it's not great either. On balance though, considering that it was dropped several times and run until the battery was completely drained more times than I can remember, I have no problem with getting the newer version. Read more

I had spent a couple weeks researching what I wanted for my next blue tooth speaker. I wanted it to be loud enough for outdoors, durable, and still compact enough to go traveling with. I was stuck between the Charge, the mini boom, and the regular boom. I almost purchased the regular boom on an amazon deal, but fell asleep, and missed it. It was meant to be though as my only qualms with the charge were it not being splash proof , and then the 2+ came out fixing that issue. The sound on the plus version sounds better to me too, which is something because I was impressed with the original's sound. I just got it so I haven't fully tested the battery, but I played it for awhile yesterday and the battery lights are still showing a full charge, so I don't doubt it will live up to the claimed full 12 hours per charge. The sound is amazing indoors and out for all the genres I like.I played rock,metal, acoustic and electric music thought it and they all sound great. I think it sounds better then the boom, and it is 50 dollars cheaper. I love that you can also charge your devices on it. That is a definite perk. Pairs up fast and very well. I was using the amazon prime music app and it played everything with no issues or glitches. If you don't care about the splash proof feature you can get the original even cheaper now.. It is still a great speaker if you want to spend closer to 100 then 150. http://amzn.to/1Bby2r0. Read more

Absolutely the best performance for the money. I was going to buy the Charge 3 but after hearing both, the Charge 2 sounds better. the reason is the Charge 3 has better water protection (it is listed as water proof where as the Charge 2 is listed as splash resistant). For this reason, the water protection on the Charge 3 sort of muffles the sound quality. I think without this protection, it would actually sound better than the Charge 2. In the end, I am really happy with it and you cannot complain about the price. functionally, the Bluetooth is great but I was surprised by the limited range. It will do the 30ft advertised (as most Bluetooth items are) but in my experience, Bluetooth devices tend to work at longer distances than that. In the end, I would recommend this speaker to anyone. Really good mids and highs. The bass is better than you would expect from such a small woofer but is is no "boom" machine. Great for everything except the really hard hitting Hip-Hop or Dubstep stuff. For that, get is real sub-woofer system. Read more