JBL Flip 6 Bluetooth speaker in review
Enjoy your music with the JBL Flip 6, the newest and most advanced Bluetooth speaker from JBL. Featuring a racetrack-shaped woofer for deep bass, a separate tweeter for high-frequency clarity, and an IP67 rating, all sound will be crystal clear without any risks of water or dust damage.
Bluetooth speakers are becoming increasingly popular and provide music on the go. The JBL Flip 5 is one of the most popular portable speakers, and the sound manufacturer has announced many improvements over its predecessor in the form of the JBL Flip 6. In our JBL Flip 6 review, we reveal what music lovers can expect from the Bluetooth speaker.
Design and features
Visually, JBL has stayed true to itself with Flip 6 and the Bluetooth speaker retains the can shape. Therefore, the sound is still emitted in 360 degrees and the speaker can be used horizontally and vertically. However, there have been changes in the positioning of the logo compared to the predecessor. The JBL letters are now larger and catch the eye more clearly than on the JBL Flip 5, where the logo is set in a small red square.
The announcement did not reveal how powerful the battery in the JBL Flip 6 is. However, the battery life is estimated at up to 12 hours. We rate this as a weak point because it is not an improvement over the predecessor. We would have wished for more power here. However, the energy should be sufficient for an extensive day at the lake or a hike with friends. Two passive radiators, a woofer, and a separate tweeter are the impressive sound equipment of the JBL Flip 6. The separate tweeter is a special feature since those are rarely installed in speakers of this size. In our opinion, this is a big plus point of JBL Flip 6.
Features and functions of the Bluetooth speaker
The compact Bluetooth speaker cuts a good figure both indoors and outdoors. It fits into a backpack without any problems and flexibly provides powerful sound. The biggest feature is the separate tweeter, which provides a round sound image in cooperation with the woofers and two passive radiators. In the long-term test, we were even impressed by the predecessor JBL Flip 5, which did not have a separate tweeter. However, the improvement of the sound equipment has to be confirmed in practice first, since JBL Flip 6 will only be available in November. In theory, however, the technical data reads promising, so we classify Flip 6 as a worthy successor of JBL Flip 5.
However, we rate the price of approximately 140 Euros as a bit high, since the larger JBL Charge 5 speaker is available for a similar price. The battery life of up to 20 hours is a full eight hours longer than that of the JBL Flip 6, and the big brother also offers an additional power bank function, to which it owes its name.
Other special features of JBL Flip 6:
PartyBoost: Sometimes it needs to be a little louder. JBL Flip 6 can be paired with multiple speakers from the JBL product portfolio. The only requirement is that the respective speaker also supports PartyBoost. If that is the case, the same music can be played in every room, creating the right conditions for a good party.
Water resistance: Flip 5 offers protection against water and is IPX7 certified. Flip 6 has IP67 protection, making it water and dust-resistant. Both models can be used indoors and outdoors and can even survive brief submersion in water. So there’s no problem if the Bluetooth speaker falls into the pool during summer use.
Bluetooth version: The JBL Flip 6 uses Bluetooth 5.1 to connect to playback devices. With JBL Flip 5, the version was Bluetooth 4.2, which means that pairing with Flip 6 is more stable. Users can also move further away from the smartphone or tablet with the Bluetooth speaker.
Prices and availability of JBL Flip 6
The JBL Flip 6 Bluetooth speaker has been announced for November 2021. Typical of JBL, interested parties can choose from the speaker in numerous color variations: Dusty Pink, Grey Stone, River Teal, Fiesta Red, Ocean Blue, Midnight Black, Steel White, Forest Green, and Squad.
Anker SoundCore 2 as an alternative to Flip 6
If you don’t want to wait until November and are also looking for a sound bargain, we recommend the tried-and-tested Bluetooth speaker SoundCore 2. Although the speaker from Anker has been available for a while, it is still one of the most popular portable speakers. With a battery life of up to 24 hours, SoundCore 2 even offers twice as much power as JBL Flip 6.
Not only frequent listeners will get their money’s worth with Anker SoundCore, but also money-savers.
Conclusion
When it comes to Bluetooth speakers, music enthusiasts cannot ignore the JBL brand. The JBL Flip 6 is the successor to the popular JBL Flip 5. The predecessor could already convince us in the long-term test. The sound manufacturer promises some improvements for the JBL Flip 6. Although these have yet to be proven in tests. However, since we know the sound of the Flip 5, users can certainly look forward to a strong sound.
Overall, we recommend buying the JBL Flip 6, even though interested buyers will have to wait until November 2021 for delivery. However, we rate the battery life of 12 hours as a weakness, which remains identical to the values of the JBL Flip 5.
