JBL Charge 3 Review in 2018 – Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
With tons of portable and speakers on the market, it is hard to maintain a position as one of the best Bluetooth speaker manufacturers, but JBL has kept such a place for years. It looks like they have no plans of stopping.
The JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Bluetooth speaker is one of the best portable speakers on the market. It is capable of charging your phone or tablet, making the name not only something catchy and easy to remember but also a statement of its capabilities.
If you are a fan of Charge 2, then you most likely will love Charge 3 too, as it is better from almost every angle and comes with more features.
If you want a portable speaker that is even more pleasing to the eye than Charge 3, the best solution would be probably another JBL product, the Pulse 3.
- IPX7 waterproofing
- Can charge your phone
- Powerful bass
- Excellent sound quality
- Composed of durable fabric
- Large and heavy
- Exposed bass radiators
- Cropped highs
Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker Comparisons Table
 | Speakers | Best features | Size and weight | Check price |
| Under 400$ | High-end | High-end | High-end | High-end |
| UE Megaboom |  | IPX7 waterproofing, Smart Bluetooth, up to 20 hours of battery life. | Height 8.9 in; Diameter 3.3 in; Weight 30.93 oz | |
| Under 200$ | Mid-range | Mid-range | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Bose SoundLink Mini II |  | Bluetooth, Up to 10 hours of battery life. | Width 7.1 in; Depth 2.3 in; Height 2 in; Weight 23.63 oz | |
| JBL Pulse 3 |  | 360° sound, Built-in microphone, Connect+, IPX7 waterproofing, Up to 12 hours of battery life. | Width 3.6 in; Depth 3.6 in; Height 8.8 in; Weight 33.86 oz | |
| Under 120$ | ||||
| JBL Charge 3 |  | IPX7 waterproofing, Phone charging, Bluetooth, Up to 20 hours of battery life. | Width 8.4 in; Depth 3.4 in; Height 3.5 in; Weight 28.22 oz | |
| JBL Clip 2 |  | IPX7 waterproofing, Super-compact, Bluetooth, Auxiliary input. | Width 3.7 in; Depth 1.7 in; Height 5.6 in; Weight 6.49 oz |
Performance and features
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JBL Charge 3 is a big speaker, considering that it is portable. The large size converts into loud sound. This speaker can easily fill a large room, and outside, Charge 3 can be heard quite far. It is best experienced, however, within 10 meters.
JBL Charge 3 has some serious bass capabilities. It has one of the most powerful and deepest bass systems I have heard from a portable speaker. In order to get the best bass response of this speaker, it is advised to keep it horizontal on a flat surface.
Although it is possible to keep it vertically, it seemed that placing it this way negatively impacted the speaker’s performance. JBL Charge 3 managed to handle every music genre that was thrown at it. It even handled the heavier bass filled songs. It played loudly without distortion, and the bass was just impressive.
Although it managed to handle every genre, there was one little problem at high frequencies. It did not sound as detailed and precise, and that is probably because of the waterproof construction. Many waterproof speakers have this issue because it is cropping the high frequencies.
As mentioned before, the JBL Charge 3 has IPX7 waterproof design as its main feature. There is an inbuilt mic that has decent quality. We tested it there were no real signs that a person is not using their phone.
And of course, there are capabilities to charge your phone. Don’t be fooled if you think that it will drain Charge 3 battery out quickly by just playing music. We managed to use it for approximately 20 hours before it stopped.
Other users have reported up to 24 hours of playtime, but battery life always changes if the volume or music genre is changed. Charging your phone is not so big of a deal for Charge 3, as we figured out it removed 1 or 2 hours from its capabilities while charging a phone.
Design
There is no doubt JBL Charge 3 is quite significant, and there is no way to change it if we still want to have that great bass and performance. With big size comes big weight, and at 1.75 pounds, it will make sure that you will notice it in your backpack.
For buttons, JBL Charge 3 has volume, play/pause, Bluetooth, and the JBL unique button for the Connect+ capabilities that allow you to connect another JBL speaker with the same capabilities to augment the sound or to use them in stereo mode.
For another design element, JBL has two external passive radiators at its ends that will vibrate when you play music. There is no mesh wire or any real visual protection to them, although the speaker itself has outstanding build quality any external radiator is a weak spot in the design.
The radiator can withstand some pokes and has rubber guard around it we advise to be careful when you are placing it in your bag as any sharp object may impale them.
Conclusion
JBL Charge 3 has proved itself to be in JBL line, with a great bass response and overall balance, although the highs felt cropped due to waterproof construction. For such a feature, Charge 3 sacrificed minor sound quality.
Overall Charge 3 is one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market, as it has 20 hours battery life (although we saw some reports saying that they reached almost 24 hours).
Feature-wise, it is well equipped with some necessary items. Having the capability to charge your phone through it is one of the best ones and because it is reasonably priced. Overall it offers a great package.
We absolutely love this device, and we encourage you to check it out this wireless speaker!
Last update on 2024-05-03 at 06:53 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
