JBL being one of the best among millions of Bluetooth speakers in market has climbed to this position due to their continuous efforts for being the best. And now I am really exited with the rumors about launch of JBL Charge 4. Being JBL fan I expect even more louder, super light weight, fully water proof, dust proof, shock proof, wireless bluetooth speaker with thumping bass response as compared to JBL Charge 3. The all new gen 4 speaker could be the ultimate high powered super bass portable Bluetooth sound machine which will beat the best portable speakers in market in 2018 ! What do you say ?

Needless to say that JBL’s endeavor to make things more and more perfect incorporating the latest technology  developments will lead to use of attractive design, super durable fabric material with rugged housing. Finally they need to beat the UE Boom series of speakers! Being on the top of the market is possible only when you keep upgrading your speaker series with more energy efficient machines and that is the reason why companies like JBL and BOSE spend so much money on Research & Development patenting the best ideas to prevent competition to creep in the space.

JBL Charge 4 – What will be the newest JBL speaker?

Based on my experience in R&D over 25 years, I did some predictions on the Project Rock Headphones, you can see that most of them in terms of price and specifications matched upto 80-90%, so here also I feel that my predictions would be true for this gen 4 JBL speaker, I will be mentioning expected target figures here, which you can surely verify after the actual launch of the Charge 4 speaker.

Design:

Look and feel of JBL speakers have been the same like a simple cylinder though they have improved the technology ! Anyway mostly if you want to get the best acoustic in minimal package space, then the best shape is cylinder and nothing else, so anyway they do not have much chance but to remain cylindrical! so be with it for the JBL Charge 4 too!! It does not look that bad !

One benefit is that the cylinder provides a rugged look with the use of improved fabrics, complied with large buttons over the top, which are easy to locate and play even with wet hands on the poolside, which are some essential features indeed.

Further the passive radiators of the sides provide fantastic visual appearance while they deliver rich bass. The vibrations of radiators pumping out lot of air looks pretty attractive.

Sound Qualiy [high-powered Super Bass machine]

There is no reason why the 50 mm transducers shall increase in their size? With improved acoustic analysis, now a days you are able to deliver more in the same package space, also the driver designs has improved much. The passive radiators assist the bass boost function with some aesthetic feel to the music.

And do not forget about the portability which restricts increase of transducer size more than 50 mm, you should be able to pack inside your backpack. And during travel packaging becomes equally important.

So my prediction is that the traducers will remain same 50 mm diameter as the predecessor. I will be surprised if they are able to get the same performance from smaller drivers, say 45 mm! but difficult task indeed.

Any improvement in the inner air paths shall generate sufficiently louder sound for a poolside party, sea beach weekend barbecue or being in the rain, emitting louder sound for all kind of outdoor noisy environment. The capability to go-to the low end frequencies can surely handle the thumping bass at 65Hz, whereas the highs through vocals / mids can go through the range till 20kHz. But remember that no machine can handle all frequencies equally, somewhere you will have either of them overpowering each other, in this case mostly it will be the lower end frequencies, since that is the most liked once for a party.

The ability to play distortion free music which depends upon the shape integrity with base, and how firm the speaker can remain while handling the air column pumping into the inside space of speaker, I expect it to remain the same in new version too. Any improvement in the driver design with respect to the coil to magnet relations shall improve sound quality, as an example people are now a days using lubrication or liquid around the speaker coil this reducing the friction with magnet, thus providing distortion free sound even at maximum volumes.

One more negative in the present design I would say it the inability to deliver Omani directional sound shall be addressed in the latest release, lets wait for some time to understand if its true! If this issue is handled by JBL, take my words that the fourth generation of Charge will become virtually unbeatable sound machine in portable speaker market.

Link them together! Get on the Party experience!! Louder even more Louder than ever!!!

And the party experience will be even great with  Wireless linking of multiple JBL Connect enabled speakers, keep adding speakers from all your friends, keep adding volume, and enjoy the party! As you know that the latest software from JBL allows linking upto 100 speakers at the same time. (Although I have not seen anyone doing it, except one video on youtube shows it)

Speakerphone capability:

These speakers mostly being used for a poolside party, where using costly mobile phone can be a risk, however with its speakerphone capability, you will now ever needed to touch your phone again! Your portable speaker itself will act as an assistant taking your phone calls through speaker phone capability. Its built-in noise and echo-cancelling mic will enable simple and effective communication over phone calls, delivering crystal clear voice quality. Its so simple to do it with the press of a button! And while the Siri or Google talk will enable you to give voice commands from a distance.

Fully Waterproof IPX7 [Read what is IPX7?]

Being a portable music machine, and considering the closest competition of UE Boom, it is evident that the Charge 3 itself was made waterproof. So obviously the charge 4 ought to be IPX7 fully waterproof or even it can be pushed to IP68 ! This is anyway the market trend, pushing things to its best, being not only waterproof but also dust proof making it an unbeatable sound machine.

What is means is that the speaker will survive even though dropped accidentally into the pool water [Theoretically it can be alive in 1 meter water depth for about 30 minutes]

One more thing I fear about present model is that if it gets dropped on the radiators, being the weakest part, more chances are to damage the speaker permanently, I am not sure how this can be taken care in the new release, but I surely expect JBL to do so. Maybe they provide a protective metal mesh on both side radiators thus protecting them during a fall..  . Yes there are numerous possible solutions once can have to resolve the same issue.

Battery [Extra loud music, Long playtime]

It has to be ultimate Music machine delivering hours of playback time, mostly featuring  6,000 mAh Li-ion powerful battery with continuous playtime of about 20 hours, still delivering extra bass and loud music as compared to the JBL Charge 3. Although it depends upon which type of music you are playing, on and average you will surely go till 15 hours of music playtime safely. Don’t worry !!

USB Charger outout :

While most of the speakers in market are supporting to act as a power-bank too for your mobile phones, JBL has already incorporated this feature to get ahead of the competition.

Charging your mobile phones while you are on weekend outdoor trip becomes very easy when your portable speaker itself has got full charge as well as capability to charge your mobile phone acting as a power bank ! So in continuation to the Charge third gen series, the fourth gen will also have USB output port, which can be used to recharge your mobile phone or tablet or any USB powered device. A must for outdoor weekend trip and eliminating need to carry a separate power bank with you.

Weight: [Portability]

With present weight of 800 grams JBL Charge 3 is felt a bit heavy, considering this customer feedback and the technology developments I expect Charge 4 to be much lighter than Charge 3, still adding music power in terms of driver diameters or at least fine tuned acoustic shape to deliver extra thump. So the practical target could be somewhere around 700 grams, I can not reduce the target further since the transducers does have powerful magnets which are normally heavy due to the density of magnet, and if you compromise there, means you are going to compromise on to the sound output and quality, which JBL can not afford to do.

There are chances to optimize on the dimensions front, where yo can see some reshaping to reduce the diameter, this is to maintain the portability as people want to carry it during camping or outdoors, remember that day by day capability to carry more luggage of people is reducing! no-one likes to carry large bags on trips, which needs to be supported by the giants like JBL, if they do so then only there are chances of survival. Remember the saying ? Survival of the fittest ! But on this front I don’t expect miracle, the dimensions would remain somewhere around  213 200 x 87 x 88.5 mm.

JBL Charge 4 Specs [Expected]

JBL Charge 4 Price [Expected or as Predicted by me]

Presently the JBL Charge 3 is priced around $150 [Checked as on 1 July 2018, check latest price here]

Inline with the competition UE Boom 2 and presently popular model Charge 3, where both are placed around $150 only. It looks evident that the Charge 4 gets an introductory price of around $175, which goes down later to $150 for sustainability purpose. Overall JBL is known for it value for money brand.

Finally What will be the jbl charge 4 release date?

Well this is a million dollar question, considering the period passed after launch of Charge 3, I expect Charge 4 to be released somewhere around Quarter 4 of year 2018.

JBL charge 4 vs charge 3

If I compare the expectations over Charge 3, main expectation is reduction in diameter & size as well as to go down in weight, this is to maintain the portability quotient, which is becoming major buying factor in modern era, where no one wants to carry heavy luggage. Further its expected further tuning in Bass with no distortion, Waterproof as well as dust-proof, drop proof as well. And finally it should have the same price that the Charge 3!

I recommend you to read my comparison on JBL vs UE Boom –

JBL Charge 3 vs UE Boom 2 : Which is the Best Speaker ?

Feel free to put comments of your predictions and we will wait if the match after the launch of new JBL speaker … If you are JBL fan like me, surely there are chances that JBL research team reading this review and incorporating some of expectations in the upcoming product or even who knows they can comment below to tell you if that is true! And like I have suggested to put a protective steel mesh around the transducers to increase the toughness against drops, you can also suggest various improvements that can be done in proposed upgrade. Maybe you like to have improved fabrics .. or good grip for handling with wet hands … or a totally different color! Just feel free to comment.

Happy Weekend !!

Cheers !!!

Summary

Reviewer

Mahesh

Review Date

2018-06-30

Reviewed Item

JBL Charge 4

Author Rating

5