Review on JBL Flip 4 Teal: The Ultimate Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker by Troy Hamilton

The sound quality is so subjective that I want to look at other aspects of the speaker and compare it to Anker Sound Boost for a comparable price. The reason is that I was leaning towards the JBL Flip 4 but researched Revain to see if there are better options. There have been a number of reviews of the Anker that rate it higher than the Flip 4, some of which have been written by people who consider themselves experts or audiophiles. I took a chance and originally bought an Anker, went back the next day and bought a Flip 4. I don't claim to be an expert or an audiophile, but I've bought a lot of wireless speakers, from cheap ones to Beats and Bose . When I opened Anker I was disappointed. The USB charging cable was extremely flimsy and cheap, and the documentation was even cheaper. I immediately had problems with charging and tried to contact support. In the meantime, I have learned from web research that charging problems are not uncommon and the manufacturer recommends using a different (better) charging cable as the first option. I also found out that the owner's manual is wrong and that the manufacturer is aware of both issues but continues to ship speakers with both of these wrong components! I connected Anker to several of my devices and the Bluetooth connection was quick and easy. Both range and sound quality were less than I expected. And when I connected to a high-resolution Sony digital player, the player's volume control was disabled. I investigated this issue and found it to be a known issue when Sony connects to some lower quality Bluetooth devices. The JBL Flip 4 came professionally packaged (as expected) with a heavy duty USB charging cable and separately packaged, professionally printed and ACCURATE instructions. . The initial loading went quickly and according to the documents. The Bluetooth connection is also quick and easy. Range is probably at least as good as advertised and much better than Anker's. All controls on my connected devices (e.g. Sony player volume etc.) work great. The sound quality is subjective, but together with the volume, bass, etc., it definitely meets my expectations and certainly beats the Anker Sound Boost. JBL and Harman Kardon are brands that music lovers know they can trust and keep going. This is probably the best Bluetooth speaker you can buy for under $100. I'm sharing this just in case someone else considers the Flip 4 and reviews the options. Please don't be fooled by some competitor reviews, especially those using the JBL Flip 4 in an unfavorable comparison. Of course we all buy speakers for the sound, not the packaging, accessories or printed materials, but when those things are inferior it's quite an indication of what to expect from a mainstream product.