Batman360
OnePlus Accessory Tester
Sep 14, 2020
My quest for finding a perfect Bluetooth speaker ended with JBL Flip 5, a well-known brand, perfect pricing and a brilliant quality sound with ample of bass. For a price of only ₹8,499 (plus extra cards discount) it feels super premium and it screams PERFECT straight out of the box. It’s small, compact but is so loud with superb audio clarity. To be totally honest, I was skeptical about buying it, as it was too good to be true, so I went to the showroom to experience the sound personally and as I’m now writing a review on it so you should know how impressed I was then. Let me just do a show and tell about it and then you will believe me. And one more thing of this speakers that got me to buying it, is its slogan “Dare to Listen!” and I’m no coward to turn down a dare 
Straight Out Of The Box:
a.) One JBL Flip 5 (inside a very sturdy case).
b.) One Type-C USB Cable (yes you read that right, Type-C).
c.) One Quick Start Guide.
d.) One Warranty Card.
e.) One Safety Sheet.
Look and Feel/Design:
First thing that came to my mind while taking it out of the box is “Damn! It’s really sturdy!” The waterproof mesh is applied in such a satisfying way, clicky buttons, intelligently placed battery indicator, IPX7 Waterproof design, rubberized borders, and it’s portable too, could carry it anywhere and the party just starts right then and there when you play the music. It’s a bit heavy but again why shouldn’t it be as it packs some dope level sound quality which I will tell you all about in the later section.
There are a lot of colors to choose from, like literally a rainbow of colors (11 to be exact) and you know what, you guys could customize your Flip 5 to your favorite color too. Don’t worry, whichever color you choose, they will look classy in each one of them. Let me tell you one of the life hack about it, just slip this little gem on your wrist and bam it’s a wearable now Gone are the days when people used to carry big stereos on their shoulder to look cool/hip, but now it’s “Smaller the better” (and that’s not what she said.)
Rating: 9/10.
Built Quality:
Well, just one sentence is sufficient for it “It’s as tough as it sounds.”
Why are you reading this? Wasn’t one line enough? Oh, now you want me to write more? Sure then, your choice
Starting with its durable fabric material, which is IPX7 waterproof, the fabric is so closely woven there is not even a slightest chance that even a single droplet would pass through it. When you hold this speaker in your hand, it feels rugged and it is actually rugged and all the credit goes to the rugged rubber housing that keeps the Flip 5 safe, don’t believe me? Let me show it to you by dropping it on the ground. Did you really think I was going to do that just to make you believe me? Nope!
As it is waterproof, I have taken it swimming with me too, kept it in the rain while it plays amazing songs to compliment the rain and lets us enjoy the weather even more and also I know what you all are thinking “Have you done that test where you put water on one of it’s side and then play a heavy bass song to see the water splash all over?” And to answer that: Yes I have, just after unboxing it, I went to the kitchen, poured half a glass of water, kept the speaker near the sink and ….lol don’t tell me you were actually reading how I poured the water on the speakers? You’re cute, haha. Don’t worry, here's the video:
Let me sum up this section one more time with a perfect analogy “It’s a Nokia 1100 of speakers”. Period.
Rating: 10/10.
(Not so boring) Built/Firmware Details:
a.) Bluetooth Version: v4.2
b.) Product Dimensions: 69 x 181 x 74 cm;
c.) Speaker output power: 20 Watts
d.) Battery Type: Lithium Ion
e.) Manufacturer: Harman International Industires Inc.
f.) Product Weight: 540gms. (told you it was heavy)
g.) Battery Capacity: 4800 mAH
Well, that was short
Rating: 7/10.
Battery and Charging:
The company claims that it gives 12 hours of playback on a single charge and they are not wrong, Flip 5 lasted approximately 11.5 hours in real-time usage. 4800 mAH is a lot of battery and you might think why is it just giving 12 hours of playback, let me tell you it is producing 20 Watts of high quality, bass boosted sound for every second it is turned on. And the included Type-C cable fully charges this beast in approximately 2-2.5 hours so, win-win for all.
My Usage (on a single charge):
Gaming (maximum 2 hours): At 65-70% volume.
Jamming with Flip 5 (maximum 2 hours): Okay so, I play guitar as a hobby and as I’m not a very good singer, I turn on the speaker and play along with the song. To be totally honest I bought these just for this purpose but now it is being used for other purposes too, including the jamming sessions. (At 50-60% volume.) One of my jamming session:
If it's showing "Video Unavailable", don't worry, just open it on browser.
As a car stereo (maximum 1 hour): At full volume, these are better than my inbuilt car speakers so whenever I go on a drive or a long drive with my bae (it’s been so long now ☹), I tend to bring it along just to set the mood right 😉Just throw it on the back seat and play your songs on the go, even if you don’t have a stereo in your car I suggest you to buy these and you won’t be disappointed.
Playing songs while doing a boring work or in general (maximum 4 hours): With 60-70% of volume because if increased more than that, neighbors and going to call the police on you, later don’t blame me that I didn’t warn you.
Shows (maximum 2 hours): At 70-80% volume.
All in all, surely the playback time is a little less but once you get to know the quality of sound it produces, you would gladly compromise the battery backup for a better sound quality. We all like 120Hz Refresh Rate screen on our smartphones and that consumes a lot of battery too, but we don’t mind having a superb screen refresh rate over battery backup (another analogy on point ).
Rating: 8/10.
Connection:
Having a lower version of Bluetooth does not let the range go beyond 6-7meters, especially when there are walls in between. But once the connection is established and it’s in the range, it works flawlessly. Connection so strong that even your better half would be jealous of it Connected it with various devices too like: OnePlus 7 Pro, Nord, MI, Fire TV Stick and Laptop. And connecting the Flip 5 to these devices is really simple, press the Bluetooth icon on the speaker and head to the Bluetooth settings of your device, tap on pair new device and you will find you Flip 5 right there waiting to blow your mind.
Rating: 6/10.
Sound Monster:
Finally, a section you all were waiting for. What? You weren’t? Well, nevermind because I was, so here it goes. There were plenty of scolding/complaints that I got from my parents and neighbors regarding how loud the Flip 5 is. It has (as company claims) JBL Signature Sound. It has a racetrack-shaped driver that delivers high output with booming bass in a compact size. It has vivid sound quality with crisp highs and deep bass.
a.) Music: Can listen to it all day if I wish to, those vibrators on the sides of these speakers vibrates so hard with a bass boosted song that it could give you a free massage anywhere, anytime.
b.) Shows/Movies: With such clear audio, even when you play your favorite shows/movies on a small screen of your smartphone with Flip 5 connected to it, it will give you a surround sound like experience no matter wherever you are, well isn’t that convenient. Even at volume between 40-50%, the dialogues are really clear.
c.) Gaming: When I’m in Fnatic Mode, my entire room sounds like a battlefield with these bad boys on, feels like a surround sound and with every shot fired out of the blue I get scared to death, fully immersive experience.
Rating: 11/10.
Special Features:
a.) Party Boost: This feature allows you to connect with other JBL speakers with Party Boost feature. Connect two to have a surround sound experience and connect multiple to crank up the party. To enable it, there is a button on the Flip 5, just press it and Party Boost will be turned on.
b.) JBL Connect app: Allows you to upgrade the firmware of the speakers, connect to other JBL speaker (JBL 5 and newer) and see the battery percentage of your speaker.
c.) Auto-Off: If it’s not connected, it tends to switch off automatically in 2.5 minutes but if it’s connected to a Bluetooth device and not playing any music, the battery will drain negligibly.
Drawbacks:
a.) Bluetooth v4.2 instead of latest v5.0 or v5.1.
b.) No mic support.
c.) No virtual assistant (Google Assistant) support.
d.) Doesn’t show battery percentage on any device.
e.) Poor connection range.
f.) Charging port is not covered.
g.) Cannot sync with lower generations of JBL to play songs together. As they support Party Boost and the lower generation supports Connect+ feature.
Why JBL Flip 5 over other JBLs:
I had my eyes on all the JBLs which were in the range of ₹7,000 to ₹15,000 which included JBL Flip 4, Flip 5, Pulse 3, Pulse 4, Charge 3 and Charge 4. And I chose Flip 5 because of the following reasons:
a.) The 20 Watt sound output hits the sweet spot when it comes to speakers which are needed for casual purposes (well this one goes beyond the casual usage).
b.) Price is right too, not too high and not to cheap.
c.) Compact and portable (with a carry case).
d.) Super rugged and sturdy with IP rating.
e.) SOUND, SOUND and ONLY SOUND. Produces a very heavy bass with a thump that would rock your world.
f.) Premium and classy design.
g.) Suitable for every family member based on their needs.
h.) Supports Type-C charging.
Satisfying case closing sound:
Thankyou all for taking out your time and reading my review.
(I know, I know it's shorter than my usual reviews because there wasn't much to cover in these speakers but still I managed to test all the aspects of it, so yeah.)
Stay Safe.
Adios.
Last edited: Sep 23, 2020
