Over the years, I have reviewed many JBL speakers, and they continuously impress me. The opportunity to try out the 4th version of the tiny Go speaker had me intrigued, especially with a new feature to pair them together in Auracast.
So what does the JBL Go 4 offer?
The biggest thing that the JBL Go 4 offers is that it is tiny. Like, seriously, bloody tiny. The small little box is super light and can fit on the end of your table; slip it into your bag or pocket, and you will hardly notice it. OK, you might notice it in your pocket, but still, it fits!
Added to this is that it has an awesome little loop that you can attach a carabiner to, and boom, it’s on your belt loop. Now you can enjoy those sweet tunes on your hike up to Rocky Lookout at Mt. Holdsworth. “What if I don’t hike? And I don’t have belt loops in my pants.” I hear you ask and exclaim. Well, maybe you need to hang it in your shed on a nail as you do chores or on a branch as you enjoy some summer sun. How you loop it is awesome; these are some of the ways I have used it.
Best of all, it is waterproof and dustproof, so it will handle bouncing around the outdoors!
The Auracast of things
So many devices are being designed to be more easily used together these days. Sometimes it is seamless, and other times it is a wee bit clunky with apps and shenanigans. Well, I was incredibly impressed with how easy Auracast was to use.
To test it out, I paired my phone with the JBL Clip 5 using native Bluetooth. The tunes started pumping out, and the kids and I were dancing around the room to Electric Callboy. I pressed the Auracast button on the Clip 5, and I pressed the Auracast button on the Go 4. In a split second, the music was also pumping out of the Go 4.
I tried it both ways, and it was seamless. That means if you and some buds have one each, you only have to be bluetoothed to your own speaker, but you can get the same music pumping across multiple speakers in an instant. I am actually shocked at how easy it was.
What about sound and style?
The sound quality is pretty solid. It doesn’t have the bass or sound quality of a lot of other speakers, but we are talking about a $70 speaker here. At max volume, it is loud as hell but loses some quality, but at a volume that does not make your ears bleed, it sounds decent. Best of all, I was consistently getting around the advertised seven hours of battery life. That is damn good for a hike, but maybe not your multi-day tramp.
The Go 4 has gone for simple, chunky beauty. The whole speaker has an awesome mesh style to it, with a chunky rubber strip with the buttons around the edge. Added to that is a nice rubbery bottom with some grips, so you can pop it on a lot of surfaces without it slipping, which is ideal for camping.
You can get it in a range of colours, like a simple all-over blue or some beautiful clashing colours that look awesome. If you want, there is a camo option, so when you are in the bush, you won’t be able to find it again when you pop it down.
Should you get a JBL Go 4?
This is a pretty easy Hell Yea! For $70, this is a damn good portable speaker. It’s nice and sturdy, super light, super easy to use, and looks awesome. If you need better sound quality, you will need to spend more, but for $70, the sound is better than I expected.
For the price, this is an incredible speaker. If it can survive my toddler, it can survive anything.
