This year I have checked out the JBL Clip, the JBL Flip, and now I am checking out the JBL Grip to find out whether you should clip, flip, or grip your own JBL. As with everything I check out from JBL, I will say I am impressed, but I will dig into why below!
That classic style
At first you will notice the JBL Grip looks a lot like the Flip, and it does but upright. Where the Flip is oriented to lay down, this bad boy is designed to look right sitting on its end. This may seem like a minor detail, but the benefit to this is it sits comfortably in a drink bottle holder on your bag, looks nice sitting on a desk, and is in general a cool little aspect of it.
Outside of that, it looks a lot like a JBL speaker. The classic fabric design surrounds it with the nice chunky rubber buttons on the front. On top there is the power button, the Auracast button, and the Bluetooth button. So far it sounds a lot like a JBL speaker, and that’s a good thing, as I love that style.
At the back of the speaker there is a little fabric loop, an exposed USB-C port, and a cool new lightbar. Unlike the Flip, the loop can’t be switched out for a carabiner clip like the Flip, but the loop is sturdy enough that I would be confident hanging it on a carabiner. One slick new feature is that on the back there is a light bar and a button to control that. It can go through some preset light patterns, or you can change them on the app. This seems like a minor thing, but I genuinely loved this aspect of the Grip.
Sounds
A speaker is only as good as it sounds, and the JBL Grip sounds solid. Comparing it to the Clip, the sound is noticeably better, especially when listening to metal. Smashing Taniwha by Alien Weaponry actually sounded clean, with the drums and screams sounding nice at mid to loud volume. It was only when I pushed it too loud that it didn’t sound perfect, but I would never listen to it that loud.
There is a feature called PlayTime boost, which you can enable in the app. The problem is this drops the guts out of things like the bass and makes the music noticeably worse, but this does eke a couple more hours of battery life out. Listening to music like this isn’t ideal, but if you’re using it for something like an audiobook, or if you want to ensure you aren’t alone with your thoughts for a couple more hours, this will do the trick. Oh god, those thoughts…
Anyway, the battery life on the grip can be up to 12 hours without the party boost. On an average volume I got eight hours out of it with the light strip going. That is pretty dang fine given the device’s size and the sound quality it was pumping out. Given it is dustproof and waterproof it’s ready to get you some sweet tunes on the go for ages.
Should you get one?
Given the new form factor, I have to say I love the JBL Grip. The size and shape make it perfect for so many more situations, and the sound quality is easily good enough for when I need a portable speaker. This brilliant little beastie sounds way better than the Clip 5 and the Go 4, making this my favourite new speaker on the go.
A quick note: the box doesn’t come with a charging cable in it. Most of us have 200 USB-C cables lying around our house, so it didn’t affect me, but it’s a useful note.
