So over the last few months, JBL has released some very impressive products. The JBL Charge 6, JBL Flip 7, JBL Partybox 520, JBL Partybox 720 and JBL Boombox 4 are all impressive in their own rights… but then there’s the JBL Grip… I have no idea who this is for or who asked for this. So lets see what the JBL Grip is about.
So first off the JBL Grip seems to be a product of inflation… cause this speaker retails for $100… which is what the JBL flip series of speakers used to retail for until the Flip 6 started to retail for $130 and the Flip 7 retails for $150. Which is a lot for a small sized speaker. But then you’d think, oh great JBL has a more affordable option… but hold on, I can’t justify getting the Grip over the Clip 5 when the Clip 5 is more versatile. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up then they’ll be linked down below of you can always press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always watch some of the related videos in the description down below.
So when it comes to the design of the Grip, its a little smaller than the JBL Flip 7, but this speaker is meant to stand up right where as with the Flip 7 you can use it either way. But durability wise, its the same, it has a mostly fabric wrapped body so its going to stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scrapes, and its also water proof. However, this speaker does not float in water which I do feel is a let down. But another thing to keep in mind here is, the USB C port on this speaker is exposed, so if it does get wet you are going to have to wait for it to dry off before you can charge it back up.
Another thing that you should also keep in mind is that this speaker does have a built in loop… but this loop is very small and its not elastic so I feel that the versatility of this loop isn’t all that great compared to the loops that you’ll find on the Flip 7 or Flip 6 and it not even as versatile as the loop found on the Go4 which is a little elastic and its certainly not as useful as the built in carabiner found on the Clip 5. What im saying is, the Grip has a loop, but its pointless compared to what you’ll find on other speakers.
Another pointless thing about the Grip is that this speaker also has a built in light feature. But this light feature is just on the back of this speaker, its not color changing and it doesn’t flash to the beat of your music. I dont know why JBL is adding pointless light features to their speakers cause they just did the same thing with the Boombox 4. So just like with the light feature on the Boombox 4, I just turn off the light feature on the Grip.
Now when it comes to battery life, this speaker has an advertised battery life of 12 hours, just like with JBL’s older Flip 6 or Flip 5. And if you were to use it with its Playtime boost feature turned on, which is going to reduce your bass, then its going to have an advertised battery life of 14 hours. But real world use with this speaker playing at 80% volume its good for about 6 hours of playback time, not bad.
And like I mentioned earlier, this speaker charges via a USB C port, as it should. However you can’t use this USB C port to charge your own devices and you can’t use this USB C port as wired connection like you can with the USB C ports found on the Flip 7 or Charge 6. And unfortunately there are no other ports on this speaker, which is the standard now, sadly.
But when it comes to Bluetooth connective, this speaker can be connected to any two Bluetooth devices so you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos with on you phone, and when it comes to audio codecs, it has support for SBC and AAC. Pretty standard for JBL these days.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker setup, the JBL Grip has a single frontward firing driver and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides, and that’s it. And this is actual similar to the speaker set up found on the the JBL Flip 5 which also had a frontward firing driver and passive radiairots that shoot out the sides, but just bigger. Because with both the JBL Flip 6 and JBL Flip 7… these speakers also have an additional tweeter which helps give these speakers better instrument seperation. But now were going to jump into the soundtest, the JBL Grip is going to be playing at 75% volume with its stock JBL EQ.
Sound test
So when it comes to sound, the JBL Grip sounds good. But this speaker does lean towards a warmer sound signature compared to the JBL Flip 6 or Flip 7 cause it just doesn’t have that extra tweeter which brings out the highs more. Simply put, the JBL Grip sounds like the JBL Clip 5 expect is gets a little louder and it has a little more bass. But overall the Grip sounds balanced albeit in leans towards a warmer sound signature. And when it comes to max volume performance, the Grip is good for a 4 person get together, it gets decently loud for the shower or its a good option if you want something small to use on your bike. But as you’d expect, it doesn’t get as loud as the JBL Flip 7, but it is a little louder than the JBL Clip 5.
But finally lets talk about paring this speaker with other speakers. Now if you have two JBL Grips’s then you’ll be able to wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode. But you have to have 2 of the exact same speakers.
Now the JBL Grip is using Auracast, so you can pair it up to other aura cast speakers like lets say the JBL Charge 6, or Flip 7, Clip 5, go 4 or to the Boombox 4 and you can get them to all play in sync… but you can also pair up your JBL Grip to any of JBL’s party boxes that are also using Auracast like lets say the JBL PartyBox Encore 2, Partybox 120, 320, 520, 720, or to the ultimate and you can get them to play in sync as well.
But unfortunately, since the JBL Grip is using aura cast, you cant pair it up to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using Partyboost like either the JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 6 or Flip 5.
The JBL Xtreme 4 is the only JBL Auracasrt speaker that can connect to both Auracast speakers and Partyboost speakers. And also, even though the JBL Grip is using aura cast, you cant pair it up to JBL’s Partylight sticks and get them to play in sync like you can with a partybox. But nonetheless, if you are planning on growing your collection of speakers, the Grip gives you a lot of options… but just keep in mind, if you’re upgrading from any part boost speaker, you won’t be able to pair it up to your grip.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Grip is pretty odd. Yes it performs well and its smaller and its more affordable than the JBL Flip 7… but its less practical than the JBL Clip 5 cause its larger than the Clip 5 and the loop isn’t as useful as the carabiner on the clip 5 or as useful as the loop found on the Go4 or Flip 7. Personally for me its hard to justify the JBL Grip, you’re either going to be better off just springing for the Flip 7… or just get the Clip 5.