So over the last few months, JBL has been very busy updating a lot of their speakers… but most recently they put out the JBL Grip which is a completely new line of speakers for them… but its actually very similar to the JBL Flip 5. But still I think the JBL Grip is very weird in JBL’s current speaker line up. Nonetheless today we’re going to compare the JBL Grip to both the JBL Flip 7 and JBL Charge 6 and lets see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, both the JBL Flip 7 and JBL Charge 6 have been hit by inflation cause the Flip 7 retails for $150 and the charge 6 retails for $200… which I do feel is a lot for a small and mid sized speaker. So I feel the JBL Grip came as a response to inflation cause this speaker retails for $100 which is what the Flip series used to retail for. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below or 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 first there’s the design of these speakers, now all of these speakers are super durable thanks to their fabric wrapped bodies so they can stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scrapes and they are both water proof, making them great options for the pool or beach. However I do want to point out that all of these speakers have their USB C ports exposed, so before you can actually charge them back up, you have to wait for them to be dry or else you’re going to get a notification that the USB C port is wet.
Now regarding size, the Charge 6 is a mid sized speaker and the Flip 7 is a small sized speaker. So obviously the Flip 7 is going to be a little easier to take on the go with you. But then there’s the grip which is a little smaller than the Flip 7… but I dont think its any easier to carry around than the Flip 7 and I would actually argue that the Grip is less conviente and versatile than the Flip 7 and charge 6 cause even though this speaker has a built in loop, its very small and its not elastic. So your options here are very limited. Where as with the Flip 7, first off its loop is slightly larger but also you can swap it out for a carabiner, so the Flip 7 is more versatile than the Grip. And then there’s the Charge 6 which has a full on carrying handle which you can also use in a second position if you want. And for me, the loop on the grip is a big deal cause this loop isn’t even as versatile as the loop found on the Go 4 and its certainly less useful than the built in carabiner found on the Clip 5.
Now one feature that the Grip has over both the flip 7 and charge 6 is that it has a built in light feature. But this light feature is on the back, its not color changing and it doesn’t even flash to the beat of your music. Honestly I feel that this light feature is pointless and this is the second time in a row that JBL adds a pointless light feaurtre to their speaker cause they just did it with the Boombox 4 as well. So personally I just use the Grip with its light feature turned off.
Regarding battery life, the grip has an advertised battery life of 12 hours, the Flip 7 has an advertised battery life of 14 and the Charge 6 has an advertised battery life of 24 hours. But with all of these speakers you’ll be able to extend their battery lives by about 2 hours if you use them with their playtime boost feature turned on, but that’s going to severely reduce your bass.
But real world use with all of these speakers playing at 80% volume, the grip is good for about 6 hours of playback time, the Flip 7 is good for about 8 hours and the charge 6 is good for about 10 hours. And obviously, the larger the speaker the louder 80% volume is going to sound.
And like I mentioned earlier, all these speakers charge via a USB C port, as they should. But these USB C ports are different. With the Flip 7 you can use this USB C port as a wired connection with your phone, and with the Charge 6, you can use its USB C port as a wired connection, and you can also use it to charge your own devices, thus making it more useful. Where as with the Grip, you can’t do any of this.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, these speakers are the same, all of these speakers can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is not an issue for any of these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone and when it comes to audio codecs, they all have support for SBC and AAC which is standard for JBL these days,
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker set up, the Grip has a single frontward firing driver and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides, similar to the JBL Flip 5. Where as with both the Flip 7 and Charge 6, both of these speakers have a frontward firing driver, a frontward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides, expect the charge 6 is larger. And the Driver and Tweeter set up on both theFlip 7 and Charge 6 are a big deal cause this helps these speakers sound more open cause the driver focuses on the mids and the tweet handles the highs, like this.
Tweeter demo
So like you may have just seen, the driver handles the mids and the tweeter handles the highs so this helps with the instrument seperation and it helps these speakers sound more open. And this is the speaker set up that we expect on more premium speakers now. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. All of these speakers are playing at 75% volume with their stock EQ’s.
Sound test
So first we need to talk about max volume performance, obviously the larger the speaker the louder its going to get. So obviously the Cahrge 6 gets louder than the Flip 7 and the Flip 7 gets louder than the Grip. Now I feel the grip is good for like a 4 person get together, its good for the shower or its good if you’re looking for something to use while riding your bike. I feel the Flip 7 is good for like a group of 8 people and the charge 6 is good for like a group of 12 people.
But when it comes to sound quality, these speakers are a little different. Since the Grip doesn’t have the additional tweeter like with these other two speakers, the highs aren’t as pronounced and the instrument separation isn’t as good. So the grip does lean a little towards the warmer side by comparison. Where as with these other two speakers, since they do have that extra tweeter, they both lean a little towards the brighter side cause the highs are a little more emphasized. Nonetheless, all of these speakers sound good, but with the Grip you are going to get less peroamnce and less instrument speraiton cause this speaker is smaller and it lacks that additional tweeter.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with all of these speakers if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, but they have to be two of the exact same speakers.
Now all of these speakers are also using aura cast so you can pair them up to any other aura cast speaker like lets say a Boombox 4, a charge 6, flip 7, Grip, clip 5 or go 4 and get them to all play in sync… or you can also pair them up to any of JBL’s larger party boxes that are also using aura cast like a partybox encore 2, partybox 120, 320, 520, 720 or ultimate and get them to play in sync as well.
However, you can not pair any of these speakers up to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using party boost like either a Boombox 3, a Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, flip 5 or flip 6. Only the Xtreme 4 is able to connect to both Aura cast speakers and partyboost speakers. Nonetheless, if you are planning on growing your collection of speakers, than any of these speakers are good options, but if you have an older party boost speaker, you won’t be able to connect it up to your new Aura cast speaker.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Grip performs well. But for me its hard to justify the JBL Grip. I feel that you’re better off saving and getting the Flip 7 cause you are going to get more sound and better instrument separation, plus you’re going to get more battery life. Or if you can’t get the Flip 7 cause you need something more affordable, might as well just get the Clip 5 cause it performs almost as well, but its smaller, more versatile and more affordable. And finally there’s the JBL Charge 6, obviously this speaker is a big upgrade over the Grip that is worth it.