JBL Charge Essential

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Overall

#470 in

Portable Bluetooth Speakers

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score33% positive
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Last updated: Apr 28, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconJustAnotherFNC
5 months ago

Second vote for the Charge. I have a Charge3 Essential (bought in 2020 I think) that still sounds solid, has been fairly durable, awesome battery life, and has been used as a powerbank countless times.

Reddit Icon00134chris
9 months ago

I use a JBL charge in my truck and a JBL earbud when walking.

9 months ago

Until it's too hot and shuts itself off. In an ffv, the side window is possibly better

Reddit Iconacejavelin69
9 months ago

Yeah, realistically that isn't going to happen, replacing 10 speakers with 1-3 is tough as it is, much less when those 10 speakers were designed for the space they are in and those 1-3 are jammed into an enclosure with the amp and battery in a single unit... I mean the closest you will get is a one of the big JBL Party Boxes which honestly isn't very portable at like 75 pounds and 45 inches tall, not to mention they run a grand or so. If you just want decent sound quality -AND- portability the JBL Flip, Charge, or even the Extreme series are pretty decent, but for high end quality you are going to be going well over the $500 mark... KEF, Bowers & Wilkens, Sonos, etc. And Bose... Yeah, I am not a huge fan... I would take the Infinity system in my Hyundai over it in a heartbeat for sound quality.

Reddit IconAdResponsible5531
6 months ago

Cu banii aia îți cumperi un jbl flip de black Friday acum și ai calitate. Și la 150 de euro găsești jbl charge care deja rupe 

Reddit Iconajwillys
8 months ago

I've been using the same JBL charge for probably 10 years. When/if it dies, I'll go buy another one just like it.

Reddit Iconapersonthingy
5 months ago

Can't go wrong with a JBL Charge or Xtreme for that price, depending on sales

3 months ago

Flip, absolutely no question. If the extra cost is within reason, go for a Charge. You won't want for more than that.

5 months ago

You probably want the charge. The Flip/Charge/Xtreme are part of the same family, but each are fairly drastically different sizes, with the boombox being the biggest by far. The biggest upgrade from Charge to Xtreme will be deeper bass, but it's harder to carry around in a bag due to its size. You should get an idea for the scale of each before buying.

Reddit IconAppleEarth
9 months ago

I wouldn't recommend any Earfun speaker to someone who isn't very tech savy. Every Earfun speaker sounds mediocre out of the box and they need EQing. I really like my UBOOM X, but I just can't recommend it to my mom. That's why my mom has a JBL Charge. Also, any of the stock (normal or OLUV's) EQs are way too focused on deep bass, which isn't the best with classical music. And it's not very portable I think, it's rather huge.

Reddit Iconback_tees
6 months ago

Flip is too small. I love the JBL charge. Great battery, sound and bass.

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