Having owned the JBL flip 2 for a number of years, it got used pretty hard, mainly at full volume at student pre-drinks gatherings. It had a few drinks spilt on it and unfortunately a few issues cropped up. The charging port stopped working and then after getting that fixed, recently one of the speakers blew. Thankfully, I wasn’t sitting in a silent room for long as I got hold of the newer and slightly larger JBL Pulse 2 Bluetooth speaker.
JBL has updated the Flip model with the Flip 3, but I chose to go with the Pulse 2. Being ever so slightly larger and with LED lights I had to give it a go. Thankfully, now most of JBL’s Bluetooth speaker line-up is splashproof there isn’t much need to worry about the odd drink spillage or splash by the pool.
Lights out
The LED lighting is pretty gimmicky and it can be turned off when you want to prolong battery life and use it only as a speaker. But at a party or on the beach it can add to the drama – allowing the user to choose between a number of modes or use JBL’s colour prism lens to copy your favourite colour and let the speaker portray it. So far, every time I have tried to use the colour prism option it hasn’t worked.
JBL Connect
Can’t be bothered to walk over to your speaker to change the light sequence? Just download the app and change the style of lighting from equalizer all the way to fireflies. The app will also alert you when any updates are available as well as offering tutorials to using the speaker and connecting another speaker. That’s right, you can have a surround sound system by connecting multiple speakers and if your friends can’t decide what music genres to play – the speaker will support up to three simultaneous connections.
With no date in sight for voice assistant integration at the moment, it is only something spoken of in whispers whereby you can ask Siri or Google to play your favourite songs without having to lift a finger. If you are looking for a brilliant splashproof speaker that doesn’t break the bank, don’t waste any time and get it from the JBL store for £169.99 and available in either black or silver.
SPECS:
Transducers: 45mm x 2
Amplifiers: 2 x 8W
Input connection: AUX/Bluetooth
Frequency response: 85Hz – 20kHz
Battery: 6000mAh prividing up to 10 hours
Dimensions: 84.2 x 194.4 x 84.2mm
SCDW 