The JBL Charge 5 is the next generation of the JBL Charge 4. It's a portable Bluetooth speaker designed to bring your favorite tunes with you, whether it's from room to room or outside at the park. Its IP67 rating for dust and water resistance protects the drivers inside; plus, the speaker gives you access to sound customization tools in the JBL Portable app. Unlike the Charge 4, you can connect it with other PartyBoost-compatible speakers to enjoy sound throughout your room.
Our Verdict
The JBL Charge 5 is alright for music. Thanks to its balanced mids, it reproduces voices and lead instruments with clarity and detail. As a result, it's suitable for listening to many different genres, and its graphic EQ allows you to switch up its sound to your liking. That said, as a smaller speaker, it doesn't bring a lot of rumble in the low-bass.
- Fantastic battery life.
- Balanced mid-range.
- Requires two units for stereo sound.
- Compression artifacts at max volume.
The JBL Charge 5 isn't really designed for listening to movies, but if you want to watch a video from your paired smartphone, it can get the job done. Dialogue is clearly reproduced and has relatively low latency, meaning you don't notice lip-synching issues. However, this speaker doesn't get loud enough to fill larger rooms with sound and lacks the rumble in the low-bass for action-packed films.
- Low Bluetooth latency.
- Requires two units for stereo sound.
- Compression artifacts at max volume.
The JBL Charge 5 is satisfactory for podcasts. Dialogue is reproduced clearly, so you can easily follow along with your favorite shows. Thanks to its portable design, you can carry it from room to room, which is great for longer episodes. Plus, multi-device pairing allows you to connect it to up to two audio sources at once, making it easy to switch between listening on your phone and your laptop.
- Incredibly portable.
- Compression artifacts at max volume.
The JBL Charge 5 doesn't support voice assistants.
The JBL Charge 5 is good for outdoor use. It's a portable Bluetooth speaker with a solid build, so it can withstand some exposure to the elements. It's rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, and its long battery life is suitable for afternoons outdoors. It doesn't get very loud, so you'll want to stay closer to the device while listening to your favorite tunes.
- Fantastic battery life.
- IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
- Compression artifacts at max volume.
Changelog
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Updated May 22, 2025:
We retested this speaker after updating it to Firmware 0.8.9.0. As a result, we have updated the Dynamics section of the review to show that the speaker now has a max volume about 1 dB higher than before, and we also updated the App photo.
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Updated Apr 14, 2025:
We've updated the Battery section to mention that you can use this speaker as a power bank for your other devices.
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Updated Oct 31, 2024:
We mentioned the Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) in the Frequency Response Accuracy section of this review.
- Updated Oct 09, 2024: The
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The JBL Charge 5 comes in ten color variants: 'Black,' 'Grey,' 'Blue,' 'Teal,' 'Grey,' 'White,' 'Pink,' 'Forest Green,' 'Red,' and 'Squad.' JBL also allows you to customize the color and design of your Charge 5 on their website. We tested the 'Black' variant; you can find its label here. The serial number on our speaker begins with 'TT,' and some users have reported differences in the performance and build of variants of this speaker depending on the first two letters of its serial number.
The JBL Charge 5 Wi-Fi is another version of this speaker with Wi-Fi support.
If you encounter any other variants of this speaker, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The JBL Charge 5 is a portable Bluetooth speaker similar to the JBL Charge 4. The Charge 5 has a more neutral sound profile than its predecessor and is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, meaning it's certified to be dust-tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. Unlike the Charge 4, which uses the older Connect+ protocol, the Charge 5 has a PartyBoost button that you can use to pair it to other PartyBoost-compatible JBL speakers like the JBL Xtreme 3.
See also our recommendations for the best JBL speakers, the best Bluetooth speakers, and the best outdoor speakers.
The JBL Charge 6 is a worthwhile improvement on the popular JBL Charge 5. The Charge 6 offers improved waterproofing, a handy carrying strap, and extra silicone feet around the passive radiators at each end of the speaker. It also supports Auracast, so you can link it with other Auracast-enabled JBL speakers for parties or larger gatherings. The Charge 6 also has a more even and punchy bass performance. That said, the differences in sound and battery life are minor, so if you have a Charge 5 already, the upgrade might not be worth it, and if you can find a Charge 5 on a great deal, it's well worth considering. Still, the Charge 6 is the better speaker, all things considered.
The JBL Charge 5 and the JBL Flip 6 have different strengths. The Charge 5 can get slightly louder and produce a more extended low bass out of the box. It also has a much longer battery life, though this can vary depending on your usage. However, the Flip 6 is smaller and has a removable carrying strap, making it a bit more portable than the Charge 5. It also has better directivity, resulting in a wider-sounding soundstage.
The JBL Charge 5 is a better speaker than the JBL Charge 4. The Charge 5 has a more balanced sound profile. It's also better built and has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, certifying it to be dust-tight and immersible in a meter of water for 30 minutes. That said, while the Charge 5 can connect to PartyBoost-compatible JBL speakers, it can't connect to those with the Connect+ feature like its predecessor. The Charge 4 has lower latency with iOS and Android devices, though some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.
Whether you choose the JBL Charge 5 or JBL Flip 7 depends on a couple of key features: portability and battery life. The JBL Flip 7 is lighter weight and a bit smaller. Its IP68 rating with one meter drop resistance is a little tougher. It has more in-depth app features, like PlayTime Boost, to extend the battery life. However, the Charge 5 has a slightly fuller low-end and a longer battery life with lower latency when streaming videos. Still, it lacks the USB audio found on the Flip 7, so your choice will depend mainly on battery life and weight, depending on your needs.
Test Results
The JBL Charge 5 is the next generation of the JBL Charge 4. They have similar designs, though the JBL logo on the Charge 5 is much larger and looks more like the one on the JBL Xtreme 3. The speaker is fairly small and is meant to be placed horizontally on its base. It comes in many different colors, so you can choose one that suits your style. We tested the 'Black' variant. If you want a similarly priced speaker with RGB lights, check out the JBL Pulse 5.
This small, lightweight speaker can be carried in one hand, making it easy to take when you're on the move. It's also battery-powered, so you can take it outdoors without needing to connect it to an outlet. Check out the JBL Flip 6, the JBL Clip 5 or the Marshall Willen for an even smaller and more portable speaker.
This speaker has an impressive build quality. It's rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, meaning it's certified to be fully dust-tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. It's made of solid materials, and two bass radiators are on either side of the speaker. On its rear, there's a USB-A port in a sealed compartment and a Type-C charging port. Although, if you're accident-prone, it might be worth looking at a speaker with impact resistance, like the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4.
The speaker has '+' and '-' buttons to adjust the speaker's volume. Audible feedback indicates when you've reached max volume, too. Its play and pause buttons can also be double-pressed to skip to your next track. However, there isn't a way to skip to your previous track. You can pair it to your devices via Bluetooth by pressing the dedicated Bluetooth button. This will trigger a flashing light when it's in pairing mode and a solid blue light once it's paired.
It also has a PartyBoost button you can press when you want to connect it to other PartyBoost-compatible speakers. You can control this feature in its companion app. Lastly, horizontal dots at the bottom of the speaker light up to indicate the speaker's battery level.
It has a fair frequency response accuracy. It's suitable for listening to lots of different types of audio content, thanks to its balanced mids, ensuring that voices and lead instruments are reproduced with clarity and accuracy. Like most smaller speakers, however, there isn't much rumble in the low-bass to bring bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop to life. Fortunately, a graphic EQ is available via the app that lets you further tailor the sound profile to your liking. If you're looking for a portable speaker with even flatter mid- and treble ranges, consider the Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen).
Its soundstage performance is sub-par. It has decent directivity, meaning you can hear your audio clearly from most angles. However, the overemphasis in the treble range can make its soundstage feel a bit uneven. It also needs to be paired to another unit to play stereo sound and has to downmix stereo content to mono when using it on its own, which doesn't sound as immersive as stereo speakers like the JBL Xtreme 4. If you're looking for a speaker with a fantastic soundstage, check out the Sony SRS-RA3000 or the Marshall Middleton.
This speaker gets loud enough for average-sized rooms but struggles to fill larger, more open spaces with sound. Plus, as you crank up the volume, more compression is added to the mix, which impacts the clarity of audio reproduction.
The manufacturer advertises this speaker to last over 20 hours, but it lasted around 14 hours in our tests. Its performance is still impressive, and the battery lasts over twice as long as the similarly-sized Sony ULT FIELD 1. However, since battery life can vary depending on usage, your real-world experience may vary. It also has a power-saving feature that shuts the speaker off after being inactive for a while, which is nice. If you run out of battery on any of your devices, you can also the speaker as a power bank. Just bear in mind that this will drain the battery quicker, though.
This speaker does not have any voice assistant capabilities. If you want a speaker that lets you use the voice assistants from your paired smartphone, check out the Anker Soundcore Motion X600 or the Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Plus.
The JBL Portable app is very good. You can use a graphic EQ to customize the speaker's sound profile to your liking, which sets it apart from similar speakers like the EarFun UBOOM L. You can access the Party Mode function by selecting PartyBoost in its main menu to connect it to other PartyBoost-compatible speakers to play music all at once. You can also pair two speakers together to create a stereo pair. That said, it doesn't offer a Multi-Room function, so you can't use it to play different content on different speakers in different rooms at once.
You can use this speaker as a power bank to charge your devices via its USB-A port. That said, unlike the JBL Charge 4 or the Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition, it doesn't feature an AUX input to wire your devices to the speaker.
This speaker has a great Bluetooth performance. You can connect it to two devices at once, which can come in handy when you need to switch between audio sources quickly. It also has fairly low latency with iOS and Android devices, making it suitable for watching movies and videos. However, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may differ.