JBL Flip 5 - Wireless speaker

JBL’s latest Flip is a Bluetooth speaker with no frills – can it survive in today’s feature-laden market?

Bluetooth speakers have never been more prevalent in our homes or at social gatherings. Driver-bearing cylinders, oblongs and cuboids now jump from concept, to factory lines, to our laps, with increasing regularity – and ever more impressive spec sheets.

So we’re surprised to discover that JBL’s Flip 5 arrives with fewer features than its predecessor, the Flip 4. Gone is the analogue aux-in port for wired listening, for example. That’s not a huge issue – wireless is clearly the way forward in 2020 – but JBL has also axed the microphone for access to your chosen voice assistant or speakerphone duties.

Faster charging

That makes the Flip 5 essentially just a Bluetooth speaker – albeit with a USB-C charging port and cable. This port, along with a bigger 4800mAh battery (the Flip 4’s was 3000mAh) helps lower the charging time to just 2.5 hours from flat to fully juiced – down an hour from the Flip 4. We can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. The extra juice doesn’t lend any more stamina to the new model – battery life stays at a claimed 12 hours. Bluetooth 4.2 is still onboard, too.

The Flip 5 is marginally bigger and heavier than its elder sibling, but we hardly notice the difference. The new racetrack-shaped driver hiding under its jacket is 4mm wider in diameter – 44mm from 40mm – and the Flip 5 also features 20W of amplification, so you also get an extra 4W of power over the Flip 4.