Summer is coming and that means cook outs, camping, and parties! But whats a party without music? Thats where the new JBL Flip 4 comes in. This little guy is loud enough to fill any dorm room, or get a small get together bumping. And its now durable enough to take almost anywhere cause its finally waterproof. So should you pick this guy up? Lets find out. 

Alright, so the JBL Flip 4 comes in a few different colors. Black, blue, gray, red, teal and white. every color way currently retails for 99.95 and amazon puts them on sale from time to time. if you want to save some cash you can always pick up the JBL flip 3 but you’ll be missing out on full water proofing, better sound quality, and a slightly longer battery life. I’ll have links in the description below if you want to pick either one of these up. I’ll keep the links updated so you can get the best deals. 

Ok, so lets get this sucker out of the box. there really isn't much going on. its a nice box for sure. you lift the lid and then lift the cover and you'll see the speaker its self front in center. inside the cover you’ll also find the user manual and warranty information. and inside the smaller side compartment you'll also find a micro usb cable for charging. Theres no wall wart and no audio cable included which is a let down if you ask me. But in general, the JBL Flip 4 is your standard bluetooth speaker that can connect to most devices. This blue tooth speaker also features a smart phone app and you can pair up to 100 JBL speakers to one another so they play music simultaneously. personally i think connecting 100 speakers is over kill, but you can also pair 2 of these speakers together so you can play them in stereo mode. 

The JBL Flip 4 itself is pretty sleek to begin with, but this thing is very dense. it caught me by surprise the first time i picked it up. The majority of the surface of this speaker is wrapped in a nylon fabric covering and the end caps and spine are made out of rugged rubber which help it be a little durable and provides a good amount of grip. on the spine of the JBL Flip 4 you'll find the power button, a battery gauge, the JBL Connect plus button, and a tab that covers the audio jack and micro usb port. You’ll also find a bluetooth button, volume controls, and a multiple purpose button which all have really good tactile feed back. one press of the triangle or play button pauses or plays your music, two presses skips a track and if you long press it you’ll active siri if you're using an iPhone. But oddly enough you cant go back a track by triple pressing it.

So whats the big difference between the JBL Flip 4 and the JBL Flip 3 they look exactly the same. Well for starters the JBL flip 4 is now IPX7 water proof, which means you can submerge it water without any problems. Where as the JBL Flip 3 is only splash proof. But even though the JBL Flip 4 is now water proof, one major flaw it still has is that it dosnt float. So if hypothetically if you were using this speaker next to a pool, on a boat, or next to a lake and the speaker some how fell into the water it'll just sink to the bottom. which could be a problem. and when its completely submerged in water the blue tooth connection will cut out until you take it out of the water again. The JBL 4 also sounds 20% better than the JBL Flip 3 and i’ll go into sound quality in just a bit. And finally, the JBL Flip 4 now has a 12 hour battery life versus the Flip 3’s 10 hour battery life. 

Alright, so lets talk about what matters and thats sound quality. the JBL Flip 4 has no problem filling a Room or bath room. and anyone with in a 30 foot radius of this thing outside will have absolutely no problem hearing it when its at max volume. Personally I feel the Flip 4 sounds its best when its used at a moderate to moderately high listening volume. The bass is punchy, and the Mids and high are clear. Its at higher volumes where the resolution and clarity of the highs and vocals start to suffer. But for a small hundred dollar speaker that is to be expected. This speaker does connect to your phone or other device via bluetooth 4.2 and has a range of about 100 feet with direct line of sight. And since its bluetooth 4.2 you can pair up to 2 devices at the same time with your JBL Flip 4. right now i have it pair to my iPhone and Macbook. And the wireless connection has no problem going though multiple walls if you're using it inside your house. But if you prefer a wired connection the JBL Flip 4 has you covered. Like I said earlier, there is an audio jack and i can tell you right now that it really is a huge benefit. after listening to the same songs with and without a weird connection back to back I'm happy to report that the over all sound quality gets better, its much clearer, and its louder. and unlike with the bluetooth connection where the sound quality starts to suffer at high volume, using a wired connection really helps keep the resolution intact. 

Alright, and now for the draw backs. For starters, even though you can take phone calls with this bluetooth speaker i really don't think you should. when talking at a moderate level and about 5 feet away the user on the other side reported a lot of distortion and a lot of raspiness. In order for you to get good sound quality you need to get really close to the speaker, and at which point it would make more sense to take your phone call from your phone. and like i said earlier, even though this speaker is now water proof, it still sinks. Also, this speaker only shoots out sound in one direction. Personally i don't mind, but i just wanted to make that clear for people who might not know. 

But in general the JBL Flip 4 is a small speaker that packs a punch. Its like rocket raccoon from Garudiauns of the Galaxy. Its water proof and you can take it almost any where, it has a 12 hour battery life if not longer depending on how you use it, it sounds good for its size, and if there are other JBL speakers lying around you can pair them together just as long as they are JBL Connect plus enabled. This speaker will make you the life of the party at this summer’s get togethers. The JBL Flip 4 is a pretty solid investment.