So JBL has been very busy lately upgrading all of their speakers, but I actually feel that JBL’s micro speakers like the Clip 5 and Go 4 has gotten the biggest upgrades. They have better battery life, they get louder, and they can now pair to other speakers. But today we’re going to checkout the JBL Go 4 and we’re going to see how it compares to the JBL Clip 5.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Go 4 has a retail price of $50, the same as its predecessor and I would say that the Go 4 is a premium Micro speaker, but I think it can justify its price just like the Clip 5 does. And for comparison sake, the Clip 5 has a retail price of $80 and in general, yes you are better off upgrading to the Clip 5 over the Go 4, but the Go 4 is still good. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below.
So first theres the design of this speaker. The Go 4 has a square design to it and you can either lay it down flat or you can stand it up right. But more importantly, this speaker is noticeably smaller than the Clip 5, but just like the Clip 5 it has a mostly fabric wrapped body so its going to be super durable, and the rubber feet on this speaker are very well integrated into the body of this speaker, just like with the Clip 5, so that hope is here, the rubber feet on the Go 4 aren’t going to peel off as easily as the rubber feet on the Clip 4 which were just glued on. But overall the Go 4 is a great speaker to take on the Go with you cause its very small and durable, and its also rocking an IP67 rating so its dust and water proof just like the Clip 5. The only thing that I feel that you should lookout for on this speaker is its loop. Now with this loop you can attach the Go 4 on to a few things, but just keep in mind that this loop does not stretch all that much, so attaching this speaker to something can be a little limited so you’ll might want to bring your own carabeaner… and compared to the Clip 5, the clip 5 is easier to attach to more things cause it has that built in carabeaner.
Now when it comes to battery life, just like the Clip 5, the Go 4 has gotten a two hour upgrade here. The Go 4 has an advertised battery life of 7 hours, where as the Go 3 is good for up to 5 hours. However this advertised battery life of 7 hours on the Go 4 is with it playing at 50% volume. And 50% volume on the Go 4 is good for like podcasts. But the Go 4 also has JBL’s playtime boost which is going to extend your battery life by 2 hours. However, playtime boost is going to severely lower the bass on this speaker and make it sound very flat, so for the best sound you want to use this speaker with its playtime boost feature turned off.
But when compared to the Clip 5, the clip 5 has an advertised battery life of 12 hours with it playing at 50% volume and with playtime boost it can go for as long as 15 hours. So obviously the Clip 5 is going to outperform the Go 4 when it comes to battery life, and that is to be expected cause this speaker is larger and denser than the Go 4.
And when it comes to charging these speakers, they both charge via a USB C port as they should… and this is the only port that you’ll find on these speakers cause they dont have an audio jack and you can’t use them with a wired connection. And personally I dont mind not having an audio jack on a speaker of this size.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, just like the Clip 5, the Go 4 can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ, and latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos with on your phone.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. The Go 4 has a 40 millimeter transducer paired with a passive radiator for the bass and it puts out 4.2 watts. Where as the Clip 5 has a 45 millimeter transducer and it put out 7 watts. And just like the clip 5, the Go 4 now connects to JBL’s app and you can go in and either choose from a few premade EQ’s bro you can make your own. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, both of these speakers are playing with their stock EQ’s and the Clip 5 is playing at 75% volume where as the Go 4 is playing at max volume.
Sound test
So first theres the max volume performance on these speakers, now the Go 4 gets impressively loud for its size… but the Clip 5 also gets impressively loud for its size, so loud in fact that it gives larger speakers a run for their money. But with the Go 4 at max volume this speaker is going to be good for the shower or you’re going to be able to hear your music while on a hike rather easily. But just keep in ming that while at max volume, the battery on the Go 4 is going to drain much faster, at max volume its good for like 3 hours of playback time. Where as if you were to go with the Clip 5, 75% volume is a decent listening volume, and its going to last you longer than the Go 4 at max volume, and if you want more volume, the Clip 5 can also give it to you.
But when it comes to the sound quality on these speakers, the Go 4 sounds very similar to the Clip 5. But the main difference between the Clip 5 and Go 4 is that the Clip 5 sounds a little more open than the Go 4 cause instrumentals have more detail, and the vocals are a little more pronounced. Where as the Go 4 can sound a little warmer by comparison. But overall, the Go 4 sounds very imrepssive for its size, and a max volume its usable for the shower or while on a hike or bike ride. But at max volume your battery is going to drain much faster. So if you were to go with the Clip 5, the Clip 5 is going to sound a little more open than the Go 4, but more importantly, at 75% volume its like the Go 4 at max volume, so your battery is going to last longer than the Go 4… or if you want a higher max volume in a small package, the clip 5 can give you that.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker with other speakers causes this is a major upgrade for both the Clip 5 and Go 4. Now both the Clip 5 and Go 4 have aura cast, and if you have 2 of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them together and get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
Or if you can also wirelessly pair either of these two speakers to any other aura cast speakers like lets say another clip 5, a Go 4, Xtreme 4, or even to JBL’s new party boxes that are also using aura cast like either the Partybox 120, 320, or ultimate and get them to play in sync.
But strangely enough, you cant pair your clip 5 or Go 4 to JBL’s older Partyboost speakers like either a Boombox 3, a boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 5 or flip 6. And I say that this is weird cause with the Xtreme 4, which is an Aura cast speaker, you can connect it to JBL’s older speakers and get them to play in sync. So hopefully JBL will add this backwards compatibility to the Clip 5 and Go 4 in the future, cause I would really like to be able to pair these speakers to lets say a Flip 6 or Charge 5. But nonetheless I am happy to see that the Clip 5 and Go 4 have aura cast cause you can grow your collection of speakers or compliment your Xtreme 4 or new Partybox.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Go 4 is a very impressive speaker that has gotten some big upgrades. It has Aura Cast so you can pair it to other Aura Cast speakers and grow your collection of speakers. It also has a decent battery life for its size and it gets impressively loud for its size. However, this is a speaker that you’re probably going to end up using at higher volume on a regular basis, which means you’re going to drain its battery life much faster. So personally I would recommend that you upgrade to the Clip 5 cause you dont have to use it a Max volume all of the time so its battery life is going to last longer. But nonetheless, the Go 4 is very impressive for its super compact size.