JBL Flip 7 Review: Party Time Refined

Over the years, JBL’s Flip has go my favourite Bluetooth speaker, offering the champion bargain betwixt sound, size, and durability. My trusty Flip 5 whitethorn not beryllium the astir hi-fi exemplary successful my arsenal, but it offers wide and afloat audio performance, and its convenient premix of usability and mobility makes it the 1 I crook to erstwhile I request euphony connected the spell (or connected the patio).

The Flip has gotten a notch amended with each iteration, and the caller Flip 7 keeps pace. It adds a invited artillery boost, caller features similar a removable transportation strap, dependable upgrades successful a tweeter tweak, and a caller “AI Sound Boost” DSP strategy for much punch. Sadly, the diagnostic creep comes with a terms emergence (thanks, inflation). It’s lone $20 implicit the Flip 6, but that bladed borderline of separation betwixt rivals similar the UE Boom 4 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and Beats Pill (8/10, WIRED Recommends) was portion of the Flip’s appeal.

The caller talker besides trades JBL’s convenient PartyBoost strategy that connects aggregate older models successful tandem for the adjacent large thing, Auracast. That’s frustrating for JBL collectors and could marque grabbing the akin Flip 6 connected merchantability a smarter buy. Those points aside, the Flip 7 is an fantabulous talker that sounds amended than ever. If you’ve been holding out, it’s a worthy upgrade and erstwhile again among the champion Bluetooth speakers you tin buy.

(Slightly) New Digs

The Flip’s basal plan hasn't changed overmuch implicit time, with the aforesaid tubular illustration wrapped successful a flack overgarment successful six antithetic colorways. That’s really the income pitch: “Same size, bigger punch,” though the talker got a teensy spot taller astatine 7.19 inches. The matte metallic JBL logo connected the beforehand provides a stylish upgrade implicit the aging Flip 5 but looks astir identical to the 6.

The fewer noticeable changes see an other protruding rubber prong astir the endcaps, rearranged onboard controls, and a caller loop that detaches with a fastener press. The breakaway plan isn’t the astir stable—I mislaid the loop momentarily during my valuation by presumably pressing the merchandise cardinal accidentally—but you bash get a backup with a carabiner.

Most of the caller worldly is undetectable, including shockproof investigating for one-meter drops to lucifer speakers similar the Boom 4 and Megaboom 4. I’ve kicked astir my non-shockproof Flip beauteous carelessly without issue, but I admit the added security, particularly since 1 driblet of my Pill disconnected a compartment stairway resulted successful immoderate nasty scars.

The Flip 7 is besides IP68 upwind resistant, arsenic opposed to the much modular IP67. The “6” means top-tier dustproofing for formation escapades, portion the “8” is nebulously defined by manufacturers; successful this lawsuit it equates to harmless dunking astatine 1.5 meters of h2o for 30 minutes alternatively than IP67’s 1 meter.

JBL says it redesigned the Flip’s half-inch tweeter dome for much refined sound, which pairs with a 1.75- by 3-inch racetrack woofer for a mono soundstage. Beats’ Pill provides stereo tweeters, portion the Boom offers a 360-degree soundstage. Despite that, the Flip 7 excels with immoderate of the champion dependable you’ll find astatine its size. JBL says different portion of the dependable equation is its updated integer awesome processing, called AI Sound Boost (JBL loves the connection “Boost”).