If you’re after a little more volume than your phone typically offers, JBL is hoping a small speaker can deliver volume in a small package.
You don’t need to look too far to find a wireless speaker in this day and age, because everyone has one. Big names, little names, and even the randomly generic names from stores you’ve never encountered.
It’s not that a portable Bluetooth speaker is necessarily easy to make, but it seems like everyone has them, and they almost always fit a style: a cylindrical can of sound with a battery meant to take with you.
They’ll fit in a backpack and are easy to carry, but that doesn’t mean they’re all equally portable. Some are, in fact, more portable than others, and depending on the sort of thing you’re after, some can be particularly pint-sized.
JBL’s latest definitely look to fit in that category, with the Go 3 and Clip 4 catering for that, the former offering an IP67 water and dust resistant speaker in a small box with five hours of battery, while the latter change the design and bolsters the battery with twice the life at ten hours, providing it all in a speaker that can be clipped using a sort of a carabiner clip.
Essentially, they’re small speakers meant to be taken with you, albeit in different ways.
They’re not alone, either. There’s a slightly bigger speaker in the JBL Xtreme 3, which is more like the sizeable cylinder you might be expecting a speaker to be, but comes with up to 15 hours of life alongside the water and dust resistant design, plus a strap to keep it on your shoulder and a bottle opener, because you might be itching to open bottles while listening to tunes.
“These products are cutting-edge and are suitable for all consumers, whether you’re a lover of music or of a podcast our products come in such a wide variety that you won’t be limited for choice,” said Marcus Fry, General Manager of Harman in Australia and New Zealand, the brand that distributes JBL in our neck of the woods.
While small-ish sizes are part of JBL’s focus in these updates, the prices are kept fairly modest, too, offering the block speaker that is the JBL Go 3 for $59.95 in Australia, alongside the carabiner clip speaker in the JBL Clip 4 for $89.95. Meanwhile, the bigger JBL Xtreme 3 is meatier again at $399.95, though does offer a built-in power bank for recharging phones, too.
