To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
- Incredibly potent for its size
- Supreme portability and durability
- Lossless audio over USB-C
- Can’t be paired with JBL PartyBoost speakers
- No USB-C cable included
JBL is the market-leading manufacturer of Bluetooth speakers, and the Flip is the best-selling option in its lineup. The seventh-generation JBL Flip 7 was unveiled at a raucous JBL launch party in March, and I’ve spent the past couple of months intermittently annoying the residents of south-west London with it.
Without wanting to make the rest of this review redundant, I’ll say now that if you’re looking for a speaker capable of delivering loud, impactful audio wherever you go, look no further than the JBL Flip 7.
What do you get for the money?
The JBL Flip 7 costs £129, which may seem like a lot for a relatively diminutive portable speaker, but it packs a hell of a punch for its size. The speaker, which measures 183 x 72 x 70mm (WDH), crams in a 1.75in x 3in woofer (25W RMS) and a 0.6in tweeter (10W RMS), bringing total output to an impressive 35W – a 5W increase on the JBL Flip 6.
Unlike the excellent Sonos Roam there’s no Wi-Fi connectivity, so you’ll be doing all your streaming over Bluetooth. The Flip 7 supports Bluetooth 5.4, which is the latest version, and you have both the SBC and AAC codecs at your disposal. Lossless audio is available over a USB-C connection, although you’ll need your own cable as JBL doesn’t include one in the box.
Portability is central to the success of the Flip series, and the seventh-gen model is even easier to transport than its predecessors. It’s reasonably light at 560g, and JBL’s new “PushLock” system gives you a couple of options as to how you get it from A to B. If you want to carry it using the included loop strap, simply clip this into the PushLock catch on the rear of the speaker. If you’d rather attach it to your bag, press the release button, remove the loop strap, and replace it with the carabiner you get in the box.
Battery life is stated at 14 hours, a two-hour increase on the Flip 6, but you can eke out a further two hours by engaging PlaytimeBoost in the JBL Portable app. I’m not sure what kind of witchcraft JBL has invoked here; this mode also increases the volume of your music, albeit at the expense of disabling any EQ you have selected.
There are four EQ presets to choose from in the app: JBL Signature, Chill, Energetic and Vocal – along with a seven-band graphic equaliser for creating your own preset and an option for connecting two Flip 7s to enjoy stereo audio. Stereo and multi-speaker functionality is handled over Auracast, a notable departure from the PartyBoost technology incorporated in the Flip 6. As a result, you can’t pair the Flip 7 with its predecessor.
What does it do well?
JBL hasn’t meddled with a winning formula where design is concerned, but the Flip 7 is even better equipped to withstand the rigours of outdoor life than its predecessor. The improved IP68 rating (up from IP67 on the Flip 6) won’t make a huge practical difference – the speaker can now be submerged in deeper water for slightly longer – but it does provide additional reassurance should, in JBL’s words, “it roll down a dusty hill and land in a lake”.
The inclusion of a carabiner is a plus, too; I found having a more secure way to attach it to my bag very useful when using it on hikes and bike rides, and the PushLock system for switching between the loop strap and carabiner works extremely well.
Equally impactful is the addition of extra protective bumpers at either end of the speaker, which keep the passive radiators safe in the event you drop the Flip 7. JBL says the Flip 7 can handle a fall onto concrete from 1m; I tested this on my patio, and the speaker came away unscathed; try as I might, I couldn’t find a chink in the Flip 7’s armour. It’s as rugged as Bluetooth speakers come, and that’s a huge selling point.
As is typical of portable JBL products, the Flip 7 is available in a range of eye-catching colours, including my personal favourite, purple, and “Squad”, which is essentially army camouflage. JBL knows its audience well enough by now, and the colourways on offer are guaranteed crowd pleasers.
The Flip 7’s other big draw is the ridiculous level of sound it’s able to produce. This is a speaker that’s not much bigger than the largest can of Red Bull you can get with a supermarket meal deal, yet it had me shaking my head in disbelief at the volume and size of the soundstage it created.
And it’s no blunt instrument. The tweeter and woofer work harmoniously to articulate sounds across the frequency spectrum, and I noted a surprising level of mid-range detail when listening to Invisible Touch by Genesis. I could clearly pick out the guitar, synth and drum components, and the intonation of Phil Collins’ vocal was spot on. There’s a lovely musicality and dynamism to the Flip 7. Billy Ocean’s Love Really Hurts Without You may be a song about heartbreak, but its infectious energy was communicated admirably.
I had reservations about how the woofer and passive radiator combination would perform before listening to the Flip 7, but the speaker impressed here, too. The bassline on Corona’s “Baby Baby” was unexpectedly punchy; the JBL Flip 7 did a much better job reproducing the track than the large wired speakers I first heard the song on at a disco in 1994.
What could be improved?
The Flip 7 gets very little wrong, so the changes I’d make are pretty minor.
On the sonic front, I found that toggling on PlaytimeBoost saw audio quality take a discernible turn for the worse, so I recommend you avoid using it. I wouldn’t remove it outright, however, as it’s handy in a pinch. I’d also dial back treble frequencies on the default EQ. They’re a bit too shrill at high volumes, although this is easily remedied via the in-app customisable EQ.
I’d appreciate a slightly bigger carrying strap. The supplied strap can only accommodate a couple of slender fingers and I wish it were large enough to slip over my wrist. I’d have also included a USB-C cable. It’s been a long time since I opened the box of a product powered by a rechargeable battery to find there was no means to charge it at all. This is especially odd as the Flip 7 supports lossless playback over a USB-C connection. Of course, most people have at least a couple of USB-C to USB-C cables lying around, but I think JBL should have given buyers a means to make use of this feature.
My final grumble relates to compatibility with older JBL speakers. The Flip 7 can be grouped with other Auracast-enabled speakers in JBL’s lineup, including the Clip 5 and Charge 6, but the decision to drop PartyBoost in favour of Auracast leaves previous Flip generations out in the cold.
It’s an understandable move on JBL’s part. Auracast is seen as a future-proofed connection technology by many in the audio industry, including the long-serving members of JBL’s product development team I spoke to at the Flip 7 launch event. However, it’s a shame that those who own a Flip 6 and choose to buy the Flip 7 won’t be able to access stereo playback.
It’s also worth saying that I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to buy this model if you already have the Flip 6 at home. Despite it being hands-down a better speaker, the upgrades aren’t worth forking out for unless you’re made of money.
Should you buy the JBL Flip 7?
However, if you don’t own the last-gen version, I wholeheartedly recommend the JBL Flip 7. No other Bluetooth speaker I’ve tested matches the volume the Flip 7 can produce from such a compact package, and the sound it creates is enjoyable and engaging.
Its rock-solid build quality, durability and water resistance mean you can use it anywhere without worry, and its size makes it incredibly convenient to take away with you – it’s already in my bag for an upcoming trip to Portugal.
The JBL Flip 7 is the best pound-for-pound Bluetooth speaker on the market right now and the one I’ll be pointing people to throughout what I hope will be a long, hot summer.
