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Portable Bluetooth speakers usually force a trade-off. The smallest ones are easy to carry but sound thin; the bigger ones sound better but take up more space in a bag. The JBL Grip Bluetooth Speaker, currently $77.36 on Amazon (down from $99.95), sits right in the middle. Price trackers show this is just a dollar above its lowest recorded price so far, and Amazon is also bundling 90 days of Amazon Music with the purchase, which gives you something to actually play on it right away. It is small enough to slide into a backpack pocket where a water bottle would normally sit, and a nylon loop on the back lets you clip it to a carabiner or hang it from a hook. Plus, it carries an IP68 rating, so it can deal with dust and even survive being submerged in nearly five feet of water for about 30 minutes. JBL also says it can take a three-foot drop onto concrete, so tossing it into a backpack or beach bag isn’t likely to hurt it.
In everyday use, the Grip focuses more on portability and durability than on huge sound. Inside is a 43mm by 80mm full-range driver that covers frequencies from 70Hz to 20kHz, connected through Bluetooth 5.4. It’s a mono speaker, so it doesn’t produce stereo sound on its own, but you can pair it with another JBL speaker if you want that wider effect. In practice, it handles podcasts, playlists, and casual listening well. Voices come through clearly and the midrange stays balanced, though the bass lacks the deeper rumble you would get from a larger speaker like the JBL Flip series, and the high-end detail can sound slightly subdued, notes this PCMag review. Still, the sound has enough body for a speaker this size.
What do you think so far?
JBL includes a few ways to adjust the audio through the JBL Portable app, including four EQ presets and a simple seven-band equalizer. The controls on the speaker itself are straightforward, with power, Bluetooth, and Auracast buttons on top and volume and playback controls on the front. There’s also a small LED light strip on the back that cycles through lighting effects and can act as a soft light source in a dark room or tent. As for its battery life, it is rated for up to 14 hours at moderate volume, which should get through a full day outdoors without needing a recharge. When it does run out, the speaker charges through a USB-C port and takes about three hours to reach full power. Just keep in mind that JBL doesn’t include the USB-C cable, so you’ll need to use one you already have.
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