JBL Announces a Fleet of New Audio Tech at IFA
The summer might be winding down, but JBL and Harman are just heating up with a few announcements this week at IFA 2018 that everyone should be interested in.
The summer might be winding down, but JBL and Harman are just heating up with a few announcements this week at IFA 2018 that everyone should be interested in.
The UA Sport Wireless Flex is another pair of sports earphones resulting from a collaboration between Under Armour and JBL. Previous collaborations have yielded decent offerings that, while good, didn’t get me overly excited. The UA Sport Wireless Flex is different. I love their design, am impressed by their features, and find them to be both comfortable and great sounding.
How does JBL follow their popular JBL Xtreme portable Bluetooth speaker? By going bigger. And that’s exactly what they did with the XTREME 2, an even MORE powerful follow up to one of JBL’s most sold electronics in 2017.
A good pair of headphones is hard to find, but if you’re tired of searching, then you might want to check out JBL’s recently updated Everest series. Sporting three different models, the JBL Everest collection (710GA, 310GA, and 110GA) are made with different wearers in mind, depending on if you like around ear, on-ear, and in-ear.
Just announced at CES 2018 are four new models of the JBL Endurance, the company’s line of sport earphones for active lifestyles. JBL’s Endurance line includes the Endurance RUN, SPRINT, JUMP, and DIVE, all things I like to do, but all designed with a unique set of features that vary according to the activity. The SPRINT, JUMP, and DIVE MODELS all come with waterproof functionality that allows you to take them in the rain, in the cold, and most importantly, in the gym. After that intense workout, you can run them under your sink and rinse them clean which is a…
We are fans of the JBL Clip 2, and when we saw that the company had announced the 3rd edition of their Bluetooth speaker at CES in Vegas, we had to check it out. So what’s changed? And the answer is a whole lot. Taking evolution to a whole new level is the JBL Clip 3, a portable waterproof Bluetooth speaker that doesn’t slack on the features. With ten hours of battery life, an even better audio performance due to JBL tweaking the internals, the Clip 3 also adds a bit of flair with some new colors which will match…
While at IFA, I had a chance to check out the JBL Boombox, their largest and most powerful portable speaker to date. Available in forest green or black, the Boombox offers a 20,000mAh battery, best in class sound, and up to 24 hours of battery life. Most importantly, it probably sounds better than most home stereo speakers. No, really.
Now and then a product comes along that doesn’t fit into an established category. The JBL Soundgear wearable audio device is one such product. The Soundgear isn’t a pair of headphones. It isn’t a Bluetooth speaker. It is a wearable music delivery system that creates an entirely new category. But I’m left to wonder, does it have a future?
For all my grumbling about switching from Android to iOS, it’s really not so bad. The one thing I really missed was Google Assistant, but the JBL Link 20 is doing an excellent job of filling that gap. It’s a portable Bluetooth and WiFi speaker with Google Assistant built-in, so I can take my “Hey, Google” obsession all over the house!
Google has their sights set on taking on Alexa this holiday season, and they have teamed up with JBL to produce three Google Assistant enabled speakers in the form of the JBL LINK 10, 20 and 300. All three of these speakers lets you interact with Google Assistant, so you can tell the speakers do things like play tracks on Spotify, set reminders, ask about the weather, or what’s on your calendar schedule that day. Of the three speakers, the JBL LINK 10 is the smallest and the most portable with a 5 hour battery life. The JBL 20 is…
From the beginning, the JBL Pulse line has been made up of excellent portable speakers which happen to include a light show. But it wasn’t until the Pulse 3 that the design became sophisticated. The JBL Pulse 3 looks like the love child of a portable Bluetooth speaker and a fancier lava lamp, and it’s one pretty baby.
If you love the idea of a portable speaker, but the little bottle-sized ones just aren’t giving you enough oomph, you’ll want to check out the new JBL Boombox. Available this fall for $449.95, it is practically begging to be the center of your next party.
If you’ve got an Amazon Alexa or Google Home device, then you’ve already found out that while intelligent speakers are okay, they usually aren’t that great to look at nor do they sound as amazing as one might hope.
If you have a spare $1500, and you want to experience exceptional headphones that were “inspired and designed by Quincy Jones”, then you could get the AKG N90Q. But if $1500 isn’t quite realistic for your situation, and you’re still interested in trying Jones’ signature sound, then you should take a look at the $200 JBL E55BT Quincy Edition Headphones.
My living room offers a great media experience thanks to a large 4K Vizio display and full surround-sound audio system via Sonos. The bedroom has the 55” Vizio display I reviewed. (Read the review) Thanks to the JBL Cinema SB450 Soundbar, our bedroom offers a great audio experience; this is an impressive audio system, and I am a huge fan.
Another one my favorite CES visits each year is with Harman. As someone who absolutely loves AKG, JBL and Harman Kardon audio products, time at the Harman display space is like being a kid in a candy store. I missed it, but Judie spent some quality time before heading to see Sting in concert.
We’ve got two TCL 4K Roku-enabled televisions in our house, and I feel like TCL is one of those brands that isn’t yet well-known, but they should be. TCL products are extremely well made, they work exactly as promised, and they are generally well priced.
Starting today, if you purchase an HTC 10 through HTC.com (and if you live in the US), you will receive a free pair of the JBL Reflect Aware C Sport Headphones. This offer is good until August 31st as long as supplies last. You’ll also get a $100 accessory credit to use on HTC.com (excluding the HTC Vive and accessories).
I tested the LifeBEAM hat last spring and was quite impressed with the accuracy of their heart rate monitor. They’re expanding their market beyond hats and helmets, putting their heart rate tech into wireless headphones powered by Under Armour and JBL!
JBL has been a leading name in audio for years, and the name that became famous at rock arenas and concert halls also brings spectacular sound reproduction to your automobile. JBL offers a host of car audio products and recently sent along the GX600C component system for us to test and what a treat for our ears it was.
As I mentioned previously in this series on Car Audio, I test a lot of premium factory car stereo systems, and while I am impressed with the quality they achieve I have found they still cannot stand up to the sound quality of aftermarket components installed properly. If you are ready to upgrade that factory stereo system, read on.