JBL Clip 5: Review

JBL has already cornered parts of the market with its portable speakers, none of which appear to compromise sound quality the smaller they get.

And while some, like the XTreme 4 or the Boombox seem to favour size over anything else, the company's push to make more portable speakers and offer a range of subtly different models is worth applauding.

The latest in this push is the Clip 5, a speaker that looks like a padlock in some ways, but locks in decent sound while doing the basics. While it is specifically designed to be clipped to something (the clue is in the name), it's a frustration that it can't act as a stand-alone speaker and will need to be propped up otherwise.

Much like its other range of speakers, JBL's ensured the Clip 5's Bluetooth capability works well and quickly, and with a 12 hour battery life, this larger speaker certainly has the base level requirements more than ticked off.

It's a little weightier than other speakers but given it can be boosted up high to get the sound pumping out, perhaps the weight is a little more necessary to ground the speaker and ensure it delivers what it should. 

Speaking of sound, the Clip 5 is noticeably solid but not massively spectacular when compared to the likes of the Go 4. It offers punchy sound, but at times, it felt like the speaker was straining a little more than would be expected. But in truth, given this is a portable speaker with a clip, it doesn't feel like it's intended to be a static device to be listened to, but one to be used on the go with sound quality begin good, but not the main priority.

In terms of it being used for TV, it works just as well rather than solely for music. With no signs of distortion or crackling, the speaker can do more, meaning podcasts or spoken word content works just as well.

While its charging USB-C cord isn't as long as others, there's much of a feeling that the minor issues are where the Clip 5 slightly falls down.

But these are all subsidiary issues for a speaker that once again provides the patented JBL audio you've come to enjoy.