The Charge 4 is showing it’s age, but it’s not without merit
When it comes to everyday Bluetooth speakers, few are as popular as the Charge series, and while the newer Charge 5 has better performance, the Charge 4 still holds some value today. It is frequently available on discounts for less than the Flip 6. I tested the Charge 4 again recently to see if it’s still a worthwhile purchase – here are my findings.
Key Takeaways:
- The Charge 4 is a decent speaker, but has fallen victim to age.
- The design is durable and very easy to use.
- Sound quality falls short of the newer Charge 5.
- Excellent Bluetooth performance.
- Battery life is on par with more modern releases.
Charge 4
The Bottom Line
If you’re on a tight budget and find a great deal on the Charge 4, it holds some merit. However, at its recommended retail price, there are newer speakers that perform better. Even the smaller Flip 6 edges it out in volume and dynamic performance.
What I Like:
- Reliable & low-latency Bluetooth
- Durable design with waterproofing
- Controls are easy to use
- Competitive battery performance
What I Don’t Like:
- Single driver design limits soundstage and detail
- Older Bluetooth version means it doesn’t support Low-Energy Audio codecs
- No dust-protection rating
- Falls short of newer releases of the same price range
Stylish Design With Great Durability
Despite being released back in 2018, the Charge 4’s durability is comparable with most of today’s speakers, and aside from some small changes, the overall build and materials used are quite similar to that on the Charge 5.
The speaker’s exterior is covered with fabric wrap to protect it from scratches, except for the ends, which are made from durable rubber. The Charge 4 can handle a lot and can serve as a reliable companion for regular outdoor use.
I personally prefer the base of the Charge 4 over its successor, as it’s less prone to damage over time and the slight translucency looks quite cool.
The Charge 4 Is Lightweight And Easy To Carry
With a weight of 2.12 lbs and dimensions of 8.7 x 3.7 x 3.7″ – the Charge 4 falls on the larger side for an everyday speaker, but is still comfortable to carry for most adults. However, children or women with small hands may find that getting a solid grip around the speaker is a bit challenging.
Unlike the Flip, the Charge series doesn’t have a built-in carry loop, as the speaker is slightly too heavy for it to be practical. Still, it’s far from a large or heavy speaker and will suit most people, whether in your own property or taken out on your regular adventures.
Inputs & Outputs
Although portable speakers have by and large given up on aux inputs, the Charge 4 was released during the aux era, which benefits those who prefer wired connections. In addition to the 3.5mm aux input, there’s also a USB output for charging your phone. Although somewhat novel, I used this speaker quite regularly when hiking as tracking apps can chew up battery life on phones. It’s more just about remembering to pack a cable.
Water And Dust-Resistance For Everyday Use, Anywhere
- IPX7 water-resistant design for use around the pool or in the rain.
- No dust protection rating.
Waterproofing is a near-standard feature for portable Bluetooth speakers, and although the Charge 4 was released before dust-protection became a popular feature, it still has an IPX7 rating, meaning it can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes (at under 1 meter) and still function perfectly afterwards.
It can also naturally handle rainy weather and when testing it I would frequently wash it down with a hose after use without risk of damage, just make sure the port seal is closed when used around water.
A dust protection rating is useful when using the speaker at the beach or in a dusty environment, but with a bit of care taken, the Charge 4 can still be used in these environments.
Easy To Use Controls, With Some Limitations
- Basic controls, which are easy to use and well positioned.
- No way to skip tracks backward from the speaker.
The Charge 4’s controls are all centered on the top of the speaker and include the following buttons:
- Power
- Bluetooth pairing
- Play/Pause
- Volume up
- Volume down
- Multi-speaker pairing
I prefer the layout on the Charge 4 over the newer Flip 6, which off-set the buttons so that they are hard to see and reach from in front of the speaker. That isn’t the case with the Charge 4, and the buttons are easy to access from all angles.
The play/pause button also doubles as a track skip shortcut when pressed twice in quick succession. However, there isn’t a way to skip tracks backward without using your phone, which is a bummer. However, this is something even the Charge 5 suffers from.
Overall, the controls aren’t outstanding but align with similar market speakers. If skipping tracks backward directly from the speaker is essential to you, you may need to wait for the Charge 6 for that.
Surprisingly Impressive Bluetooth Performance
- Low latency Bluetooth makes the Charge 4 great for watching videos.
- Retains a stable connection, even at range.
Although the Bluetooth 4.2 version that the Charge 4 supports is kind of old, its implementation in this speaker is outstanding. It retains a steady connection for over 30 feet and has surprisingly low latency, meaning it can be used effectively to watch videos on phones or TVs without any syncing problems.
I also found that even if I left the speaker in one room and went to the kitchen with my phone, it would retain the connection for 15ft+ through a concrete wall, again speaking to the strength of the built-in Bluetooth receiver.
Where this older technology falls short is in its codec support, which can have an influence on the sound quality too. Low-energy audio was introduced from Bluetooth 5.2 onwards and can more effectively compress high-quality audio files.
Limited Multi-Speaker Pairing Using Connect+
The Charge 4 supports multi-speaker pairing using JBL’s proprietary “Connect+” pairing technology. However, Connect+ is now two generations old, with JBL moving to PartyBoost for the Charge 5 and more recently adopting Auracast as the preferred method for connecting multiple speakers together.
Since it uses Connect+, it’s only able to be paired with older products like the Flip 4, Charge 3, Xtreme 2, Pulse 3, or first-generation Boombox. It also supports true wireless stereo pairing if you have another Charge 4, but TWS is limited to speakers of the same model.
If you’re like me, you probably don’t use multi-speaker pairing, and if it’s not an essential feature to you and you don’t plan on having a second JBL speaker, this isn’t a problem. However, if you do plan to use your speaker in pairings, the Charge 4 is very limited in this regard.
Mobile App Support
I found that the mobile app support is somewhat dated because even though it can be used with the JBL Portable app, it doesn’t come with the same EQ options as the Charge 5. In fact, there are no EQ options (preset or custom) with the Charge 4, meaning there isn’t an easy way to adjust its sound. To do so would require a third-party EQ app.
With that said, the app still has some value and I mostly use it to check the remaining battery life of the speaker.
Frequency Response Measurements
- Bass is mediocre and lacks depth compared to similarly priced speakers.
- Vocals sound clear for the most part, but degrades at higher volume.
- Good for casual listening, but lack of detail will disappoint audio critics.
To objectively test the sound quality, we ran frequency response tests which showed how the speaker reproduces different frequency sounds. These tests show the Charge 4 has decent bass, but that it’s fairly narrow and not very deep. This typically indicates bass that aligns more with a punchy sound than being able to produce deep, rumbling lows.
The midrange frequencies are where most vocals and instruments lie, and while a balanced midrange is considered the best, the Charge 4’s mids are slightly uneven, which can cause some instruments to sound fractionally louder than others. Most listeners won’t be able to identify these differences though and for the casual user, the mids still sound reasonably clear.
The higher frequencies, including the upper mids and treble, are recessed and not as prominent as on the Charge 5, meaning the speaker doesn’t sound as bright and clear. For its price point, it doesn’t do too badly – especially when we factor in its age. But there are brighter-sounding speakers with more detail nowadays for similar prices, such as the Soundcore Motion 300 or Ultimate Ears Megaboom 4.
Overall, I found this speaker to produce decent quality, but falls short of newer releases on the market. It sounds quite good at moderate volume levels, but at high volume, there’s some distortion present, which I found especially true for more aggressive genres of music.
The Charge 4 Sounds Good At Moderate Volume Levels, But Quality Degrades When Played Loud
- Powered by a single driver, the Charge 4 has a sub-par soundstage.
- Retains good clarity until around 75% volume, then gets a bit distorted.
Soundstage refers to how encompassing the sound feels to the listener and is influenced primarily by the amount of drivers and their position in the speaker. Since the Charge 4 only uses a single driver, its soundstage performance is relatively weak and one-dimensional.
This just means that the speaker isn’t going to sound extremely immersive, which is somewhat standard for speakers that use a single driver. The Charge 5 improved on this slightly by adding a tweeter to the design.
Dynamics is another somewhat technical term that describes how well a speaker can produce subtle differences in sound across different volume levels. The Charge 4 does reasonably but not great in this regard, which isn’t surprising given its age. Dynamics are something that JBL has been improving significantly in their 2024 releases and the next Charge release will likely see a significant upgrade to the dynamics, as even the Charge 5 didn’t wow us.
In practical use, the limited dynamics are going to manifest primarily in a lowering of sound quality as the volume of the speaker is pushed towards the 80%+ range.
Lacks The Volume Required To Fill A Room
When it comes to volume, this speaker isn’t going to fill a large room and is better suited for smaller rooms or groups of between 5 and 10 people. When we tested the volume, we got just over 87 decibels at a distance of 1 meter. This means it’s not as loud as the Charge 5 or even the smaller Flip 6, which produces 90.8 and 89.4 decibels, respectively.
Reasonable Battery Life With Visual Indicator
- Rated for up to 20 hours of playtime.
- Actual playtime is around 14 hours at moderate volume.
- Recharges with USB-C, take about 4 hours.
JBL suggests that the Charge 4 can last up to 20 hours, but in our tests at casual listening volume, we got just shy of 14 hours. This is still pretty good and ahead of some larger speakers, we’ve reviewed. At high volume levels 60-75% I found a realistic playtime to be between 8 and 10 hours.
I like the battery indicator buttons near the base that give a visual indicator of the remaining battery life.
Recharging takes about 4 hours and uses a USB-C cable, which is still the most prevalent charging port today.
Price, Value & Alternatives
With the Charge 4 still usually selling for over $100, I wouldn’t recommend it to most buyers and instead would suggest going with the new Bose SoundLink Flex or Marshall Emberton II, which both sound better than the Charge and are available at a similar price.
It’s not that the Charge 4 is a bad speaker, by any means, just that the market has moved on and the benchmark for what you can get for $100 has changed significantly since its release back in 2018. Even the more recent Charge 5, which we reviewed here, has started to show signs of age.
My Final Thoughts
Overall, the Charge 4 was a great speaker when it came out and although it’s still readily available on the market, it’s starting to show its age in certain areas, with somewhat weak soundstage and dynamic performance. If you come across a great deal on it and don’t consider yourself a ‘speaker person’, there is merit in purchasing it. Otherwise, consider going with a similarly priced modern release like those listed above.
