The Flip 6 Edges Out The Charge 4, But It All Depends What You Want From Your Speaker
JBL’s Charge 4 and Flip 6 are two popular speakers designed for regular use indoors or outdoors. If you’re wondering if it’s worth upgrading your Charge 4 to the newer Flip 6, or perhaps looking to buy one or the other, keep reading as we’ve spent extensive time testing both speakers and will be discussing how they compare.
Key Takeaways:
- The Flip 6 is slightly more durable, while also being easier to carry.
- The Charge 4’s button placement is easier to use than the Flip 6.
- Both speakers sound good, but the Flip 6 is more detailed and louder.
- The Charge 4 has significantly more battery life.
Our Winner
JBL Flip 6 (Left) and JBL Charge 4 (Right)
JBL Charge 4 vs JBL Flip 6 Specs
| Model | Charge 4 | Flip 6 |
| Release Date: | Sept 2018 | Nov 2021 |
| Water Resistance | IPX7 | IP67 |
| Output Power | 30W | 40W |
| Bluetooth Version | 4.2 | 5.1 |
| Battery Life | Up to 20 hours | Up to 12 hours |
| Frequency Response | 60Hz – 20KHz | 63Hz – 20KHz |
| TWS | Yes | Yes |
| Multispeaker Pairing | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | 2.12 lbs | 1.2 lbs |
| Dimensions | 8.7 x 3.7 x 3.7″ | 7 x 2.6 x 2.8″ |
| App Support | Yes | Yes |
| Price: | Check Price | Check Price |
Design, Build, & Durability
Summary: The Flip 6 is easier to carry than the Charge 4, due to both its size and inclusion of a built-in carry loop. It also has the benefit of dust protection, which isn’t available on the Charge.
Durability
Winner: Tied
Made for daily use in any location, the Charge 4 and Flip 6 are both durable speakers with fabric wrap that protects the body from scratches. Although neither speaker has drop protection, they are still well-designed and capable of handling most of what you throw at them.
Waterproofing
Winner: JBL Flip 6
Although both speakers have the same strong IPX7 water resistance which protects them from splashes, sprays & limited submergence – the Flip 6 has the added benefit of a dust proof rating, which isn’t offered by the Charge 4. This helps to reduce dust damage and prevents sand from entering the components of the speaker.
Portability
Winner: JBL Flip 6
The Flip 6 is both smaller and lighter than the Charge 4 (1.2 lbs and 2.12 lbs respectively). The Charge 4 still fits in one hand, but it can feel like a burden at times, especially for those with smaller hands. The Flip 6 is more universally manageable, and also has a carry loop while the Charge 4 doesn’t.
Controls, Connectivity & App Support
Summary: The Charge 4 has better button placement that is easier to use than the Flip. It also comes with both aux input and USB output, neither of which is available on the Flip. The Flip 6 holds the advantage when it comes to app support and multi-speaker pairing though.
Inputs & Outputs
Winner: JBL Charge 4
JBL Charge 4 Ports (Above)
When it comes to input and output ports, the Flip 6 has a stripped back design and doesn’t come with an additional connections. The Charge 4 on the other hand has both a USB output that can charge phones and an auxiliary input so you can play music without Bluetooth.
Controls
Winner: JBL Charge 4
JBL Flip 6 (Left), JBL Charge 4 (Right)
Both the Charge 4 and Flip 6 have the same general controls, which includes:
- Play/Pause
- Bluetooth pairing
- Power
- Volume up
- Volume down
- Multi-speaker pairing
However, the layout of these buttons are significantly different. I feel as though the Charge 4 has better controls, as the buttons are grouped together and sit facing upwards when the speaker is sitting on its base. The Flip 6’s controls can be frustrating as they sit off-center and towards the back of the speaker, meaning you may need to turn the speaker around to see what you’re pressing.
Disappointingly, neither speaker has a way to skip tracks backwards and to do so you’ll need to rely on your phone.
Wireless Connectivity
Winner: JBL Charge 4
Although the Flip 6 has newer Bluetooth (Version 5.1) compared to the Charge 4 (Version 4.2), they both provide similar performance with the Charge 4 actually having slightly less latency owed to the superior Bluetooth receiver. Both speakers can hold reliable connections over reasonable distances, but the Charge 4 is slightly better for watching videos with as its lower latency means better syncing with audio and video.
Multi-Speaker Pairing
Winner: JBL Flip 6
The Charge 4 shows its age when we look at multi-speaker pairing. Although both it and the Flip 6 support TWS (True Wireless Stereo) and general multi-speaker pairing, the Charge 4 uses JBL’s older technology “Connect+” while the Flip 6 uses PartyBoost, which supports a broader range of speakers.
App Support
Winner: JBL Flip 6
Both speakers use the same companion app (JBL Portable), however, the features afforded to the user are stronger with the Flip 6. The Charge 4 lacks any EQ options while the Flip 6 has a useful 3-band EQ that allows you to adjust how the speaker sounds.
The app will also show the speaker’s remaining battery life, and facilitate the multi-speaker pairing process if you’d prefer not to use the on-speaker buttons to do so.
Audio Performance
Summary: The JBL Flip 6 is a better sounding speaker, with more detail, especially in the high frequencies. Neither speaker is particularly bassy, with both only providing a mild thump in the lows. The Flip is also a slightly louder speaker than the Charge 4.
Frequency Response
Winner: JBL Flip 6
The Flip 6 has a better frequency response than the Charge 4, with more balance in the upper mids and highs which make vocals sound clearer and more present in the mix. The Charge 4 has a noticeable dullness in the highs that can lack detail compared to the Flip. I found the Flip 6 to sound clearer and more detailed overall.
Neither speaker’s bass is particularly impressive, which is in part due to their smaller size. The lows are decent, but they fall short of the performance offered by similar sized speakers like the Boom 4 from Ultimate Ears.
Soundstage & Dynamics
Winner: JBL Flip 6
While neither speaker’s soundstage is particularly impressive, the Flip 6 outperforms the Charge 4, sounding slightly more realistic, with better separation between instruments and vocals. This is because the Flip 6 has a primary driver for low and mid tones along with a separate tweeters for detailed high frequencies. The Charge 4 on the other hand, only has a single driver to reproduce all frequencies, limiting its soundstage.
When it comes to dynamics, both speakers offer mediocre performance with compression that degrades the sound quality when pushed above 80% volume. This just means that the speaker will sound clearer at low volume levels and will sound more distorted the higher the volume is.
Volume
Winner: JBL Flip 6
Despite being significantly smaller than the Charge 4, the Flip 6 can get slightly louder. When we measured the volume of each speaker, we found the Charge 4 reached 87.2dB at 1 meter, while the Flip 6 reached a peak of 88.3dB.
In simpler terms, both speakers manage to fill a small room, but their volume is limited and best suited for small group gatherings or personal use. There is only a small audible difference in volume between the two.
Battery & Charging
Winner: JBL Charge 4
The Charge 4 has substantially more playtime on a single charge than the Flip 6. In our tests, it lasted around 12 hours with a 4 hour recharge time, while the Flip 6 only provided 8 hours of playtime. The Flip does charge significantly quicker though, taking about 2.5 hours compared to 4 on the Charge. Both speakers use USB-C ports for charging, making them universally supported by many modern phone chargers.
Price & Value
With the Charge 4 and Flip 6 retailing for $114 and $129 respectively, it feels as though they are both due for a retail mark down. Especially considering the huge savings we see when they are on sale. Both speakers have recently been available for around $80 to $90, which makes them far more viable.
The Charge 4 and Flip 6 are now quite old speakers, and while they’re aging decently, there are new speakers on the market that offer superior features, longer battery life and deeper bass. If you’re comfortable moving away from JBL, I’d recommend the Ultimate Ears Boom 4. For something a bit more durable, with comparable sound quality and more modern features – think about the Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen).
Conclusion
Overall, both the Flip 6 and Charge 4 are decent enough speakers that can compete with today’s releases despite being slightly older. The Flip 6 is a better choice for those favor portability and more versatile app control, while the Charge 4 is a better choice for those who need a long-lasting battery.
If you own the Charge 4 and are considering upgrading to the Flip 6, I’d recommend waiting until the release of the Charge 6, which we anticipate will happen early to mid 2025.
