JBL Flip 6 Review: Best Portable Travel Speaker Yet?

The JBL Flip speaker series is known for being a small speaker with excellent sound, and just last year, in December 2021, JBL released the JBL Flip 6 as the latest speaker in this series.

The JBL Flip 6 has all your needs, including portability, durability, and great sound quality. The features of the JBL Flip 6 have also been upgraded, which makes it way better compared to its predecessor, the JBL Flip 5. A small budget speaker of this size with a big sound is worth considering.

But before you make a purchase decision, it is important to know everything about this speaker first.

JBL Flip 6 Overview

Pros of the JBL Flip 6	Cons of the JBL Flip 6
All-new Design	No Carrying Case
Comes with a Rubber Stopper
Emphasized Vocals
Crispy Highs
Decent Bass
Wide Sound Stage
Comes with a 10W Tweeter
Has EQ Settings
IP67 Waterproof
Bluetooth 5.1

→ You might want to read Flip 5 vs Flip 6.

Price

Since the JBL Flip 6 belongs to the category of small speakers, this means that the JBL Flip 6 is budget-friendly.

When it comes to price, the JBL Flip 6 currently retails for $129 as of March 2022. For comparison, the JBL 5 has a price tag of $109, which is $20 less than the JBL Flip 6.

If you have the budget, I highly recommend you go for the JBL Flip 6 because this speaker performs better overall, and it has the latest features.

However, if you do not have the budget, I suggest you wait for a sale day or sale event, which is not a long wait since JBL routinely goes on sale. This will help you buy the JBL Flip 6 at a discount and save money on top of your purchase.

Design

At first glance, you will notice right away that the JBL Flip 6 looks different compared to its predecessors.

For starters, the new JBL Flip 6 doesn’t have that classic red JBL emblem at the front anymore but instead now has the logo engraved at the front.

This is because the other new speakers of JBL also have the same design wherein they no longer have the classic red JBL emblem on them.

The JBL Flip 6 still has that strong, durable fabric wrapped around its body for this speaker to withstand constant abuse such as accidental drops, bumps, and scrapes.

In addition to that, the JBL Flip 6 still has a carry strap built on it, so you can conveniently hang this speaker to almost anywhere or anything you want.

But unlike the old JBL Flip speakers, the JBL Flip 6 now has a rubber stopper beneath it to prevent the speaker from moving around or rolling. I commend this simple but useful feature because JBL Flip speakers tend to roll because of their circular bodies.

However, the JBL Flip 6 no longer comes with a free carrying case, unlike the JBL Flip 5. Nonetheless, the JBL Flip 6 is solid and can handle mishaps. 

For the dimensions, the JBL Flip 6 has a height of 7 inches, a width of 2.6 inches, and a depth of 2.8 inches.

The JBL Flip 6 still has relatively the same size as its predecessors, so you won’t have to worry about it taking up space in your bag.

Speaker Buttons

The JBL Flip 6 only has six buttons which means this speaker is easy to navigate. Below are the buttons of the JBL Flip 6:

• Power Button
• Bluetooth Button
• JBL Party Boost Button
• Volume Up Button
• Volume Down Button
• Pause and Play Button

Battery

Both the JBL Flip 5 and JBL Flip 6 have the same battery, which means there is no upgrade in battery life for the JBL Flip 6.

The JBL Flip 6 has a 4,800 mAh battery than can play for 12 hours. Although a 4,800 mAh battery capable of playing for 12 hours is not bad, it would have been better if it were upgraded.

Remember that 12 hours of playtime is only achievable if you play the JBL Flip 6 at 50% volume or lower.

For normal use cases with the JBL Flip 6 set to 80% volume, you are most likely to get 7-8 hours of playtime from this speaker, which is still decent considering its size.

The JBL Flip 6 still charges via a USB C port which is very convenient since most mobile devices charge via USB C nowadays. The USB C port on the JBL Flip 6 is strictly for charging and cannot be used for wired connections.

The JBL Flip 6 takes about 2-3 hours to charge from a dead battery when it comes to charging time. The charging time for the JBL Flip 6 will vary depending on how powerful your charger is.

Bluetooth Version

Regarding the Bluetooth version, the JBL Flip 6 has Bluetooth 5.1, which is way better than the Bluetooth 4.2 of the JBL Flip 5.

The range and connectivity of Bluetooth 5.1 easily outperform Bluetooth 4.2. In addition to that, there are little to no delays at all with Bluetooth 5.1. You can expect to enjoy watching videos or movies with this speaker with no problems.

However, the JBL Flip 6 no longer has an audio jack, unlike the JBL Flip 4. However, the Bluetooth 5.1 version makes up for it.

The JBL Flip 6 can also be connected by two devices simultaneously, so you and your friend can take turns playing music.

The JBL Flip 6 uses SBC only, like most of JBL’s speakers when it comes to audio codecs.

Waterproof Rating

It is also worth noting that the JBL Flip 6 has received an upgrade in terms of its waterproof rating.

The JBL Flip 6 is now IP67-rated which means it has no problems getting wet whatsoever since the IP67 rating allows this speaker to survive being submerged in waters of 1-meter depth for 30 minutes.

The waterproof rating on the JBL Flip 6 is suitable for those who love to carry a speaker with them that is not afraid of water.

Speaker Specifications

When it comes to the speaker setup of the JBL Flip 6, its speaker setup is composed of a single frontward-firing transducer speaker, dual passive radiators, and an all-new frontward-firing tweeter.

Specifically, the output power of the single transducer speaker on the JBL Flip 6 is rated at 20 watts, while the tweeter has an output power of 10 watts.

The JBL Flip 6 has a total output power of 30 watts, which is impressive for a speaker of this size.

Sound

The new tweeter on the JBL Flip 6 is so important because it changes the sound quality of this speaker.

The tweeter on the JBL Flip 6 is responsible for handling the highs, whereas the woofer handles the mids and lows.

Since the predecessors of the JBL Flip 6 did not have a tweeter, the highs on those speakers were significantly flatter than of the JBL Flip 6.

In addition to that, the tweeter on the JBL Flip 6 helps with the instrumental separation to make the hi-hats and cymbals crispier and balanced for the other instruments while not overpowering the vocals. Furthermore, the JBL Flip 6 has more sound stage or reach.

If you are using any of the predecessors of the JBL Flip 6, you will notice the sound improvement on the JBL Flip 6 thanks to its more powerful output power and all-new tweeter.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, the JBL Flip 6 has a much better sound quality and sound stage than all of its predecessors.

Thanks to its all-new tweeter, you can expect to have more pronounced highs and vocals with the JBL Flip 6. In addition to that, the JBL Flip 6 does get a little louder than the JBL Flip 6 because that is one of the benefits of having the tweeter.

Another feature worth noting from the JBL Flip 6 is that you can customize the equalizer settings on this speaker, whereas you cannot with the predecessors of the JBL Flip 6.

Overall, if you want the best-sounding JBL Flip speaker with all the new upgraded features, the JBL Flip 6 is definitely for you! It is portable and perfect for travelers who love to carry a small speaker.