The JBL Clip 5 is the next generation of the JBL Clip 4. This popular portable speaker is easily identifiable by its signature carabiner 'clip' that helps it tag along with any activities you have lined up. This iteration promises a redesigned, wider carabiner hook, Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, and AuraCast support for easy pairing with other compatible JBL speakers. It's rated IP67 for protection against water submersion and dust damage, ensuring it'll perform come rain or shine.
Our Verdict
The JBL Clip 5 is acceptable for music. Its small form factor means that it can't deliver much in terms of low-bass, but it compensates with a boost in the high-bass that helps bring out kicks and basslines. The mid and treble ranges are quite well-balanced, though, so vocals and speech are reproduced accurately; plus, there's a graphic EQ and presets in the app to help tweak the sound. While it can't playback stereo content, it has outstanding directivity, so you don't need to worry about your positioning around the speaker. That said, it can't get very loud and there's significant bass-range compression as you crank up the volume.
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Bluetooth multipoint with up to two devices.
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Outstanding directivity.
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Extremely lightweight and portable.
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Just six hours of battery life at higher volumes.
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Can't get very loud.
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Can't play stereo content. Must downmix to mono.
The JBL Clip 5 is disappointing for videos and movies. While its reasonably low latency with iOS and Android devices might tempt you to pair it with a phone while watching YouTube videos it shouldn't be used for much more than that. It lacks the requisite bass response for intense movie sequences, though its balanced mid-range reproduces dialogue clearly. While it can't playback stereo content without downmixing to mono, it has excellent directivity, meaning it sounds consistent regardless of the listening angle.
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Bluetooth multipoint with up to two devices.
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Outstanding directivity.
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Just six hours of battery life at higher volumes.
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Can't get very loud.
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Can't play stereo content. Must downmix to mono.
The JBL Clip 5 is good for podcasts. It reproduces mid-range frequencies accurately, reproducing your favorite host's voices with detail and clarity. While it can't get very loud without compressing, most of the compression is in the bass range (below where speech is reproduced), and you can always clip it on your person so the audio follows you around. This is aided by its outstanding directivity, which ensures consistent audio delivery regardless of the listening angle.
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IP67 rated against dust and water damage.
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Bluetooth multipoint with up to two devices.
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Outstanding directivity.
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Extremely lightweight and portable.
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Just six hours of battery life at higher volumes.
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Can't get very loud.
The JBL Clip 5 doesn't feature support for voice assistants of any kind.
The JBL Clip 5 is decent for outdoor use. It's immensely portable and lightweight, plus its IP67 rating for protection against dust and water damage makes it a good fit to brave the elements on a camping trip. That said, its battery life isn't the best at just over six hours, though you can extend it by using the Playtime Boost feature or keeping the volume on the lower side. It's not the loudest speaker by any means, but can keep you company while you're trekking around, aided by its excellent directivity.
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IP67 rated against dust and water damage.
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Outstanding directivity.
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Extremely lightweight and portable.
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Just six hours of battery life at higher volumes.
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Can't get very loud.
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Can't play stereo content. Must downmix to mono.
- 6.4 Music
- 5.6 Videos/Movies
- 7.5 Podcasts
- 3.1 Voice Assistant
- 7.1 Outdoors
- Updated Aug 15, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Aug 09, 2024: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 06, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jul 17, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jun 26, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The JBL Clip 5 is the next generation of the JBL Clip 4. It's available in quite a few color variants, including 'Red,' 'Purple,' 'Blue,' 'Black,' 'White,' 'Pink,' 'Sand,' 'Black and Orange' and 'Squad (camo).' You can see our unit's label here. If you encounter another variant of this speaker, please let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Speakers
Following in the footsteps of the JBL Clip 4, the fifth generation of the Clip introduces quite a few upgrades in performance and features that make it a more attractive buying choice. While the new iteration keeps the same IP67 rating and carabiner hook design, it adds handy features like Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, a companion app (with graphic EQ and presets), and AuraCast support (for easy pairing with other compatible JBL speakers). That said, it doesn't get very loud, and its six-hour battery life leaves something to be desired. The JBL Xtreme 4 trades off size and portability in favor of a louder, more balanced sound and an impressive 27 hours of battery life.
See also our recommendations for the best portable Bluetooth speakers, the best Bluetooth speakers under $100, and the best golf cart speakers.
The JBL Clip 5 is the next generation of the JBL Clip 4 and comes with a host of improvements while maintaining the formula that has made the Clip series popular. Both speakers are well-built, extremely portable, and IP67-rated. With the new generation, the distinctive carabiner hook has been redesigned to be wider and easier to clip onto things. JBL have also added Bluetooth multi-device pairing, as well as companion app compatibility, so you can tweak the sound via a graphic EQ and presets. The newer version also has a more balanced sound and can get louder, though it compresses more at max volume. For these reasons, it's well worth picking up the Clip 5 over the Clip 4, regardless of your preferred usage.
The JBL Charge 5 and the JBL Clip 5 are very different speakers that are suited for different uses. The Clip 5, with its handy carabiner, is great for on-the-go uses, where it can be brought along with no need for a bag. It features better directivity, so sound is more consistent from different listening angles. The Charge 5 has a more balanced default sound, with better bass extension, over double the battery life, and it can get much louder with less compression. It's much better suited to soundtracking small gatherings. That said, both speakers are well-built with IP67 ratings, so both can be used outdoors without worry.
The JBL Flip 5 is the JBL Clip 5's slightly larger sibling. That said, it doesn't offer much in terms of meaningful upgrades for its increased size and higher price. While it has a slightly longer battery life and can get a bit louder with less compression, its directivity isn't quite as good, and there's no EQ or presets in the companion app. The Clip 5 is better built, too, with a rating for dust resistance. Both speakers are very portable, but it's hard to top the Clip 5's ability to clip on to just about anything with its extremely lightweight build. Unless you care about the marginal increase in volume and decrease in compression, the Clip 5 is likely a safer, more versatile choice.
The JBL Clip 5 and the Bose SoundLink Micro are both extremely portable speakers with small footprints. They have different mechanisms to fasten themselves onto bags or bikes, with the JBL sporting a carabiner while the Bose features a strap on the back. Their differences extend beyond this, however, as the JBL has a more balanced sound, which can be tuned via a graphic EQ and presets, and it can get louder, too. That said, the Bose can be a more versatile option as it features a longer continuous battery life and voice assistant capabilities when paired with a compatible Siri or Google Assistant device.
Test Results
The JBL Clip 5 follows in the footsteps of the JBL Clip 4 design-wise. It's a small, palm-sized speaker with a large JBL logo emblazoned on the front. It features a distinctive integrated carabiner, which has been redesigned with this model to have a wider opening (for easy clipping). It comes in a few color variants, including 'Red,' 'Purple,' 'Blue,' 'Black,' 'White,' 'Pink,' 'Sand,' 'Black and Orange' and 'Squad (camo).'
This speaker is incredibly portable. Its integrated carabiner hook allows it to be clipped to a bag or backpack, and its lightweight design allows it to be attached to a waistband and carried around on your person.
This speaker has a great build quality. Much like its predecessor, it's rated IP67 for protection against dust and submersion in water. The speaker is constructed mostly from plastic and rubber, with some netting that wraps tightly around the whole speaker. The carabiner also seems solid and has a nice flex to it. We tried submerging it to see if it would float and found that, while it stays on the surface for a few minutes, it will start to sink after this. It's good to know if you accidentally drop it in a body of water, you'll have a few minutes to retrieve it before taking a dive.
The controls are straightforward and easy to use. You can see an overview of the controls scheme here. The 'Power, 'Bluetooth' and 'Auracast' buttons are indented to avoid accidental presses. Sadly, this doesn't extend to the volume and playback buttons, which are less responsive, though they're embossed for easy identification. There's a good amount of audio feedback; there's a chime that sounds when you power the speaker on and when you pair a device via Bluetooth or Auracast. The same goes for when you hit max or minimum volume. Sadly, there's no chime for when you hit play or pause, and there aren't any voice prompts.
Using the 'JBL Signature' EQ preset, with the speaker placed flat, the frequency response is relatively balanced across the mid and treble range, so vocals and speech sound crisp and detailed. There's not a lot in terms of low-bass response, but this is to be expected from a speaker of this size. The high-bass and low-mids are boosted to compensate for this, resulting in some of the punch of kicks and basslines coming through. You can tweak the sound somewhat using the graphic EQ and presets in the app, but there's not much scope for increasing the bass response.
The soundstage performance is good. This speaker can't playback stereo content, downmixing to mono instead, but it has outstanding directivity. As a result, audio sounds consistent from most listening angles around the speaker.
This speaker has a disappointing dynamics performance. It can't get very loud, which is to be expected from a speaker of this size, but there's quite a bit of compression in the bass range as you turn the volume up, which can reduce the clarity of audio.
The battery life performance is okay. The manufacturer advertises up to 12 hours of battery life off a single charge, but we were able to achieve just over six hours. This discrepancy is likely due to us testing the speaker at a higher volume than the manufacturer, which can affect the battery's longevity. It does come with some features that can help extend battery life though. The Playtime Boost feature can be activated via the app, which boosts the battery life, though we subjectively found that this came at the expense of audio quality. There's also an auto-off timer that turns the speaker off after 20 minutes of inactivity.
The JBL Portable app gives you control over a limited range of parameters. You can use it to alter the sound with a graphic EQ and presets, turn on the Playtime Boost feature, or pair other AuraCast-compatible speakers for stereo playback or party mode. That said, there's no support for PartyBoost, so this speaker can only pair with AuraCast-enabled JBL speakers. You can see a video of the app in action here.
Aside from the USB-C charging port, this speaker doesn't support any kind of wired connection.
The Bluetooth connectivity is great. This speaker supports multi-device pairing with up to two devices via Bluetooth. Latency with Android and iOS devices is okay, so you won't notice much in the way of audio-video sync issues. That said, different devices and apps compensate for latency, so your experience may vary.