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JBL Flip 7 – Hardware Review

It’s only been a few days since we featured JBL’s Charge 6, a marvelous portable speaker that had a perfect mix of functionalities, design, sturdiness, and, of course, superb audio quality. Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at the Charge 6’s smaller sibling, the Flip 7. This portable speaker promises an amazing experience as well, for only a fraction of the size, and an even bigger portability factor. We were curious to see if the size would tamper a lot with the overall experience compared to the Charge 6. Design Just like the Charge 6, the Flip 7 has a cylindrical design, albeit without the flat surface the Charge 6 had. The Flip 7 only has a small rubberized protrusion to keep the speaker in place when putting it down horizontally. Other than that, you’ll see six face buttons, the JBL Logo prominently featured on the front, and the JBL exclamation mark once again visible on the sides. It’s a fairly simple design, but the different color options can spice up your setup. The sides also have rubber padding, preventing fall damage. Comfort In terms of comfort, the Flip 7 doesn’t disappoint. You’ll be treated to a fairly light portable speaker that comes with a detachable strap and a detachable carabiner hook. This makes it easy for you to carry around the speaker or attach it to something. We would have perhaps loved an actual handle as well, like the one we had with the Charge 6, but all in all, we’re not complaining. Just like with the Charge 6, the Flip 7 has six buttons: volume up, volume down, play/pause, power on/off, Bluetooth, and Auracast. The top buttons are very tactile here as well and don’t have too much resistance. The volume and play buttons require some additional force to be pushed down. We still assume this is to create no real gaps between the casing and the buttons, ensuring everything remains as dustproof and waterproof as possible. Overview Just like the Charge 7, the Flip 7 provides a hassle-free setup. When turning on the device for the first time, it will go into pairing mode, and your smartphone should pick up the device immediately when you have Bluetooth turned on. We also used this device mainly for music and media playback, often outdoors with the current summer weather. The device simply needs a USB-C cable to be charged, and that’s pretty much it. The JBL Portable app allows you to tweak settings to fit your current mood or playlist. You’ll have standard equalizer profiles to choose from and the option to make a custom one. You’ll also find the option here to turn on the Playtime Boost, which prolongs battery life, but also firmware updates, etc. The app is very easy to work with, and it’s always nice to be able to swap profiles on the go. If you have a more bass-heavy playlist during the day and you want to swap to an equalizer profile that puts voices in the foreground for your evening winddown, it’s nice to have it available at the press of a button. JBL’s Flip 7 also supports the Auracast feature, where you can link multiple supported devices with the press of a button. As we had both the Charge 6 and Flip 7 available, we formed a seamless chain of speakers by simply pressing the Auracast button on the devices. It’s a really cool feature, especially when you have friends or family members who also own supported products. We often created our own mini stereo music setup or impromptu home theater setup when we watched our favorite shows or movies on a portable device. It’s a really cool feature and rather impressive that it works without any hiccups or lag. The Flip 7 promises 14 hours of playtime with a full charge and 16 hours with the Playtime Boost activated. The battery times are fairly accurate for the most part, meaning you can do a few listening sessions without having to worry about the battery running out. You can charge the speaker via the USB-C connection. We’re not going to lie, we were assuming that the Flip 7’s smaller size would be a cause for a huge decline in sound quality compared to its bigger sibling, the Charge 6. We were wrong, however, as the Flip 7 still sounds crystal clear, and we felt like the party never ended after stopping our testing period with the Charge 6. We enjoyed listening to all our favorite tunes, podcasts, and even used the portable speaker for media playback when watching shows and movies. We were absolutely not disappointed at all, and were rather impressed that this small speaker packs such a massive punch. We did notice that the bass was a bit less pronounced than it was with the Charge 6, but it was still impressive nonetheless. With the portability factor in mind, the Flip 7 was designed to withstand quite a few things. The speaker is waterproof (IP68 certification), so accidentally being submerged in fairly shallow water shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s also dustproof and fallproof. This means that the speaker is built to withstand an unfortunate fall from a table or while carrying it, from a reasonably height, of course. Conclusion If the Charge 6 was perhaps outside of your budget, then the Flip 7 might offer a more affordable alternative, as it offers a very high-quality experience for a much lower price. Of course, you’re trading in some power for that lower price, but all in all, you’re still getting a lot of bang for your buck. The Flip 7 provides users with great sound quality, a high portability factor, a good-looking design, and a lot of protective features, making it more durable. If you’re looking for a portable speaker that’s great for on-the-go, then we suggest checking out the Flip 7.