A string of emails from BT and then Royal Mail told me that my JBL Flip 4 speaker - one of the gifts from BT for switching to BT Mobile - was on its way, and would be delivered between 11.27am and 3.27pm today. I wondered why they didn't express it as 'between 11.30am and 3.30pm' - the timing seemed unnecessarily precise. Surely the postman wasn't monitored to the minute on his rounds? Well, maybe he was, so that he wasn't tempted to dawdle. All savage dogs to be faced without hesitation or flinching; no chatting up late-rising ladies in their negligées; and no going off for a pee, or relaxing with a Mars bar. Poor man.
I have to say that when he knocked at my door at 12.45pm, my postman was clearly in a hurry, almost throwing the anticipated package into my hands, and giving me no time at all to seduce him with my winsome ways. Tsk.
Well, slitting open the plastic packaging was the work of a moment, and lo! there stood a rectangular box with various action scenes on it, such as the speaker floating in the sea. Because, of course, it has a high waterproof rating. You can take it into the shower with you, for as long as 30 minutes anyway. (Actually a test review I'd read made it clear that the thing doesn't float - it sinks like a stone)
Inside the box, which was stout and opened up to reveal a party scene, my speaker reposed on a foam bed, beneath a stout black envelope with the usual paperwork inside, and flanked by another stout black envelope containing the orange recharging cable. Mmm. Good-quality packaging! (It won't go to waste: I will use this box when taking the JBL on holiday)
This JBL speaker is about as long as my hand, and weighs about the same as the average paperback. It's not at all heavy, but there is enough heft to tell you that its bass performance is going to be decent. The controls are simple and obvious, and I got it set up with my phone - using bluetooth - in a jiffy. One thing I enjoyed was the loud drummy start-up noise it makes. It makes a similar noise when powered off. Lots of fun.
Here it is in my kitchen, next to my Ruark DAB radio:
The JBL doesn't have to rest horizontally on a flat surface. You can loop its built-in wrist cord over any protuberance or hook, so that it can dangle in mid-air or halfway up a wall. Here it hangs from a kitchen cupboard knob:
And here it is in my bathroom, suspended from a window handle:
You can see the designers had in mind using the JBL in a huge variety of situations, making it a must-pack device for holidays and weekends away from home, whether the accommodation is luxury or rough. Assuming a power source somewhere for eventual recharging, you could take it on an expedition, hanging it from a spar in your backpacking tent.
What's the sound like?
Bearing in mind that we are talking about my hearing (definitely not as acute or discerning as yours) I'd say that the JBL pushes out a sharp clear bass and a very good treble, with only the mid-tones lacking any brilliance. There's plenty of distortion-free volume on tap. I can imagine owning something better still, but, for its size and weight, this is a jolly good speaker and a most worthwhile bit of kit to have. Thank you very much indeed, BT!
I have to say that the JBL sounds much better than the mono speaker on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone, and, come to that, the stereo speakers on my Microsoft Surface Book laptop. And for that reason I will, from now on, be listening to my phone's or laptop's audio output via the JBL. That means whenever I want to play the music tracks stored on my phone or laptop, unless I'd prefer to use ear-buds. Or whenever I want to listen to catch-up radio on BBC Sounds.
As regards the JBL versus my Ruark DAB radio, I can't detect any marked difference. Perhaps the Ruark is better for those mid-tones, but that's all I can say. The two devices are essentially much the same to my hearing, except that I seem to get more volume with the JBL. As their sound output is so similar, this begs the question whether there is any point using both devices. Is the Ruark now redundant?
Well, probably not. The Ruark gets its output from DAB radio broadcasts, and not from data streamed over the mobile internet. So using the Ruark will not impinge on my BT Mobile data allowance (not that radio broadcasts or podcasts consume much data). Nor will the phone's battery get so much of a hammering (from maintaining that bluetooth connection), if I continue to use the Ruark as I do now. The real clincher is that turning the Ruark on and off is a simple one-button operation I can easily accomplish by touch alone in semi-darkness, half-awake, and with my glasses off. (As ever, practicality will always win)
But all the same, I can see the JBL stealing some Ruark usage, especially for those occasions when there is no suitable flat surface for a normal radio, but there is a hook (or something else) from which I can suspend the JBL. Such as inside the caravan, when I'm cooking, or having a shower, or boiling a kettle, and want the sound source close to me so that I can hear it properly.
At home, I'll mostly be using the JBL for enhanced music-listening. Cut to the bathroom again, and yours truly is grooving to something funky...
...and then, still bopping her head off, she switches to some news...
According to Jethro Tull, life's a long song, and I can't disagree.
