JBL Charge 6 review

How do you improve upon a five-star product that has been at the top of our best Bluetooth speakers list and an Award winner for the past four years?

JBL’s run of sonically talented and affordable portable Bluetooth speakers has left the competition in the dust in the last few years, so it could quite easily have rested on its laurels and given the next iteration of the superb JBL Charge 5 a quick lick of paint and called it a day.

But the brand has sought even more performance and introduced clever, useful design improvements that have breathed new life into the JBL Charge 6. The new Charge 6 takes over from the multiple Award-winning JBL Charge 5, and follows in those much-lauded footsteps admirably.

Price

Whereas the new Flip 7 has launched at the same price as the outgoing Flip 6 (in the UK at least), the JBL Charge 6 has increased only slightly in price. It costs £170 / $199 / AU$200, which is still a fairly reasonable outlay for such a robust and entertaining Bluetooth speaker.

Compared with the outgoing Charge 5’s launch price from four years ago, the new speaker is only a tenner more in the UK but a whole $20 if you’re in the US, while Australian pricing is unchanged.

Rivals around this price point include the rather elderly B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) smart speaker, while sterner competition comes from within. These days, you can find the Charge 5 for as little as £119 / $120. If you want cheaper and smaller there’s the JBL Flip 7, or if you want even bigger, more powerful sound, there’s the step-up JBL Xtreme 4.

Build & design

It may not look like much has changed between the two generations, but the Charge 6 boasts a handful of design tweaks that make it more user-friendly and outdoors-friendly than before. The control buttons now sit across two rows, which makes the playback and volume buttons in particular more intuitive to use.

The power button, Bluetooth pairing and Auracast buttons light up when in use, while pairing to our smartphone takes mere seconds. All the buttons and controls are nicely responsive throughout our testing.

The Charge 6 remains as portable and rugged as ever, with a reassuringly durable design that you feel confident will survive all sorts of adventures and inclement weather.

It is now even more waterproof, dustproof and drop-proof than before, with an IP68 rating (up from the Charge 5’s IP67) and sporting beefier bumper guards at either end of the speaker.

The speaker grille is now made of 100 per cent recycled fabric, but the bigger design change is that it now comes with a rather nifty carry handle. Where the slender Flip 7 is easy to carry in one hand, the Charge has always been a bit of a burly beast.

This slim but sturdy handle strap makes the Charge 6 much easier to carry around, even just within the house, or from room to garden – it’s a nice additional touch that makes a genuine difference.

Features

As before, the Charge 6 can double up as a powerbank for your smartphone, while the battery life has been given a healthy boost. You now get 24 hours of juice (a step up from the Charge 5’s 20 hours), but enabling the Playtime Boost feature will give you an additional four hours.

Toggling on Playtime Boost does affect the sound’s balance somewhat, as it cuts out bass power so the speaker isn’t working too hard. It’s a handy feature to have if you’re in desperate need of some extra hours to keep the party going, though.

As with many of JBL’s current line of portable speakers (such as the Xtreme 4, Flip 7 and Go 4), the Auracast audio sharing technology has made it to the Charge 6. The JBL Portable app lets you pair two Charge 6s together for stereo sound, and you can also link up as many Charge 6 or Auracast-supported speakers as you want, to create an even bigger sound or cover as much ground as you want.

Note that this feature won’t work with older generations of JBL speakers that don’t support Auracast; you can’t pair the new Charge 6 with your old Charge 5, for instance.

We try the audio sharing feature with two Charge 6s and a Flip 7 – you can link them in the app or simply tap the Auracast button on each speaker and, once they’re lit up, the same song will play across all three speakers. The app also features a handful of preset EQs and a customisable seven-band one to tailor the speaker’s sound to your personal preference.

The biggest surprise new feature of the Charge 6? Wired listening for lossless audio. You wouldn’t have thought it necessary on a portable speaker, but according to JBL, there has been a demand for higher-quality audio as more and more people have discovered the benefits of hi-res music streaming.

The lossless audio supported is up to 24-bit/96kHz, and delivers a considerable uptick in performance over the standard Bluetooth codec. You’ll need a USB-C wired connection from your compatible source to the Charge 6’s USB-C port, and make sure to press down on the play button when plugging the USB-C cable in to disable the Bluetooth section completely. A friendly tone will let you know when the wired listening mode is activated.

We do think it’s a bit of a shame that a USB-C charging cable is no longer provided in the box (especially considering this new wired listening feature), but thankfully any USB-C cable, such as the one for your smartphone, will do the job.

Sound

The Charge 6 features a 20m tweeter and a newly developed woofer that promises deeper and more powerful bass than the Charge 5. A new algorithm-led ‘AI Sound Boost’ analyses the sound in real time to optimise the speaker’s output to ensure that a more powerful and exciting but less distorted sound is heard at all times.

Does this mean the Charge 6 is now all about the bass? Not at all. The Charge 6 certainly sounds more powerful, but that muscle and authority is heard throughout the frequency range, not just in the lower end. The sound is clearer and more detailed than before, with vocals given extra solidity and textural depth; the highs soar with punch but clarity.

The same familial sound between the two Charge generations remains, but the Charge 6 is that bit more energetic and rhythmically driven, with a newfound sense of clarity going hand-in-hand with the added dose of power and punch. This is a sound that goes far beyond the confines of its portable dimensions; we’re always struck by just how mature the sound balance is, even as you push the volume up.

We’ve had Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us on repeat since Super Bowl LIX, but the Charge 6 gives it renewed zest and energy, making us relish the super-hit all over again while tapping along to its punchy, infectious rhythm. The bassline in SBTRKT's Wildfire is satisfyingly deep and taut, and the JBL speaker is deft enough to convey the varying textures and dynamics of that rich bassline, too.

It’s not just songs with a strong bass hook that the JBL sounds at home with. The guitar-heavy, distorted sounds of Deftones’ My Own Summer and the wildly frenetic and dynamic tones of Sugar by System Of A Down are handled with as much control and grunt as the Charge 6 can muster, while still ensuring we can hear the lyrics clearly through the frantic thrashing.

Play the atmospheric Moon soundtrack by Clint Mansel and it holds your attention during the tense, gradual build-up in dynamics of Welcome To Lunar Industries – no mean feat for this kind of Bluetooth speaker.

Switching gears to a more sombre, bittersweet Tom Waits song or a delicate, wistful folk tune from The Unthanks, we learn that the Charge 6 isn’t just a party beast. Its excellent way with rhythm is translated to softer, quieter songs, keeping us emotionally connected to the music’s ebb and flow, while voices are richly delivered with nuance and depth.

That clarity and solidity in the midrange is very satisfying to hear, especially if you listen to a lot of vocal-led music and podcasts. Eric Bibb’s smooth vocals and precise, tactile finger-plucking on Flood Water come through with a refinement and confidence you wouldn’t expect from such a speaker. The notes stop and start with precision and impact, and the song easily fills the room without losing its composure and stability.

Switch to wired lossless listening, and there is considerably less noise in the background. You get subtler depths to both detail and dynamic shifts when listening via USB-C, too, but the character remains the same as Bluetooth.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the Charge 6 can go loud – much louder than you’d expect from its compact dimensions. The sound stays stable as the volume goes higher, with the Charge 6 relishing the chance to stretch its acoustic wings and show us what it can really do. It remains just as characterful when listening at lower volumes, although that dynamic spark is just a little subdued.

Verdict

One of the things that always surprises us about the Charge speaker is just how balanced, subtle and controlled it sounds – it’s a mature presentation you wouldn’t expect from its rugged, burly exterior.

You may not feel the need to replace your small army of Charge 5s straightaway (or at least, wait for a good deal), but the Charge 6 has been improved in every way, and it is tempting.

Its portable credentials have been bolstered; there are useful new design tweaks; and the sound is clearer, more detailed, powerful and punchy. It’s hugely fun to listen to, and we can highly recommend it.

First reviewed: April 2025

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the JBL Charge 5

Also consider the JBL Flip 7

Best Bluetooth speakers: tried and tested for every budget