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JBL Xtreme 4 Review
One of the best mid-size portable speakers around
In This Article
Verdict
One of the best mid-size portable speakers around. Those who already own an older Xtreme don’t need to upgrade to the JBL Xtreme 4 but there are some welcome upgrades in tow, including a long-lasting, removable battery. But the key draws are, as ever, strong sound quality and rugged portability.
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The JBL Xtreme 4 is part of a lineage of speakers I didn’t like at first glance. But it has gone on to become one of my favourite wireless speaker families ever.
These Xtreme units combine a fairly youthful, mildly obnoxious, outer appearance with nicely tuned sound, power and finesse.
Despite being moderately large, this feels like a go-anywhere speaker. And while there aren’t too many revolutionary upgrades and changes from theJBL Xtreme 3blueprint, the JBL Xtreme 4 should be considered if you want a great-sounding speaker for camping, garden gatherings, BBQs and so on. The JBL Xtreme 4 shines any time when a pure home speaker can’t quite keep up with the action.
The main drawback is, at the time of review, you can get the last-generation model for significantly less. Or the larger (if less practical)JBL Boombox 3for similar money.
Design
Some product lines get upgraded regularly because the pace of change demands it. New processors demand updated Windows laptop models, for example. The JBL Xtreme 4 feels more a case of an update because a high-profile piece of tech like this needs to feel quite fresh to sell well.
If you own a JBL Xtreme 2 or Xtreme 3, I don’t think you need to upgrade to the Xtreme 4. That’s no slight on this speaker, just buying advice for those with a tendency to contract upgrade-itis.
Just like those older generations, the JBL Xtreme 4 is shaped like a mini conga drum. But unlike one of those instruments, you’ll usually orient it so it sits on its side.
Tough metal mount points can be attached to a strap (included), to let you sling it over your shoulder. And I’ve even used this when at home, to carry on listening to some music or a podcast when going to make food or a coffee.
The JBL Xtreme 4 is a speaker that really wants to be taken on outdoors adventures, though, at least occasionally. Its woven outer shell is IP67 water resistant, meaning it can take full submersion in water. Tough rubber bumpers on each end let you sit it up on one side, no problem, if the available space doesn’t permit its standard sideways seated position.
I reckon the JBL Xtreme 4 is likely to have far longer-lasting water resistance than most of the wireless competition too. If a speaker has a rubbery bung you have to remove and replace each time you want to charge or plug something in, it’s may become damaged or deformed over time. The Xtreme 3 has one of these.
The JBL Xtreme 4 has a water-resistant-by-design exposed USB-C port for charging. And while there’s a rubber-sealed flap on the bottom, you may never need to remove the Torx screws that keep it in place.
Behind this flaps sits the battery, a removable and replaceable unit. This is one of the key changes in the JBL Xtreme 4 — if the battery goes bad, you can get a new one. These are rather pricey at £75, though, and you’re unlikely to need one before the Xtreme 4 becomes an “old” model. So it might seem a bit steep unless we see the same sort of price erosion these Xtreme speakers tend to be subject to once they are no longer new.
Still, it’s a neat form of flexibility in this era of self consciously user-repairable hardware.
Features
That aside, the JBL Xtreme 4 is largely business as usual. There’s a battery level indicator on the front. There are two sets of buttons up top, each with a good hit of clicky feedback on the depress.
These buttons alter volume, play/pause, power on/off, enter pairing and let you enter the stereo group mode. This is for joining up a couple of Xtreme 4 speakers as a stereo pair. It’s a neat addition, but not one I can see too many folks using when this is clearly not a particularly indoor and living room friendly design. A pair of these just isn’t going to look right to each side of your TV or record player.
There are no other special features here. The JBL Xtreme 4 is aBluetooth speakerwith no pretentions tosmart speakerskills. It doesn’t have Wi-Fi. It doesn’t have an auxiliary input. This is very much a “do one thing well” kind of product rather than one that attempts to fulfil loads of roles. I like this approach.
The JBL Xtreme 4 has a chunky 68Wh battery, higher capacity than most slim and light laptops. JBL says it lasts up to 24 hours, and you can use it to power other devices.
Perhaps its figures are based on higher volumes than I was using for anecdotal battery testing as it only lost 6% charge in 3.5 hours of music playback at the kind of volume you might set while working. So, yeah, the JBL Xtreme 4’s battery life is good. It’s also rated higher than the last-gen’s 15 hours.
There’s even a mode called PlayTime Boost that maxes out the perceived loudness to let you run the Xtreme 4 at a lower volume for better real-world longevity. I didn’t use this during testing, though, and should probably only be used if you’re gong to be away from a charger for a while.
Unusually, an adapter is included here, a powerful 60W model. That’s good news for Apple fans, whose MacBook Air and iPhone adapters won’t be nearly as potent.
Sound Quality
The JBL Xtreme 4 has the same basic driver array as all the previous models. We get two woofers, two tweeters, while the big passive radiators at each end of the speaker dramatically improve the low-bass response.
I’ve been a fan of this series since the first one I reviewed years ago. The Xtreme 4 doesn’t change that.
This is an expansive, lively and fun-sounding speaker. It knows how to party, but also has admirable airiness, separation and dynamics. Speaker snobs are likely to be pleasantly surprised by how sweet and, well, how plain good the JBL Xtreme 4 sounds.
Much as I found with the JBL Xtreme 3, the low bass is a little too enthusiastic on the default tuning mode when used indoors in the average bedroom or study. Fair enough, it’s exactly what the outer design telegraphs, and it doesn’t make music sound muddy. But my personal tuning favourite from his family was theJBL Xtreme 2, which didn’t try quite so hard to prove how low it can go.
If you end up feeling the same way, no problem. There’s a companion app for your phone that provides EQ control.
The default JBL Signature mode even has a little graphic that shows exactly the kind of tonal skew I’m talking about — it goes big on the lowest bass register the Xtreme 4 can produce. It’s fun, but when this thing is capable of actually pretty classy sound, perhaps you’ll want to class-up the joint on occasion.
Of course, JBL Signature is probably exactly the sort of tuning you need in the Xtreme 4’s natural habitat: the outdoors. JBL knows what it’s doing. This is all deliberate. But I tend to do 99% of my speaker listening indoors — and even if you do want a speaker for adventures, I imagine almost every Xtreme 4 will spend a good chunk of its life indoors too.
Minor gripes aside, the JBL Xtreme 4 has the same magic trick as its predecessors. From the look, you’d assume it would just make your music sound loud and bassy. That it also can handle complex arrangements well, make songs sound three-dimensional and engaging, pushes this family up a league.
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Should you buy it?
Buy if you want big portable sound
This is a mostly go-anywhere speaker you can wear like a shoulder bag. And it sounds good enough to do justice to all kinds of music too.
Don’t buy if you have an Xtreme already
While not identical to the previous generations, Bluetooth speaker tech hasn’t advanced rapidly enough to make this a worthwhile upgrade if you already own an Xtreme 3 or Xtreme 2 speaker.
Final Thoughts
The JBL Xtreme 4 wasn’t an upgrade anyone was crying out for. Previous generations of this lineage have aged beautifully and do not need to be replaced.
JBL has made some thoughtful changes, though. The ability to replace the battery could potentially make this an even longer-lasting speaker, as should the way the design keeps our fingers away from the seals that keep the water resistance ruggedisation in-tact.
The sound is the real draw of the JBL Xtreme 4, though. It’s fun but coherent, powerful but surprisingly refined. And while the default tuning is perhaps a little bassy for listening indoors, you can alter that tuning in the phone app.
How we test
We test every wireless speaker we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy.
Tested for several days
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
It has high-grade IP67 water and dust resistance.
There’s no bass boost toggle but there is EQ in the JBL app.
New for this generation, the battery can be removed, through a plate on the bottom.
Full specs
Andrew Williams is a technology writer, who has contributed to Stuff, WIRED, TechRadar, T3, Wareable and, of course, Trusted Reviews. Here he test and reviews some of newest mobile, audio and camera d…
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
