JBL’s newest speakers specifically the JBL Flip 5 and JBL Pulse 4 have gotten a lot of
flack because they can’t be wirelessly paired to older JBL speakers that use JBL Connect
Plus.
Instead JBL’s latest speakers are now using Partyboost.
And from the outside looking in this does look and feel like planned obsolescence…
“Oh you got a charge 4 last year and you’re thinking about getting the new Pulse 4 to
pair them together??
Nah they’re not compatible you need a flip 5”
So obviously this is rubbing people the wrong way especially since speakers that use JBL
connect plus won’t be upgraded to Partyboost through a firmware update.
But JBL claims their new Partyboost speaker pairing protocol is better than JBL connect
plus… specifically they claim better clarity a better bluetooth range.
So I decided to put those claims to the test, I took a few speakers to the football field
and tested their wireless range when two speaker were paired together.
Now just so that we’re clear, I got one speaker and paired it to my iPhone XS Max,
initiated a wireless connection to the second speaker walked
only the second speaker down the field.
So I started off with the JBL Xtreme 1 and JBL Pulse 2 which both use JBL connect.
When I got to the 20 yard line the JBL Plus 2 started to stutter a little bit.
But once I got to the 24 yard line JBL pulse 2 completely lost connection.
So bass line right now is the 24 yard line.
Next up I got the JBL Pulse 3 and JBL Flip 4 which both use JBL connect plus an updated
version of JBL connect.
Sounds pretty self explanatory.
And as I walked down the field the Pulse 3 managed to keep a solid connection all the
way up to the 40 yard line.
But once I got to the 47 yard the pulse 3 completely lost the connection.
But basically JBL connect plus has double the range of the original JBL connect.
But now lets move on to the new JBL flip 5 and JBL Pulse 4 which are using party boost.
Now remember JBL claims party boost has better clarity and bluetooth range than JBL connect
Plus.
So just as you’d expect the Pulse 4 manages to out perform the Pulse 2 and Pulse 3 by
keeping a solid connection with the Flip 5 all the way out to the 82 yard line.
After this the connection is going in and out but for dramatic effect I planted the
pulse 4 in the end zone.
Its still technically playing music but the connection is bad.
But before we wrap up here I also wanted to see how the rest of the competition stacks
up, so I got my two wonder boom 2’s which use Double UP.
And the wonder boom 2 managed to make it all the way up to the 31 yard line before totally
losing connection.
So double up on the wonder boom 2 a little better JBL connect, but falls short of JBL
connect Plus.
And finally I got the Sony XB32 and Sony XB31 which use Sony’s wireless party chain which
is backwards compatible with Sony speakers that were released all the way back in 2017.
And to my surprise they only made it all the way out to the 18 yard line.
Now like I’ve mentioned in the past WPC isn’t my favorite, but I didn’t expect
Sony to do this bad.
So over all yes party boost does in fact have better bluetooth range than JBL connect plus
and it is significantly outperforming the competition and so was JBL connect plus.
But obviously you don’t need all of this range in your bluetooth speakers.
But Partyboost’s stronger wireless connection also means that you can have more walls in
between your speakers when you’re using them at home before you see your connection
drop which is more important.
So in conclusion, yes party boost is significantly better than JBL connect plus.
And if you’re somebody that likes to pair multiple speakers on a regular basis your
are going to notice significant performance improvements.
Now yes it does suck that party boost isn’t backward compatible with JBL connect plus,
but if you don’t innovate and improve then you’ll end up like Sony and not even make
it to the 18 yard line.