Another day, another Bluetooth speaker. So what makes this one different? It’s made by JBL, and considering the company’s last few portable speakers were a hit (check out our reviews of the the Flip and the Charge), chances are good the Clip will be, too.
As the name implies, the Clip is meant to be mated to your backpack, bike, pants – pretty much any clip-able locale – with an integrated carabiner, so it can throw down a soundtrack for your travels. And with summer on the way, hopefully you’ll be going a few places where having a bit of music (or, you know, audio books, if that’s your thing) might make a pleasant addition to your journey.
The Clip features a 1.5-inch driver in what JBL describes as a slim, rugged enclosure. The speaker is meant to play down to about 160Hz, which would be fairly low for such a compact speaker, though potential owners shouldn’t expect any significant bass response. Total play time is estimated at 5 hours before the Clip’s battery will need a recharge.
Aside from Bluetooth 4.0 support for wireless music streaming, the Clip comes with a 3.5mm cable good for connecting to nearly any device. Potentially, this speaker could even be used to beef up the sound coming from ultrabooks and other laptops with tiny little speakers. The Clip also functions as a speakerphone featuring JBL’s proprietary echo cancellation technology.
JBL’s Clip is available in black now for about $50. Blue and red colors are available for pre-order and scheduled to ship on June 18. A red version will ship on June 24 and a purple Clip will ship on July 9.
