


After finding the perfect place in my life for JBL's smaller Clip 2 speaker, I was curious if their larger, more fully featured Charge 3 speaker would find a similar niche. It does, although I had to leave my house to find it.

Like the Clip 2, The Charge 3's marquee feature is being waterproof; summer and gadgets don't get along most of the time, but it's hard to deny that it's nice to listen to some tunes by the pool. So I did.

Sitting poolside, my friend and I listened to music while frequently splashing and occasionally dunking the Charge 3 to test JBL's waterproof claims. Splashes, even big and consistent ones didn't seem to faze the speaker at all, it just kept on chugging. Dunking was a slightly different story, the speaker would pause for a few seconds to let some of the water drip off before resuming. After one dunk it didn't come back on, but I noticed that the music had just been paused. Try as we did, we couldn't get this speaker to give up the ghost, which is impressive and comforting; this is definitely a butter-fingers compatible speaker.

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Aesthetically, the Charge 3 stands out not so much because of its physical construction, but it's availability in multiple colors. In addition to the traditional black and gray speaker colors, the Charge 3 also comes in red, dark blue, and teal. Silly as it may sound, the red speaker had a summery flair that made it stand out to everyone that saw it and screamed summer; sometimes it's nice for tech to look fun.

That's form, what about function? Way more good than bad. Bluetooth connectivity was rock solid even at about 30 feet away. The sound was loud and full with one exception; when listened to at short range, music sounds muddy. I'm sure that's because of the way the speaker has to be constructed to be waterproof, but this is definitely not a kitchen speaker. When listened to from a longer range the sound opens up and is actually pretty impressive.

A lot of the extras people have come to expect from Bluetooth speakers are present in the Charge 3: It has a USB port for device charging, an auxiliary port if you'd like to plug in a non-Bluetooth device, and a microphone if you'd like to use it during a phone call. Bear in mind that using the aux or USB port will require you to leave them vulnerable to water damage.

Like the Clip 2 before it, the Charge 3 fits perfectly into a niche of my life; a speaker to provide solid sound when listening to tunes by a pool. If you're looking for a beach or pool speaker, you won't be disappointed; this is even more true if you want your speaker to have some stylish flair. It won't perform well in smaller rooms, but give it some distance and I doubt you'll be disappointed with the results.

JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker, $149.95, available at Amazon
