Comparison JBL Charge 2 Plus vs JBL Charge

— Bluetooth. Wireless technology for transmitting sound from mobile phones, tablets, etc. Allows you to connect the device wirelessly at a short distance from the signal source. Bluetooth quality and general features vary by version:

Bluetooth4. Each version brings improvements over the previous one. So in version 4.0, three standards were actually combined: traditional Bluetooth, a high-speed channel and an energy-saving mode for small amounts of data. This allowed us to optimize channel usage and battery consumption. In version 4.1. noise immunity has been improved when working near 4G LTE modules. And version 4.2 introduced mostly general speed and security improvements.

Bluetooth 5.0. One of the most important innovations of the Bluetooth 5.0 standard was the expansion of the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) mode: if necessary, the device can increase the range by reducing the speed, or speed up transmission by reducing the range. In addition, a number of improvements have been introduced regarding the simultaneous operation of several connected devices.

— Bluetooth 5.1. A significant upgrade of version 5.1 was the ability to accurately position the transmitter (receiver) of the signal. If previous versions could only determine the distance, then version 5.1 is able to determine the direction. Thus, na...vigation began to function better and more accurately, which improved the work with the smart home system, searching for connected devices, etc. In addition to this, the improvements again touched on saving energy consumption and simultaneously working with several connected devices.

— Bluetooth 5.2. The next, after 5.1, is the Bluetooth 5th generation update. The main innovations in this version are a number of security improvements, additional power optimization in LE mode, and a new audio signal format for synchronized parallel playback on multiple devices.

— Bluetooth 5.3Bluetooth v 5.3 wireless protocol was introduced at the dawn of 2022. Of the innovations, it accelerated the process of negotiating the communication channel between the controller and the device, implemented the function of quickly switching between the state of operation in a small duty cycle and high-speed mode, improved the throughput and stability of the connection by reducing susceptibility to interference. In case of unexpected interference in the Low Energy mode of operation, the procedure for selecting a communication channel for switching is now accelerated. There are no fundamental innovations in protocol 5.3, however, a number of qualitative improvements are seen in it.

—Mini-Jack (3.5 mm). Standard Aux input for connecting speakers to an audio source such as a laptop or smartphone.

— USB. The presence of a USB connector allows you to connect a USB flash drive, mobile phones, MP3 players and other similar peripherals to portable acoustics. Accordingly, such models have a built-in player and allow you to use connected gadgets exclusively as a drive.

— Card reader. Like the USB described above, this item implies the presence of a built-in player in acoustics. And the card reader also allows you to use memory cards as a drive on which songs will be recorded.

— FM receiver. A built-in tuner that allows the speaker system to work as a full-fledged FM radio receiver — this is the range that is popular among music radio stations (in particular, due to the ability to broadcast sound in stereo).

The phase inverter is a tube installed in the column housing and having an outlet to the surrounding space. The length of the tube is chosen so that a signal comes out of the outlet, inverted in phase relative to the signal from the front of the diffuser. This enhances the sound pressure and improves the sound of the speakers.

The presence of a passive radiator in the design of the speaker system.

Such an emitter is a speaker cone that does not have its own coil and magnet — in other words, it does not produce sound itself, but only vibrates from the sound of other speakers. Like the phase inverter (see above), this part is intended to improve sound pressure and sound depth, especially at low frequencies; at the same time, the advantage of a passive radiator is the absence of a tube, due to which the design is simpler and more compact than with a phase inverter.

The total power of all channels of the speaker system. The higher the power, the larger the size of the room in which the audio system can be used, however, more powerful portable speakers usually have larger dimensions and weight.

The range of audio frequencies reproduced by the audio system. The wider the range, the richer the sound, the more details the speakers can convey, especially in the low and high frequencies. At the same time, we note that the average human ear is able to hear sounds in the range of about 16 – 20,000 Hz, and it makes no sense to provide a wider range in speakers — a person simply will not hear it. Also note that a wide frequency range alone does not guarantee good sound quality.

— Speakerphone. The ability to use portable acoustics as a hands-free system for a mobile phone. In this mode, the acoustics are connected to the device via Bluetooth, and the voice of the subscriber at the other end of the line is output not to the phone speaker, but through the speakers of the acoustic system. This is often more comfortable than holding the phone to your ear; in addition, the speakerphone is useful if several people need to participate in a conversation.

— NFC. NFC is a short-range wireless communication technology (about 10 cm). It allows for many uses, but in portable acoustics it is usually used as an addition to Bluetooth, which makes it easier to set up a connection. For example, a smartphone with an NFC module can simply be brought to a speaker with the same function — and both devices will automatically recognize each other, while the user will only have to confirm the connection.

— Multipoint. A technology used in Bluetooth models that allows the speaker to connect to multiple devices at the same time. Thanks to this, you can, for example, listen to music from a laptop, and when a call is received on a mobile phone, switch the acoustics to a conversation. This technology has its own characteristics for different manufacturers, and therefore, if the multipoint function is critical for you, you should separately clarify the details of its operation in the se...lected model.

— Synchronization of speakers. The model supports the ability to synchronize the operation of several speakers connected to one signal source. This solution allows you to realize truly stereo sound, improve the quality and power of sound reproduction, as well as expand the stereo panorama. The only thing is that both speakers must support the appropriate connection type. Different brands may have their own speaker interconnection technologies (JBL Connect, JBL PartyBoost, Sony Party Chain), or maybe a universal TWS.

— Vibrocolumn. A kind of portable acoustics that uses external objects as a sound emitter — tables, window panes, etc. In simple words: in order for such a column to sound, it must be fixed on another object. However not all of them require fixing on an external object — some practically do not differ from ordinary portable acoustics, and the “vibration” function is provided as an additional option in them.

— Light effects. Such effects can be different — from the simplest set of light bulbs flashing at a constant frequency to advanced colour and music systems that produce multi-coloured patterns in time with the music being played. Anyway, this function carries more entertainment meaning and does not affect the sound of the device.

— Mini-Jack output (3.5 mm). A connector designed to output an audio signal from a speaker system to another device — for example, a stationary audio system with a mini-Jack (3.5 mm) line input. Note that the signal level at this output is low, and it is impossible to connect passive acoustics directly to it — you need to use an amplifier.

— For headphones (miniJack 3.5 mm). A specialized headphone output, made in the 3.5 mm mini-Jack format — this is the standard used by the vast majority of modern "ears". Headphones can come in handy in a situation where loud sounds are undesirable (for example, in a living room at a later time) — or vice versa, in noisy environments where the sound from the speakers is simply not heard.

— Hours. A traditional clock is a device for displaying time. They are not a "vital" function for portable acoustics, but in some cases it is faster to look at the time on the speaker's dial than to look for another clock.

— Alarm clock. Classic alarm clock — a sound signal at a user-defined time, which can be used both for getting up and for other purposes. Must be combined with a watch (see above). The specificity of alarm clocks in portable acoustics is that they allow you to use a certain song or even a radio station as a signal.

Theoretically, a higher capacity allows to achieve greater battery life, but in fact, the operating time also depends on the power consumption of acoustics — and it can be very different, depending on the characteristics and design features. So this parameter is secondary, and when choosing it is worth paying attention not so much to the battery capacity, but to the directly claimed operating time (see below).

The presence in the design of the acoustics of a protected housing that prevents dust and moisture from entering the sensitive electronic filling. The specific degree of such protection in different models may be different — some speakers are able to endure even complete immersion under water ( waterproof), others are designed only for exposure to moderate rain. Therefore, the specifics of the protected case should be clarified separately according to the manufacturer's official data. However, anyway, such speakers will be more resistant to bad weather and better suited for outdoor use than those that do not have dust and water protection; therefore, if you are choosing acoustics for outdoor trips, it makes sense to pay attention to models with this function.

Some models with this feature are officially IP certified. The IP index includes two digits — for example, IP54. The first digit indicates the degree of protection against dust, the second — from moisture; the higher the number, the higher the corresponding degree of protection, detailed data can be found in special sources.