JBL's larger Bluetooth speakers typically bring the bass and pump out high volume levels.
Another thing the company is particularly good at is building tiny speakers that are easily portable and can get relatively loud (and tossed around) without any real issues.
The $59.95 Clip 3 continues where previous Clips left off, in that regard—if there's any real complaint here, it's that sonically, nothing seems to have advanced all that much since the Clip 2.
But below $60, you're simply not going to find much bass depth, and there's plenty of bass vibration here to make it feel like there's some low-end.
For the size and price, the Clip 3 is a reliable summer sidekick that can latch onto a variety of surfaces and pump out solid audio performance.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
Design
Measuring 5.4 by 3.8 by 1.8 inches (HWD), the 7.4-ounce Clip 3 is available in a wide range of colors—eleven hues, including standard black or white, along with flashier options like camo, teal, or mustard yellow.
The built-in carabiner on the top panel will clip on to a wide variety of objects, or the speaker can lie flat on its back and project audio upward.
The Clip 3's IPX7 rating means it can be immersed up to one meter of water without issue, making it ideal for poolside lounging or rainy day excursions.
The Clip 3's front grille has the JBL logo at the bottom and three buttons up top.
There's a central button that controls playback, call management, voice assistance, and, with multiple taps, track navigation, while plus/minus buttons handle volume.
Beneath the front panel's grille, there's a 3-watt, 40mm driver pushing out mono audio.
Along the outside panel, there's a covered compartment that houses the micro USB charging port and a 3.5mm aux input.
The side panels also house the power button, the pairing button, and the built-in microphone for taking calls and using voice assistance.
A rubberized base on the bottom panel keeps the speaker from scooting around due to bass vibrations.
The built-in mic offers mediocre intelligibility.
Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word we recorded, but the recording was fuzzy with the distortion typical of inexpensive Bluetooth mics.
This is par for the course, and the speakerphone works well enough to field calls when needed, just not with superb clarity.
JBL includes almost nothing other than the speaker.
There's no audio cable for the aux input, and the included orange micro USB charging cable is annoyingly short.
But at this price there's not much room for complaint in the accessories department.
Battery life is estimated to be roughly 10 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels and your mix of wired and wireless playback.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Clip 3 has a little trouble with the opening bass rumble, teetering on the edge of distortion.
When the deeper bass comes in, the Clip 3's DSP (digital signal processing) reduces it to a thin tapping.
If you're looking for a mega bass sound, you need to be spending more money on a larger speaker.
The Clip 3 sounds full and crisp on this track at moderate volumes, and that's about all we can ask of a speaker this small.
See How We Test Speakers
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Clip 3's general sound signature.
The drums sound a tad thin, as we might expect, but Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with a solid richness, and the acoustic guitar strums have an excellent, crisp presence to their attack.
The Clip 3 can get quite loud for its size, and on a track without lots of deep bass, the speaker isn't bogged down by its DSP and sounds fuller and brighter.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives the ideal amount of high-mid presence to accentuate its punchy attack, and the vinyl crackle that's typically relegated to the background is pushed forward somewhat.
It's a bright sound, and the drum loop lacks much in the way of bass presence, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are more implied than fully delivered.
This speaker showcases the highs and mids, so vocals come through cleanly and clearly, but anyone in search of real bass presence will want to look elsewhere.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound clear and bright, but lack the forward push of lower register instrumentation we often hear on even smaller speakers.
The lows on this track are mostly congregating in the higher lows to low-mids, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for a passive radiator to push them forward in the mix somewhat, but that's not really what happens here.
Thus, the Clip 3 is a bit more suited for pop, rock, hip-hop, and modern mixes, and less so for classical or jazz.
Conclusions
From a design standpoint, there's nothing not to like about the ultra-portable, waterproof JBL Clip 3.
Sonically, the speaker delivers a solid experience for its low price, though we still haven't gotten to the point of portable $60 speakers sounding big and full of bass.
No speaker this size and price is going to have true bass response, but we also like the Sony SRS-XB10, the Ultimate Ears UE Wonderboom, and the JBL Go 2—though we approach all of these with appropriate expectations for bass depth.
For more money, the Bose SoundLink Micro delivers a more powerful, compact audio experience.
If all you need is a reliable poolside waterproof speaker, however, the JBL Clip 3 is a winner.
Cons
Light on accessories.
No real bass response.
The Bottom Line
The JBL Clip 3 is a compact, waterproof speaker made for travel and sounds great for its size.
JBL's larger Bluetooth speakers typically bring the bass and pump out high volume levels.
Another thing the company is particularly good at is building tiny speakers that are easily portable and can get relatively loud (and tossed around) without any real issues.
The $59.95 Clip 3 continues where previous Clips left off, in that regard—if there's any real complaint here, it's that sonically, nothing seems to have advanced all that much since the Clip 2.
But below $60, you're simply not going to find much bass depth, and there's plenty of bass vibration here to make it feel like there's some low-end.
For the size and price, the Clip 3 is a reliable summer sidekick that can latch onto a variety of surfaces and pump out solid audio performance.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
Design
Measuring 5.4 by 3.8 by 1.8 inches (HWD), the 7.4-ounce Clip 3 is available in a wide range of colors—eleven hues, including standard black or white, along with flashier options like camo, teal, or mustard yellow.
The built-in carabiner on the top panel will clip on to a wide variety of objects, or the speaker can lie flat on its back and project audio upward.
The Clip 3's IPX7 rating means it can be immersed up to one meter of water without issue, making it ideal for poolside lounging or rainy day excursions.
The Clip 3's front grille has the JBL logo at the bottom and three buttons up top.
There's a central button that controls playback, call management, voice assistance, and, with multiple taps, track navigation, while plus/minus buttons handle volume.
Beneath the front panel's grille, there's a 3-watt, 40mm driver pushing out mono audio.
Along the outside panel, there's a covered compartment that houses the micro USB charging port and a 3.5mm aux input.
The side panels also house the power button, the pairing button, and the built-in microphone for taking calls and using voice assistance.
A rubberized base on the bottom panel keeps the speaker from scooting around due to bass vibrations.
The built-in mic offers mediocre intelligibility.
Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word we recorded, but the recording was fuzzy with the distortion typical of inexpensive Bluetooth mics.
This is par for the course, and the speakerphone works well enough to field calls when needed, just not with superb clarity.
JBL includes almost nothing other than the speaker.
There's no audio cable for the aux input, and the included orange micro USB charging cable is annoyingly short.
But at this price there's not much room for complaint in the accessories department.
Battery life is estimated to be roughly 10 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels and your mix of wired and wireless playback.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Clip 3 has a little trouble with the opening bass rumble, teetering on the edge of distortion.
When the deeper bass comes in, the Clip 3's DSP (digital signal processing) reduces it to a thin tapping.
If you're looking for a mega bass sound, you need to be spending more money on a larger speaker.
The Clip 3 sounds full and crisp on this track at moderate volumes, and that's about all we can ask of a speaker this small.
See How We Test Speakers
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Clip 3's general sound signature.
The drums sound a tad thin, as we might expect, but Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with a solid richness, and the acoustic guitar strums have an excellent, crisp presence to their attack.
The Clip 3 can get quite loud for its size, and on a track without lots of deep bass, the speaker isn't bogged down by its DSP and sounds fuller and brighter.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives the ideal amount of high-mid presence to accentuate its punchy attack, and the vinyl crackle that's typically relegated to the background is pushed forward somewhat.
It's a bright sound, and the drum loop lacks much in the way of bass presence, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are more implied than fully delivered.
This speaker showcases the highs and mids, so vocals come through cleanly and clearly, but anyone in search of real bass presence will want to look elsewhere.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound clear and bright, but lack the forward push of lower register instrumentation we often hear on even smaller speakers.
The lows on this track are mostly congregating in the higher lows to low-mids, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for a passive radiator to push them forward in the mix somewhat, but that's not really what happens here.
Thus, the Clip 3 is a bit more suited for pop, rock, hip-hop, and modern mixes, and less so for classical or jazz.
Conclusions
From a design standpoint, there's nothing not to like about the ultra-portable, waterproof JBL Clip 3.
Sonically, the speaker delivers a solid experience for its low price, though we still haven't gotten to the point of portable $60 speakers sounding big and full of bass.
No speaker this size and price is going to have true bass response, but we also like the Sony SRS-XB10, the Ultimate Ears UE Wonderboom, and the JBL Go 2—though we approach all of these with appropriate expectations for bass depth.
For more money, the Bose SoundLink Micro delivers a more powerful, compact audio experience.
If all you need is a reliable poolside waterproof speaker, however, the JBL Clip 3 is a winner.
Cons
Light on accessories.
No real bass response.
The Bottom Line
The JBL Clip 3 is a compact, waterproof speaker made for travel and sounds great for its size.
