JBL CLIP4 Portable Bluetooth Speaker – Black

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  The clip 4 is finally here. The jbl clip 3 was a big hit, I’m a fan and owner of one. Very sturdy, it took a lot and never failed me. But that pesky unreliable clip/carabiner gave me issues and ultimately failed and fell off. Big pain in the rear since it would no longer reliably stay hooked to anything but still worked otherwise.So I had to get the clip 4 and maybe donate my old 3. So here are some key things I notice side by side.1. Size and weight aren’t much different between the two2. Power and Bluetooth button have switched sides.3. On the 3 the buttons were indented on the four there is something on top of the fabric to press these buttons.4. No more charger headphone jack door on the 4 just a usb type c at the bottom. No more micro usb!5. The pad on the back has been redesigned to fabric with rubber strips (more on that later)6. Clip/carabiner/hook has been redesigned, more usable in my opinion.7. Yes that janky pin has been addressed, check photos.8. Battery specs and 10 hour rating unchanged from 3 to 4.9. Bluetooth now 5.110. Clip 3 just over 3 watts output, jbl claims the 4 is now 5 watts max.So yes a lot has changed but it’s still the clip you know and love. Another big change is the speaker and passive radiator you can’t see. So the clip 3 has a tiny speaker and an oval shaped passive radiator at the front. But now it seems to me there is a big change. The clip 4 still has a speaker at the front (40mm according to jbl) but now has a (most likely) larger passive radiator at the back. That seems to be the reason for the cloth and striped rubber at the back. I can feel some air pressure coming from the back at high volume.Holding both, one in each hand you will struggle to notice a difference in weight. Now while size hasn’t changed much, the shape has. In my opinion the wider lower profile of the clip 4 will be more useful in the real world. With my old clip 3 there were situations where the tall but slightly narrower clip was a no go but still so close to hooking up to a desired spot.The sound. Can’t hear a noticeable difference in mids and highs, but the bottom end seems to go just a touch lower, it’s a bit fuller, a little more chesty in the vocals like say in a podcast. When cranked up top 80 plus percent vollume it’s just a tad buzzy, just a bit of breakup that I don’t hear as much on the 3. I rarely go to that make levels so not an issue for me.That janky pin has been addressed. Check the photos. The pin is barely visible and the front grille is designed to make that less of a weak point. Will it hold up over time?Haven’t noticed a difference battery level yet because I’m unemployed, but soon expect to be back to work and the new jbl clip will get its daily workout. The new clip 4 is ip67 so I expect it to be just as robust and a little tank just like the 3. The 3 met the pavement, floor, high and low pressure water, chemicals and soap and never had an issue. If there are any issues I will update this review. Please check my photos to get an idea of how the 4 stacks up to the 3.