The appearance is not the best, with that large Jbl writing that stands out on the speaker, the tapered shape, the two metal handles that are used to attach it to a strap and carry it over the shoulder. But, if you close your eyes, Jbl’s Xtreme 3 can hold some surprises. From a shock and water resistant device, with a battery life of 15 hours and that seems to have been designed for beach parties, you would expect anything but refined sound. And instead, always keeping in mind that this is a wireless speaker from 299.99 euros, it offers clear, extended and detailed highs and mids, as well as deep bass.
Jbl is a historic brand of American high fidelity, founded by James Bullough Lansing, the same as Altec Lansing. It then became, like others like Akg and Infinity, a subsidiary of Harman Kardon, owned by Samsung. This is to say that today’s Jbl has kept little from its origins, yet it still knows how to make discrete speakers like the Xtreme 3. It has almost nothing “smart”: the connection with the phone is via bluetooth, there is an entrance mini jack, usb-c port to recharge it. No wi-fi, no virtual assistant or voice commands. It is a “simple” speaker that sounds good, significantly better than Amazon’s Echo Studio, which however is equipped with a virtual assistant and costs 100 euros less. However, if you want a device that is always portable, and with a quality sound, but also has a more elegant design, the only one we would like to recommend for now is the Move by Sonos, also from America. It is technologically much more advanced than the Xtreme 3, but it also costs a hundred euros more.
On the Friday of 19 March 2021
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