JBL's latest Bluetooth speaker lights up like a lava lamp without coming off as a gimmick

2017-11-16T21:17:00Z

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. 

JBL

A few months ago, I tried a speaker with lights built into its face, and considered it a fun, cool novelty.

But it turns out this is going to be a new sub-category of Bluetooth speaker, and I’ve been testing one JBL sent me to try.

JBL's option, the Pulse 3, looks familiar and produces good sights and sounds. It’s definitely the most fun I’ve had reviewing a speaker.

The Pulse 3 has a similar overall shape to JBL’s Charge series, which I’ve tried before. It’s a cylinder instead of a rectangle, with speakers on both ends. But a majority of the Pulse 3’s body is a giant LED screen that displays colors to the music.

Because of its shape, the speaker looks more like a lava lamp than a piece of tech, but the colors are more than just a gimmick. Everyone I’ve shown it to thinks it’s pretty cool; it's an unnecessary novelty if all you’re after is a basic speaker, but one that adds an extra element that pushes Pulse 3 over the top. You can cycle through different color display options (or turn them off entirely) through a button on its side.

Fun as it is to take in the pseudo-psychedelic sights of the Pulse 3, it wouldn’t be worthwhile if it was all flash and no substance — in this case that means audio quality. I’ve always liked how JBL speakers have sounded, and the Pulse 3 is the best one I’ve tried yet. There was balanced sound, with a strong but not overpowering bass that made the music I listened to sound full.

That was true whether I put on a dynamic classic rock album or listened to new pop singles. There wasn’t any noticeable distortion at high volumes, but the Pulse 3 gets so loud I didn’t keep it that way for very long. Since it demands attention from your eyes, this speaker is perfect for parties rather than audiophile listening sessions. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds great, but if you’re used to a serious audio setup, you may be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointment, the only major place the Pulse 3 let me down was something I’m not used to having trouble with: recharging. JBL says the speaker has a 12 hour battery life, and I was able to get quite a few right out of the box, but I plugged the Pulse 3 in before going to bed and it was still not totally charged when I woke up in the morning.

The color screen also runs down the battery more quickly, so if you're in a pinch and realize it's running low (there's a battery indicator on the speaker's side), you'll have to turn it off. The charger is also awkwardly shaped, with the plugs in the middle of square-shaped adapter. Thankfully the Pulse 3 charges over Micro USB, so you can plug it into another power adapter you have around.

I also ran into some connectivity issues when listening outside, but those were resolved by unpairing and repairing my phone with the speaker. The battery was also low, which may have had an impact.

All that said, my experience with the Pulse 3 was positive overall. I test portable Bluetooth speakers pretty often, and this was the first one that received a lot of complements from friends. The lava lamp style works so well it's hard to dismiss as hokey, and it's definitely the speaker I'd want to bring along to a party. Who says speakers can't be fun?

JBL Pulse 3, $194, available at Amazon

Brandt Ranj Brandt is a tech reporter for Business Insider. He previously worked as an associate editor for ReadRetro.com. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Le Moyne College in 2013.  Read more Read less

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.

Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Insider Picks. Copyright 2017. Follow Insider Picks on Twitter.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnpJqwqXvJm6NmqKWhwKZ5kmaZpa2VqbywwMdmqqmdkaCys3nWmqueqqCnvLCyjKucr6GVrHpzfJBwZHI%3D