JBL Grip review: 5-star sound for this speaker's size

JBL is one of those companies that has a market share in some speaker segments so dominant that it's almost laughable, despite not necessarily always competing in clout terms with the likes of Sony, Bose and more. It's made a huge business out of sensibly-priced, durable speakers that are very widely available.

Still, for quite a while it has lacked a real contender in the slice of the Bluetooth speaker market that hangs at around the sub triple-figure bracket – to compete with the likes of the excellent UE Wonderboom 4, for example (which features on our list of the best Bluetooth speakers overall). Now, however, JBL has put that right with the Grip – a simple little speaker that's impressed me hugely in my weeks of testing.

Price

The JBL Grip was released right at the end of September 2025, making it only a couple of weeks old at the time of writing. That means you can buy it from a wide range of retailers already, depending on your region.

The Grip comes in at £89.99 in the UK, $99.95 in the US, €99 in the EU, and AU$129 in Australia. There are a whole heap of speakers at that price point to choose from, to be fair, but from JBL's perspective, this puts the Grip between the more expensive, bigger Flip 6 and the cheaper, smaller Clip 5.

Design and Features

JBL isn't making any bones about how it came up with the core idea behind the Grip's size and shape. It says it looked at the way drinkmakers the world over were changing their cans to be taller and thinner because people found them easier to grip, and basically followed that logic.

So, much like a thinner European Coke can (which is still a rarity in the UK), the Grip is pretty much the right thickness to be easily gripped in one hand by most adults. It's about the same height as one of those cans, too, and features a mesh finish almost all over, much like JBL's other speakers.

On one side of the speaker, there's a JBL logo, while on the other, there's a break in the mesh to offer a USB-C port for charging, a small carrying loop in case you want to attach it to something, and a relatively subtle lighting feature.

When the Grip is powered on, a light strip illuminates – and it can be swapped between a few colours and patterns using the button underneath it (or further in the JBL app).

This might seem gimmicky to some people, and it's very much something you can choose to ignore, but I found myself surprisingly liking it. It can add some subtle mood to a space (albeit not much, as it isn't too bright) and feels like a nice little bonus twist.

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The top of the speaker houses three buttons: power, Bluetooth pairing, and an Auracast shortcut. The last one can be used to set up party audio really quickly if you have a few speakers connected, which is impressive when demonstrated – but still likely a niche feature for most people. Meanwhile, the front of the speaker houses colour-matched buttons to put the volume up and down, and to play/pause.

The bottom and top of the Grip both have rubberised feet so that it can be stood up in either orientation, and it's worth saying that it doesn't quite have 360-degree sound – you will notice differences depending on how you orient it, but not by much.

Being a compact speaker from JBL, the durability here is super impressive: it's IP68 water-, dust-, and drop-proof. Finally, it has a stated battery life of 12 hours in standard listening on a charge, but this can be extended by 2 hours if you use the Playtime Boost mode.

I really like how the Grip looks and feels. There are a few colours to choose from, too: black and white (which I tested, as photographed), alongside purple, red, blue, and camo. The size is pretty perfect for putting in a bag or moving around your home super casually, and weighing in at 385g means it doesn't require any strain to pick up.

Performance and Battery Life

Rugged specs are one thing, but you need your speaker to actually sound great as a baseline, and I'm impressed by what JBL's done with the Grip – it's a great-sounding speaker for its size. As I said above, it's not a true 360-degree output, but that's not really an issue, and the sound you get if you turn the logo away from you is still very solid.

JBL told me the speaker's just a single-driver unit, but that single driver can get impressively loud and punchy – and has enough subtlety to make it a good pairing with a wide range of genres. I listened to a heap of Marika Hackman, and her blend of punky riffs with singer-songwriter soulfulness came across nicely, while the testing perennial Brothers in Arms from the Dire Straits also had plenty of verve.

Cranking the volume up doesn't distort things much (until you hit the very limits of what the Grip can output) and things do get loud enough to make this a great little addition to a trip to the park or beach – albeit you can't pretend it'll match a bigger speaker like the JBL Charge 6 or a significantly more expensive one like the B&O A1 3rd Gen.

I'm judging it against similarly priced speakers, though, and find that the Grip ticks every box I'm looking for, while the ability to stitch it into an Auracast array is something that makes it nicely futureproofed, as that system slowly but surely gets wider adoption from other brands.

JBL Grip review: Verdict

You might think it's not the hardest job to make a great speaker at this asking price, but I've seen plenty of brands make missteps in the attempt.

JBL hasn't put a foot wrong with the Grip, though, and I think it pretty immediately enters as a great option for those looking for portable convenience.

You won't get many smart features, and you may or may not find value in its mood light, but for a portable and extremely durable speaker that you can treat roughly and still rely on, there aren't many better than this.

Also consider

I've been a long-time admirer of the UE Wonderboom 4, which is another great rugged speaker – albeit with a more rotund design. It's a good chunk cheaper than the JBL Grip thanks to being older, and competes well, but has fewer impressive design touches.

As also mentioned in the review, probably the best compact portable speaker on the market is the Bang & Olufsen A1 3rd Gen, which is a gorgeous slice of device. That said, it's quite a lot pricier, and therefore the preserve of those with a chunkier budget to wield.

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