Review: JBL Flip 7 Bluetooth Speaker

Over the years, JBL’s Flip has become my favorite Bluetooth speaker, offering the best bargain between sound, size, and durability. My trusty Flip 5 may not be the most hi-fi model in my arsenal, but it offers clear and full audio performance, and its convenient mix of usability and mobility makes it the one I turn to when I need music on the go (or on the patio).

The Flip has gotten a notch better with each iteration, and the new Flip 7 keeps pace. It adds a welcome battery boost, new features like a removable carry strap, sound upgrades in a tweeter tweak, and a new “AI Sound Boost” DSP system for more punch. Sadly, the feature creep comes with a price rise (thanks, inflation). It’s only $20 over the Flip 6, but that thin margin of separation between rivals like the UE Boom 4 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and Beats Pill (8/10, WIRED Recommends) was part of the Flip’s appeal.

The new speaker also trades JBL’s convenient PartyBoost system that connects multiple older models in tandem for the next big thing, Auracast. That’s frustrating for JBL collectors and could make grabbing the similar Flip 6 on sale a smarter buy. Those points aside, the Flip 7 is an excellent speaker that sounds better than ever. If you’ve been holding out, it’s a worthy upgrade and once again among the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy.

(Slightly) New Digs

The Flip’s basic design hasn’t changed much over time, with the same tubular profile wrapped in a flack jacket in six different colorways. That’s actually the sales pitch: “Same size, bigger punch,” though the speaker got a teensy bit taller at 7.19 inches. The matte metallic JBL logo on the front provides a stylish upgrade over the aging Flip 5 but looks nearly identical to the 6.

The few noticeable changes include an extra protruding rubber prong around the endcaps, rearranged onboard controls, and a new loop that detaches with a button press. The breakaway design isn’t the most stable—I lost the loop momentarily during my evaluation by presumably pressing the release key accidentally—but you do get a backup with a carabiner.

Most of the new stuff is undetectable, including shockproof testing for one-meter drops to match speakers like the Boom 4 and Megaboom 4. I’ve kicked around my non-shockproof Flip pretty carelessly without issue but I appreciate the added security, especially since one drop of the Pill off a cabin stairway resulted in some nasty scars.

The Flip 7 is also IP68 weather resistant, as opposed to the more standard IP67. The “6” means top-tier dustproofing for beach escapades, while the “8” is nebulously defined by manufacturers; in this case it equates to safe dunking at 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes rather than IP67’s 1 meter.

JBL says it redesigned the Flip’s half-inch tweeter dome for more refined sound, which pairs with a 1.75- by 3-inch racetrack woofer for a mono soundstage. Beats’ Pill’s dual speakers provide a more open sound, while the Boom offers a 360-degree soundstage. Despite that, the Flip 7 excels with some of the best sound you’ll find at its size. JBL says another part of the sound equation is its updated digital signal processing, called AI Sound Boost (JBL loves the word “Boost”).