The JBL Go 5 Portable Bluetooth Speaker is JBL’s smallest speaker. It’s palm-sized at 230 grams, with a loop on the side for clipping to a bag. A single 45mm driver puts out 4.8W, which is a small step up from what the Go 4 managed. Battery life comes to 8 hours on a charge, or 10 once you turn on Playtime Boost. The IP68 rating covers water and dust, and JBL builds it drop-proof on top of that. New this generation is ambient edge lighting around the speaker with selectable themes.
Head over to Amazon to get the JBL Go 5 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for just $45, down from its usual price of $55. That’s a $10 discount and 18% off.
A portable Bluetooth speaker that can bump the music loud and proud
A speaker of this size can do only one thing, and that’s travel with you while being unobtrusive about it. The Go 5 is very portable. It fits in your hand. It weighs about half a pound. It has an integrated loop that lets it hang from a pack strap or a beach bag. While the 45mm driver inside won’t fill your backyard, the Go 5 is loud enough to hear in a shower, on your kitchen counter, or with a few people around a table.
This speaker has a much higher durability rating, IP68, than many speakers at a similar price. An IP68 rating means the speaker can withstand full submersion in water and complete exposure to dust. Using it by a pool, at the beach, or camping in a dusty area is all acceptable. JBL states the Go 5 is drop-proof, though the company doesn’t indicate from how high. Reviewers who have tested the product report dropping it from about two meters onto hard flooring with no apparent damage.
Playtime Boost is a mode in the JBL Portable app that pulls back the bass to stretch the battery from 8 hours to 10. The app also includes a seven-band EQ, an upgrade from the five-band version on the previous model, that lets you dial in the sound more precisely.
AirTouch is the newest cool party trick out. All you have to do is bump your two Go 5 speakers together, and then you’ll get instant stereo from both speakers. One speaker acts as the left channel, and the other acts as the right channel. You don’t need to set anything up in the app beforehand. Auracast is like the larger version of this. With Auracast, you’re able to connect multiple JBL Auracast speakers at once, so all of them are playing the same audio at the same time.
The edge lighting is an ambient light that surrounds the speaker. It serves as a status indicator for power, pairing, low battery, and when it’s working in Auracast mode. You can choose edge-lighting themes in the app, but the color is based on the speaker’s color and can’t be changed. The JBL Go 5 Portable Bluetooth Speaker is priced at $45 today, down from its original price of $55. Charging this speaker via USB-C takes approximately three hours.