JBL GO 2: Tiny powerhouse
I have been using JBL headphones and speakers for a pretty long time and I am here to tell you that if you are looking for something affordable, JBL is the best you will find in the market. JBL launched the JBL Go 3 Bluetooth speakers recently and since I am yet to use those, I’ll talk about its predecessor today. The JBL Go 2 Bluetooth speakers.
The JBL Go 2in design terms is slightly bigger than the JBL Go, approximately the size of a bar of soap. The speaker weighs 184 grams making it lighter and very handy. For youngsters who choose their colours very decidedly, the JBL Go 2 comes in 12 different colour options! Yes, 12. So there are plenty of options to choose from. The shell of the speaker is made of plastic but has a rubber coating that helps it earan IPX7 rating. The speaker is small and easy to handle and it fits easily enough in your palm. The JBL Go 2 is the perfect travel companion and also of course easily finds space in your backpack without any trouble. The best part about this deceptively small speaker is that it is water resistant! Yes, you heard it right. The JBL Go 2 can handle being submerged into 1m of water for upto 30 minutes. This means it is perfect to take out even in rain and near swimming pools and lakes. The Micro-USB port that is there for charging and the AUX input are both tucked away under a thick rubber flap so that water doesn’t get inside the body if the speaker gets wet. Isn’t that amazing? The JBL Go 2 is practically a dream for people who travel a lot and rely on music a lot.
The JBL G0 2 is front-firing, with a single 3W driver below the front grille and the brand logo painted onto the grille as well as embossed onto the back. There are four points at the bottom that serve to give the speaker a bit of grip when placed upright. The JBL Go 2 sports curved corners which makes it easier to maintain a grip on the device. The design of the speaker is much better than the original JBL Go which was more sharp with straighter lines.
The device is compact and has a 3.5mm jack for auxiliary connectivity and a micro-USB port for charging as mentioned above. The controls of the device are at the top and include power, volume, Bluetooth pairing and play/pause buttons. Now coming to a very important detail, the battery backup. The speaker has a 730mAh battery that lasts for about four hours on a charge, and takes about two hours and 30 minutes to fully charge using the bundled cable and a laptop USB port. The speaker comes with Bluetooth version 4.1 with support for A2DP.
The JBL G0 is most suitable because of its compact size. But that shouldn’t fool you when it comes to its powerful audio. The JBL Go 2 is amazingly loud for its size and works really well in a small to medium sized room full of people. However, it works best for intimate gatherings because after it is still a reasonably small speaker. The audio quality is bass -focused like most of JBL’s products and does well with R&B, pop and beat heavy genres.
Priced at a little over 2k the JBL Go 2 is amazing and perfectly ideal for solo use, especially for travellers.
