JBL Flip and Charge get better drivers and an Auracast upgrade

JBL's Charge and Flip speakers are regular visitors to our best Bluetooth speakers guide, thanks to a winning formula of great sound and rugged design. And now the brand has tweaked its winning formula further with the new JBL Charge 6 and JBL Flip 7, both of which come with significantly improved audio and battery life.

As we previously reported, JBL has added its AI-powered audio optimisation to reduce distortion at higher volumes, and there are new drivers too. There's an upgraded tweeter in the Flip 7 and an upgraded woofer in the Charge 6.

JBL Flip 7 and Charge 6: key features and pricing

Both of JBL's speakers get a battery boost this time around, too.

The JBL Flip 7 boasts an extra two hours of playback time, while the Charge 6 gets an extra four hours from its battery.

That means up to 14 hours from the Flip, with an extra two hours on top of that courtesy of the Playtime Boost feature. You might not want to get too excited about that though, it's an EQ preset that early reviewers say cuts the bass and makes the sound a lot less fun.

The Charge now delivers up to 24 hours of normal audio, or 28 with the Playtime Boost feature enabled.

The Flip 7 has an improved water and dust resistance rating – it's now IP68 – to match the Charge 6, and both speakers support multi-speaker connections over Auracast.

The Charge 6 also supports Hi-Res, lossless audio over USB-C.

UK pricing and availability is still incoming. For now, the speakers are available to pre-order in the US for April delivery with a price tag of $149.95 (about £115 / AU$237) for the Flip 7 and $199.95 (about £154 / AU$316) for the Charge 6. That's $20 more expensive than the current models, which cost $129 and $179 respectively.