Is Jbl Link 10 Worth The Money

What Is It Worth? Portable, water-resistant wireless Bluetooth speaker with excellent sound quality. Chromecast, Google assistant, and Hands-free voice control. These feature built-in to enable streaming over a wireless connection from the cloud, music on Spotify, Google play music, and more with no interruption. 

What Is It Not Worth? Buggy application, distortions are observed at higher volumes, and the startup time is slow. Five hours of battery life is too low and can lead to disappointments, loses its Google assistant connection virtually every day, and set up takes place from its Google Home app.

The Bottom Line: Due to its being inexpensive compared to other brands possessing similar features like the Google assistant, Hands-free control, and more. One could opt for it, considering it still delivers okay audio. 

JBL Link 10 Official Trailer

User Experiences

Good

A User from Jbl.com says: The speaker has got a perfect astonishing look. Appealing to me that it got lots of bass and highs. I love the carefully thought out placements of the buttons on top. My favorite feature of this Google-enabled speaker is that it supports and plays audiobook files using the apps that Google play music. Very nice speaker.

Another User from Jbl.com says: The sound on this speaker is crazily fresh as it produces exceptional quality sound. The Bluetooth feature is excellent and has sensitive microphones. If you’re contemplating having one, just pull the trigger. Truly worth it.

Bad

A User from Amazon.com says: Trying to connect your phone to WiFi is a nightmare. You could spend the whole day on it, and many times it won’t still work. And I’m unable to play music without a WiFi connection. So it is useless.

Another User from Amazon.com says: After just a week of purchasing this speaker, the sound started crackling. We exchanged it for another, and only 24 hours later, the second unit’s button stopped functioning. I contacted tech support, and the solution they proffered still required keys that were not working; this is not what I hoped it would be, not acceptable.

Is This A Smart Speaker?

The JBL Link 10 sound speaker delivers lots of bass and crystal-clear highs to yield a great sound. Accompanied by an ever-ready virtual assistant known as Google assistant, it is beneficial. 

Hand-free voice-controlled. It can provide answers to questions asked, stream music from the cloud via its wireless connection on Spotify, Google play music, Pandora smoothly. It offers a wide range of information services provided by the virtual assistant like time, weather report, news, and more.

It’s a smart speaker as pairing is possible to play in sync with other smart speakers.

Alternatives For The Jbl Link 10

We will take a look at five corresponding options for the Jbl Link 10, putting into consideration their features, Pros, Cons, and their good and bad user experiences.

1. Bose Home Speaker 300

  Price: $199.95

Bose Home Speaker 300 Features: A compact design 3600 sound speaker delivering deep, bold bass and impressive sound. Hands-free, Google, and Amazon Alexa built-in voice-controlled assistants capable of streaming via a wireless connection favorite music from Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple music. It has six pre-set buttons and six built-in noise-canceling microphones. 

Pros

•Alexa can speak both English and Spanish.

•Google and Alexa assistants are beneficial for information on weather, time, and news.

•Can pair with other Bose family of smart speakers for louder effect.

Users Experience from Reddit.com Says: The Bose 300 possesses phase guides that widely distributes the audio to either side of the system and bounces off walls depending on your setup. 

Cons

•Quite tricky to set up.

•Software disappoints at times in its functions.

•It does not correctly sync with other speakers, lags.

A User from Amazon.com Says:  Doesn’t work with Echo devices for multi-room effect. If I use the Bluetooth function of Bose and have an echo be the host or primary, it lags and plays out of sync with other speakers. I am highly disappointed with this product and will be returning it soon.

2. Altec Lansing SoundBucket XL

Price: $137.99

Altec Lansing SoundBucket XL Feature: A very rugged Bluetooth speaker that is IP67 rated water, snow, and dirt proof. Both Siri and Google voice assistant built-in for quality music streaming, provide answers to questions, set the alarm, and more. The battery life of up to 20 hours with the capacity to fast charge other Qi-enabled smart devices. 

Pros

•Accompanied by seven combinations of LED lights to sync with a music playlist.

•Very long battery life guarantees long hours of use.

•A durable speaker with it being water, snow, and dirt proof.

•Capable of pairing with 50 Qi-enabled speakers for a powerful effect.

•Charges fast other devices.

Users Experience from Amazon.com Says: I am impressed with this speaker because it is easy to carry. Wireless charger for our cell phone, good battery life, and the sound quality is just okay.

Cons

•The bass does fall short of expectations.

•It is possible to hear distortions and crackling sound when the volume is adjusted.

A User from Amazon.com Says: Concerning the sound, I am very disappointed. I could hear crackling and distortions when I adjust the volume while playing from my phone. It sounded like a blown tweeter. 

3. Sony LF S50 G Speaker.

Price: $199.99

Sony LF S50 G Speaker Features: This speaker is a portable 3600 sound wireless Bluetooth speaker with having built-in Google assistant and Chromecast feature. Able to stream over a wireless connection to play music and even play in sync with other paired speakers and more. Could control other smart devices and is IPX3-rated splash-proof. Touch-free gesture control feature included.

Pros

•The virtual assistant, Google Assistant, provides information on weather, news reports, can set the alarm, and give answers to questions asked and more.

•Control other smart devices like lights, locks, and more.

•It comes with an LED clock display.

•Room filling sound produced by its two-staged diffusers.

Users Experience from Reddit.com: The Chromecast and Google Assistant built-in this speaker is endearing to me. I love it compared to other virtual assistants.

Cons

•No 3.5mm Aux port included.

•A not too sensitive hand gesture feature.

•It doesn’t easily pair with other Sony speakers to play in sync.

A User from Sony.com Says: Didn’t integrate with other Google devices in a smart home set up. Regularly lost the wireless WiFi connection, requiring a fresh set up. I also observed that incorrect responses were given on commands using Google products. It doesn’t make sense at all.

4. Amazon Echo Plus Speaker.

Price: $99.00

Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen) Features: Built-in Zigbee hub to easily setup and control other compatible smart home devices. Alexa feature allows streaming from Amazon Music, SiriusXM, Spotify, and more. Multi-room music play with other compatible devices, turn on lights and lock doors.

Pros

•Capable of controlling your smart devices.

•Voice-controlled Alexa, through a wireless WiFi connection, can play music, read the news, provide, and weather reports.

•Alexa is getting smarter and adding new features and skills.

User Experience From Reddit.com- The Echo plus produces quite a quality sound. It is inexpensive and fully packed with smart hub choices. 

Cons

•The sound quality of the speaker is not top-notch. Still average.

•Different household accounts on devices can’t connect to it.

•It does not support 3.5mm AUX In and TV/video connections.

•The power plug-in port is not hidden, leading to cords coming out quickly.

A User from Amazon.com says – I desired to upgrade to the new echo plus. I am disappointed with it and about to return it now. The hub doesn’t work well, and it cannot recognize my lights after spending hours on it. Right now, the new Echo Plus is not an upgrade for my current smart home configuration.

5. Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen) Speaker.

Price: $149.99

 Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen) Features: Great sound accompanied by a built-in Zigbee hub to easily setup and control other compatible smart home devices. Amazon Alexa feature enables streaming from Amazon Music, SiriusXM, Spotify, and more. Pairs with your smart home setup for Multi-room music play with other compatible devices, turn on lights and lock doors.

Pros

•Alexa offers a wide range of services when connected to WiFi or a mobile hotspot like streaming music, read the news, and provide weather reports.

•Control your smart devices like lights, locks, and more.

•Alexa’s features continue to improve with updates at intervals.

User Experience From Amazon.com- This device is fantastic. Quick performance, ZigBee hub performs well and great audio. Easy to set up as the Echo on its own detected our network setting.

Cons

•Better sound quality needed, especially at a high volume.

•Can’t do without the Hue bridge.

•Laggy and buggy app.

A User from Amazon.com says- I bought two of these, and it was a nightmare to have them connected as stereo outputs. Another serious issue is that you are only allowed to play stereo music through the Amazon app.