Shulou(Shulou.com)05/31 Report--

Benshaw found that many friends were interested in the message that JBL's Link Music is an excellent alternative to Google's home brand smart home speakers. Bian Xiao sorted out some relevant information and shared it here.

JBL recently sent one of the Link Music smart home speakers to Android headlines for review. From then on, it is certain that the company has real competitors in this field. JBL linked music may not be a Google-branded product, but there is still a long way to go to realize the search giant's plans. In other words, this represents a reliable audio product with a high budget in the spectrum.

But this is not to say that JBL Link Music has no warning. The company seems to have taken some shortcuts, reducing costs to $119.99. Although the design language is firm, there is at least one obvious flaw. Compared with the more expensive products offered by competitors, the sound quality has also been greatly improved.

In addition, the performance of this smart home product is a little better and bigger than Google's own-brand speakers.

At the same time, JBL puts high quality materials in the first place. It does not contain all the features that users might expect from smart home speakers-no 3.5mm audio Jack. Intuitive, easy-to-use controls and a series of usability-oriented design features are among them. Attention should also be paid to the details of service life and durability.

These all apply, and the device can be applied to almost any black or gray decoration.

In short, JBL Link Music is an orator who is closer to those who want to expand or build a smart home ecosystem.

JBL link music is designed to impress people, in most cases

Most of JBL's link music is well-designed, diverse in style, easy to place and small in size.

In terms of appearance, JBL Link Music has a fairly standard design in the field of smart speakers in the home. It is short cylindrical, wrapped in cloth, and decorated with ultra-soft plastic at the top and bottom. JBL covers the protruding bottom with the latter material.

Printed with the usual trademarks, warning words and symbols, certificates, but mainly to increase grip so that it will not slip, slide or shake from any surface placed on it.

It's not a perfect cylinder. Instead, JBL designed it into a more square shape. JBL will ship in black or gray. My JBL link music comment unit is gray.

JBL embeds its brand into the "front end" of the device, highlighting high-end external fabrics. It consists of a smooth metal badge flush with the fabric. There is a small color board made of the same soft plastic at the back of the car with two Bluetooth and microphone mute buttons. The power cord is here.

The top of the gadget is concave, uses as much material as above, and is wrapped in a deep hard plastic ring. The center is equipped with a hard plastic multi-function button marked with Google Assistant icon. The plus and minus buttons appear on both sides of the button. The microphones in the top two corners have been arranged to make AI-driven snooping work better from a distance.

When the review began when the JBL linked music speakers were powered on, the main drawbacks immediately became apparent. It comes down to the power cord used here. The linked music designed by JBL is suitable for almost any family aesthetic. Fashion high-end, on the whole is just a beautiful smart home equipment.

A cable is different from two AC cables. It can be inserted directly a few inches above the speaker base without any design elements (for example, tilted parts) to prevent the speaker from protruding outward. The cable itself is flat, but thick. Therefore, it is more difficult to hide than others.

To make matters worse, it doesn't end with an adapter, it ends with a standard American plug. JBL may have used a plug that is more similar to Google's home speakers. The cable is plugged into the bottom of the device through a tilted DC plug. The cable is flat, so it is easy to hide. The other end enters an angled adapter to make the object flush with the wall.

By contrast, JBL speakers feel they haven't done it. The power cord is an aspect of JBL linked music, which exudes a "cheap" atmosphere that can easily be blocked when determining the location of the speakers.

The hardware quality meets the design expectations.

02 2 JBL link music review hardware

No matter what the appearance of the JBL Link music speaker, using this gadget during my evaluation process can at least find that it does a good job. The power port on the back fits tightly and shows no sign of shaking or loosening, so it is only suitable for beginners.

However, the materials used here can also be easily removed as needed.

JBL link music weighs only 730g and weighs only 4.4in by 5.28in. With its soft touch and almost rubber-like plastic, JBL linked music can be put in place. It feels powerful.

When it comes to pressing buttons, JBL ensures that they are not too soft. This is most obvious in the separately released Google Assistant button. This button, like all other buttons, has a satisfactory click effect.

The main difference is that the "" and "-" volume keys are embedded under the soft touch surface. So, they do have more ID cards.

Quo; squeeze. The same is true of the microphone mute / unmute button and Bluetooth pairing button near the power Jack.

To make the package more complete, the JBL is equipped with four LED lights on the front, below the interactive top surface. Those are shown in bright white, but JBL also ensures that they glow in blue. After the Bluetooth connection is active or pairing is initiated, the LED lights up in blue.

Considering the size of Link Music, the audio quality is as good as JBL.

JBL Link Music provides a delightful bass experience

JBL Link Music is only the same size as Google's original Home-branded speakers, but, as I've shown throughout the comments, it's a little larger than the gadget. This also continues the audio field, but with a nasty warning. This is not a speaker designed to compete directly with Bose or Sonos to achieve balance and quality.

Using Google Home-branded speakers, the bass is underrepresented in music. JBL's Link Music doesn't have to be sensational. In fact, according to the genre of the music under discussion, it just feels a little too high. Although the frequency range is from 60Hz to 20KHz. In dubstep,Rap or other heavy bass jam, the lower tone is as powerful as the size of the speaker.

On the contrary, in other schools, the bass is a little stronger, even more than the treble and alto. This is especially true in small batch production. Increasing the volume to more than 40% improves the problem and continues to improve as the volume increases.

The only problem is that the speaker is very loud. With a volume of 50%, I can almost fill the whole first floor of a small house. The house has an open plan, so it may not be suitable for every space. But in most cases, turning up the volume to eliminate excessive bass will require the speaker to turn up the volume very high.

This means that although JBL's brand is famous, it will not be the best speaker for enthusiasts. When the highest volume reaches more than 70%, this speaker is really amazing. The audio is mainly balanced, with only a small amount of extra bass, exceeding expectations. The audio quality is also stable, and there is no distortion or abnormality in any volume.

Of course, listening to podcasts or other media through this speaker will not cause problems.

Overall, JBL Link Music is definitely an alternative to Nest or Home-branded speakers with smaller Google. Despite its audio balance warning, the price of the loudspeaker is satisfactory.

Special features go far beyond Google Assistant, but there are also

JBL Link Music comes with Google Assistant, supports Google Home and Apple Home, and is packaged in Bluetooth pairing

First of all, JBL Link Music is a smart speaker that supports Wi-Fi. Through the projection function in Google or Nest Home devices, this is also the most commonly used way of JBL Link music in my comments. The gadget can access Wi-Fi through the 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac protocol on 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks. It supports playback in HE-AAC,LC-AAC,MP3,VORBIS,WAV (LPCM), FLAC and OPUS formats.

Of course, as mentioned above, Bluetooth can also be used as a connection option. Therefore, users do not always have to use Wi-Fi, applications that support smart homes, or applications that support Cast to always send music. There is a drawback to this, but we will discuss it for the time being.

Now, the speaker uses Bluetooth 4.2, an earlier standard. If you use Bluetooth version 5.0 or later, JBL may be able to resolve some of the audio quality issues I encountered when reviewing Link Music. Or at least this may be the case without using Wi-Fi. But I only use Bluetooth in a very small part of it.

This is because JBL Link Music and Google Assistant are fully integrated. Its function is almost the same as Google's own smart loudspeaker. This means that users can effectively replace these devices or start using loudspeakers when building smart homes. Loudspeakers can actually act as a central hub for controlling smart homes.

All of these are used as groupable speakers in existing smart homes and everything you need.

The Google helper button at the top of the device can be used for a variety of purposes. Holding down the button for more than 2 seconds (or "Hey Google" or "OK Google") will launch Google's AI helper. Pressing it at once can also stop a variety of audio, including timers, alarms, and assistant responses.

Of course, as mentioned above, this is not without shortcomings. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Google cannot be used as a Bluetooth speaker unless it is set up as part of a smart home in JBL Link Music's Home application. This means that users cannot buy it directly and use it for Bluetooth without going through the process.

Having said that, because it is compatible with AirPlay 2, users can set it up using Apple Home. Therefore, there is at least a second way to set it. Although this is not an ideal choice for any kind of Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

JBL's Link Music is so close to five-star equipment.

JBL Link Music can be set up at any time and used as a valuable supplement to any smart home environment.

If it is important to maintain a calm and balanced audio at each volume level, this may not be the right speaker for you. For those who like small size and heavy bass, JBL Link Music is more suitable. The same is true for those who like to play audio loudly, because the overwhelming bass decreases as the volume decreases.

Unless the main use of the speaker is through Wi-Fi, JBL uses Bluetooth 4.2, which means it's not a good thing for enthusiasts either.

On the contrary, it is not a perfect choice for those who want to install smart home speakers cleanly. Especially in most cases where the minimum number of wires is intended to be displayed. In most cases, the power cord design here is not suitable.

Although some caveats are covered in this comment, JBL Link Music is still more than just affordable smart home speakers. It is also one of the few gadgets in the price range, with a difference of just 120 cents to compete with Google's own-brand products. Whether or not to make it a viable choice for users depends on the above factors.

However, it not only has all the same AI Assistant functions in Google Home speakers. It does it and looks good at the same time, and provides overall quality at its price. This helps the speaker stand out on its bracket and establish a brand image.

In addition to warnings, JBL Link Music should provide a good starting point or supplement for almost any existing smart home.

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