JBL just announced two new portable speakers that support AI Sound Boost technology
JBL just announced a pair of portable speakers that take advantage of the company's AI Sound Boost technology. This software analyzes the signal and maxes out the driver while minimizing distortion. The company says this creates a boost in sound quality.
The Flip 7 features an interchangeable strap and carabiner and an updated control placement when compared to the previous generation. The Flip 6 easily made our list of the best portable Bluetooth speakers, so any improvement is just icing on the cake. It also includes an upgraded woofer with more output power, which should further improve the sound.
The battery life is solid, at 14 hours of use per charge. There's a Playtime Boost feature that dials back the bass to add another two hours of use. The Flip 7 offers the ability for multi-speaker output that's powered by Auracast and it can play lossless audio over USB-C, just like the Beats Pill. Preorders are open right now, with shipments going out on April 6. This speaker costs $150.
The Charge 6 also includes a new design with an updated button layout and a detachable and reconfigurable strap. Just like the Flip 7, it includes a redesigned woofer for an audio upgrade. The battery life here is astounding, at 24 hours of use per charge. This is several hours more than the Charge 5. It also includes Playtime Boost, for even more juice, and a quick-charge feature.
This speaker can be used as part of a larger system via Auracast. Preorders are available right now and shipments go out on April 6. That extra battery life does tick the price up a bit, as the Charge 6 costs $200.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Tom's Guide
19 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
5 things we want to see from the Sony WF-1000XM6
Sony's wireless audio run has been nothing short of exceptional. It began with the widely acclaimed WH-1000XM3, then the consumer-beloved WH-1000XM4, and shifted to the WH-1000XM5, a model viewed by critics as the best headphones overall these past two years. That same momentum carried over to Sony's true wireless series, which gave us two of the best wireless earbuds entries to date: the WF-1000XM4 and WF-1000XM5. Remarkable craftsmanship combined with stellar active noise cancellation and proprietary sound technologies (e.g., DSEE Extreme, LDAC) resulted in fantastic listening experiences that crushed all rivals, including the top-selling AirPods Pro 2. Now that Sony has unleashed its latest flagship headphones, the WH-1000xM6, sights are set on its unannounced next-gen wireless earbuds. We're referring to the WF-1000xM6. Sony's release history suggests the WF-1000xM6 will drop in Summer 2026 – a year after the WH-1000xM6. We saw this pattern with the Mark 4 and Mark 5 SKUs. It's also possible that these buds hit store shelves before the end of this year. Rest assured that the WF-1000xM6 will be a fitting representation of their over-ear counterpart. Is that enough to warrant their purchase? Not in our expert opinion. The $449 WH-1000XM6 are $50 more expensive than their predecessor when they were initially released, and the WF-1000XM6 are bound to follow suit. Several upgrades need to happen before we splurge on Sony's highly anticipated luxury buds. Here's what we recommend for the Sony WF-1000xM6 before they come off the assembly line. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Smart cases are the new 'It' accessory for wireless earbuds and headphones. Bowers & Wilkins jump-started this trend with the Pi7 charging case that works as a Bluetooth transmitter to stream music over hi-res aptX connectivity when plugged into an analog output. Jabra created its own versions for the Elite 8 Active (Gen 2) and Elite 10 (Gen 2). However, it was JBL that evolved the concept, developing a charging case with a touchscreen that doubles as an alternative control source and transmitter for hi-res streaming via USB-C cable (check out the outstanding Tour Pro 3 and Tour One M3). Sony has always been more innovator than imitator, but most of us wouldn't judge the brand for following in JBL's footsteps. Just picture what a Mark Series smart case could do for the WF-1000xM6. We envision a device that allows for Auracast transmission, lossless audio through passive mode, and seamless remote-control management. Wide compatibility with Sony's latest headphones and speakers would be the cherry on top. The WF-1000XM5 stand out as some of the best noise-canceling earbuds right now. Some critics even say they're equally as superb as the category-leading Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. That's quite the compliment considering the buds lack Sony's Auto Optimizer feature from the WH-1000XM5 headphones. This automatically selects the best ANC setting for your current environment. Hardware and software limitations contributed to its absence on the WF-1000XM5. A newer version called Adaptive NC Optimizer debuted on the WH-1000XM6, and it does a solid job of tweaking performance on the fly by thoroughly examining the ambient noise around you. Sony needs to perform some circuit wizardry and get this working on its next-gen buds. The WH-1000XM5 headphones run on the QN2 chip, while the WF-1000XM5 utilize the mobile-friendly QN2e chip. Obviously, the former is more powerful, though the latter works exceptionally well with Sony's Integrated Processor V2 to enhance call clarity and noise cancellation. We're not calling for Sony to phase out the QN2e; it is arguably superior to Apple's H2 chip used on the AirPods Pro 2. At the same time, we would welcome a brand-new processor that can accelerate performance across all key verticals on the WF-1000XM6. Sony says its QN3 chip on the WH-1000XM6 is seven times faster than the original version and more efficient for noise reduction. Give us the QN3e if it means better ANC and call quality. Sony's spatial audio format delivers convincing 3D sound that enlivens a variety of content, from live events to music to movies. Sony's headtracking technology has also improved greatly. Unfortunately, 360 Reality Audio is restricted to select music streaming services, many of which are unpopular compared to the big three: Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. The feature was optimized for Tidal through limited catalog availability, but it was removed last year after the platform released a huge FLAC update. More listeners must experience 360 Reality Audio for it to become a legitimate alternative to Apple's Personalized Spatial Audio and Bose's Immersive Audio modes; the latter works with all stereo content. No one expects Sony to follow Bose's path since there is money to be made licensing out 360 Reality Audio. Therefore, the next best option is to make 360 Reality Audio available on most streaming services, and the WF-1000XM6 could be the perfect launch pad. No one has fought harder for the return of near-field communication technology on Sony's earbuds than I have. It's a very convenient feature that was ditched after the WF-1000XM3 came out. Bringing back NFC for the WF-1000XM6 would make pairing to Android devices a breeze. All that's required is tapping the charging case on the back of a compatible smartphone. Since the NFC market is expanding into different products and sectors, this leaves the door open for many other creative uses, such as using the case for contactless payments or keyless entry into your car or house. Is it a pipe dream? Sure, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility.


Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Tom's Guide
LG TVs have one of the most useful features of 2025 — and no one's talking about it
When we write about hot new features for the best TVs, we usually discuss visual improvements. It makes total sense considering TVs display a visual medium. But in 2025, while everyone's attention is focused on how bright TVs are getting, I'm excited about a completely different functionality — and an audio-based feature which is barely being mentioned. It's called Auracast, and right now, it's available across several models LG's 2025 TV lineup, including all of the brand's OLED TVs. So why am I so excited about Auracast's inclusion in LG TVs, and what exactly could it mean for the future of TV audio? Let's dive into what Auracast is before we look into the ways it could change our lives. Auracast allows for multiple devices to connect to the same audio stream from a transmitter. It's built on Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) Audio, which was introduced with Bluetooth 5.2. It can seem mundane, but the potential uses for the technology open up a wide world of accessibility. When I went to a demonstration of Auracast at CES 2024, there were multiple situations set up to show various use cases. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. These included an airport setting where you could connect to the Auracast stream at your gate to be able to easily hear flight updates and boarding calls, a bar where you could connect to TVs showing different sporting events with multiple commentary tracks, or a lecture in a collegiate setting to make it easier to hear the professor and not miss important information. But all of those examples are when you're out and about. How could it benefit us in our own home? The first possibility has to do with fixing unintelligible TV dialogue. Instead of adjusting the volume of the TV up and down between quiet dialogue and bombastic action scenes, someone could use a pair of headphones or hearing aids to boost frequencies to make the dialogue easier to hear. Plus, the frequency tuning could be personalized for each individual's hearing, or set to a profile determined by an audiologist. This could be used in conjunction with a soundbar or AVR to bolster the lower frequencies (like the physical rumble during action scenes) to maintain the immersion that a home theater presentation can provide. It could also allow for everyone in the room to watch using only the audio from their earbuds and headphones — especially useful to apartment dwellers with children that have gone to bed or troublesome neighbors that thump the floor with a broomstick at the slightest tease of noise. Instead of an AVR with wires spread across the room, or a soundbar with proprietary wireless rear speakers, a TV could be the audio hub of the home theater. The sound doesn't need to be limited to a single broadcast, either. The potential exists for a TV to broadcast multiple streams at once, providing different language tracks for the same content. Beyond connecting headphones and earbuds, Auracast could revolutionize the way we set up and use discrete speaker home theater systems. Instead of an AVR with wires spread across the room, or a soundbar with proprietary wireless rear speakers, a TV could be the audio hub of the home theater. Multiple streams could be broadcast for different channels in a surround sound configuration. Since the speakers would only need to be Auracast-capable, you wouldn't be locked into an ecosystem that has to work together (like Sonos or the Sony line soundbars and wireless speakers), and the system could be easily upgradeable. Dolby has a similar technology for wireless placement of speakers called FlexConnect. We'll see the first speaker that supports it, the TCL Z100, later this year that can be paired with TCL's 2025 line of compatible TVs. I recently had the opportunity to spend a few weeks with the LG C5 OLED in my home and explore all of its features. While digging through the TV's menus, I was surprised to find Auracast broadcasting listed in the Sound menu — with options for 16kHz, 24kHz, or 48kHz transmissions. After turning it on and selecting the quality setting (naturally I went with the highest), I tested it with three different headphones and earbuds that include the tech — the JBL Tour One M3 headphones, Earfun Air Pro 4 earbuds, and the LG xboom Buds. The apps for the three headphones and earbuds are required to receive the signal (a separate iPhone or iPad was used for each device), and the TV's stream needed to be selected on the individual apps. The Tour One M3 and xboom Buds worked quickly and flawlessly, while the Air Pro 4 took a bit more finagling to get connected. That said, once complete, I was able to have all three connected simultaneously, listening to "Dune" as it streamed from the Max app on the C5. I didn't encounter any lip sync issues, and was also able to play the audio through my Onkyo RZ30 AVR with no audible delay between the AVR or any of the headphones. The LG C5 OLED isn't just one of the handful of TVs in 2025 that supports Auracast, it's also one of the best TVs of the year. Along with Auracast support, the C5 comes with class-leading gaming support, built-in smart features via webOS and all of the incredible performance-related benefits we've come to expect from OLED TVs. So far, the only official announcement that 2025 LG TVs support Auracast has come from Starkey, a hearing aid company. The news was subsequently picked up by outlets that focus on hearing health and the hearing aid market, but not by the consumer tech community at large. A quick search through the product page for the C5 confirms there is zero mention of Auracast, just that the TV supports Bluetooth version 5.3, which doesn't even guarantee that Auracast is supported. (Bluetooth 5.2 and later chips are all capable of Auracast, but the functionality needs to be activated by the manufacturers.) After spending time with the LG C5, I contacted LG to confirm support for Auracast and was informed that all 2025 OLED TVs as well as the QNED85A series and above support Auracast. I should point out that LG isn't the first TV to support Auracast, as Samsung first added support in August 2023 to its Neo QLED 8K and MicroLED TVs from that year. But much like LG, there's no information about it on any of Samsung's 2025 TV product pages, just that Bluetooth Audio is supported — Samsung doesn't even indicate which Bluetooth version. Even though the Auracast specifications were introduced a few years ago, we're still at the beginning of wider Auracast implementation and usability. This year, we've seen more earbuds and headphones available with the functionality and it's been easier to connect than before. The addition of Auracast to LG TVs to the growing list of supported devices is a promising move forward. Hopefully we'll continue to see companies embrace the accessibility opportunities for their products and Auracast will become a part of our technological daily life.


Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Gizmodo
JBL Vibe Beam Earbuds Are at a Near-Free Price to Celebrate Over 10K Sold on Amazon in the Past Month
When it comes to headphones, there's something liberating about cutting the cord. You could be out for a walk, hitting the gym, or just zoning out during your daily commute. No matter what you're up to, a solid pair of wireless earbuds can make a world of difference in how you experience the world. You want to listen to your favorite music and podcasts, after all. Do so while accompanied by a pair of earbuds that feel good to wear and sound great when it all comes down to it. And you can get a pair right now that do just that. See at Amazon You can head to Amazon right now to get the JBL Vibe Beam earbuds for just $40, down from their usual price of $50. That's a discount of 20%. This price applies to the black colorway currently. The other color options are still hovering at $50. Comfortable and convenient earbuds in your pocket JBL's Vibe Beam earbuds are designed for people who want dependable performance without overcomplicating things. These are everyday earbuds in the best sense of the phrase. They're simple to use, comfortable enough to wear for hours, and tough enough to handle whatever the day throws at you. With an IP54 rating, they're resistant to both dust and splashes, so you don't have to baby them on a rainy walk or during a sweaty workout. Battery life is generous, too. You get about 8 hours of playtime on a single charge, and the included charging case extends that to around 32 hours total. Quick charging is built in. You can plug them in for just 10 minutes and get up to 2 more hours of listening, which is a life-saver when you're heading out the door. JBL didn't skimp on audio quality, either. The sound profile is balanced, slightly bass-forward, and clean. That makes it best for a wide range of music and podcasts. There's no active noise cancellation, but the snug in-ear fit and ambient-aware mode help you stay aware of your surroundings without sacrificing sound. So when you consider all of these factors, especially the fact that they're $40 (-20%) right now, they make a very enticing deal. They're small, comfortable, loud, and last for quite a while. And if that's not enough for you it's understandable you might look elsewhere for a more feature-rich pair of buds. For everyone else, however, these will be a must-have deal that can't be missed. See at Amazon