JBL Xtreme 3 vs Xtreme 4: Should you upgrade?

The JBL Xtreme 4 is the much awaited successor to the JBL Xtreme 3 released in March 2024. This latest release by JBL brings significant upgrades in the JBL Xtreme 4’s battery life (up to 24 hours instead of 15 hours on the Xtreme 3), the latest Bluetooth 5.3 codec and slightly better sound signature with more pronounced bass beats. In this review, we compare both speakers side by side to see if the specs are really a big improvement and whether it is worth upgrading form the Xtreme 3 to the Xtreme 4 speaker.

One thing to note is that the JBL Xtreme 4 speaker is a really expensive speaker with the Xtreme 3 being a much more economical option. Here are the main differences between both speakers summarised in the table below.

Comparison Table

Sound Comparison

Compared to the JBL Xtreme 3 speaker, one of the more notable improvements of the JBL Xtreme 4 is that it comes with improved audio quality and bass extension down to 45 Hz (vs. 53.5 Hz on the JBL Xtreme 3). This means that you would be able to get slightly deeper bass response on the JBL Xtreme 4 when listening to bass-heavy music genres such as EDM or rock. We also played a couple of EDM and hip-hop music genres and found that the JBL Xtreme 4 has a slightly more elevated mid-bass and crisper treble ranges. The Xtreme 4 speaker also seems to have better speaker dynamics and can get louder (95dB vs 92dB) with less compression.

We played a couple of EDM and chill mixes on the JBL Xtreme 4 and liked the bass performance. The bass hits nice and sounds deeper without feeling too “hollow” – it has depth and plenty of punch to it. We also liked the fact that vocals seem to feel more accentuated and pronounced, especially if you are listening to female vocals or just jazz music performances in general. Both speakers are great at EDM and rock music with the ability to accentuate the beats in the music, but we felt that the JBL Xtreme 4 did provide that more juicy lower end punch that adds depth to EDM music.

Having said that, we felt that both speakers performed equally well in the highs and mid-range frequencies with the JBL Xtreme 4 and Xtreme 3 delivering crystal clear vocals and solid full-range frequency response. Tony Bennett’s “Fly me to the moon” sounded really crisp and clean on both speakers, and both the Xtreme 4 and Xtreme 3 delivered really nice highs without any distortion at higher volume levels.

In terms of sound comparison, we would say that the biggest difference by far between the JBL Xtreme 4 and the Xtreme 3 is that the Xtreme 4 has a deeper bass impact with a frequency response down to 45 Hz, which is slightly deeper than the 53.5 Hz on the Xtreme 3. That being said, you can only hear the difference if you listen to a lot of bass-heavy music genres and crank up the volume on the speaker above 50% volume where you can hear the bass clearly (the bass starts to taper off at lower volume levels for both speakers).

Specs Comparison

In terms of specs, it’s quite clear that the JBL Xtreme 4 has a significantly better battery capacity of up to 24 hours of playtime on a single charge, compared to the 15 hours on the Xtreme 3 speaker. It uses a much larger 68Wh battery (compared to 36Wh on the JBL Xtreme 3) which takes slightly longer to charge at 3.5 hours vs the 2.5 hours charge time on the Xtreme 3. One thing to note is that the JBL Xtreme 4 allows for easy battery replacement, so you can buy an additional battery pack here if you want to extend the speaker’s battery life. This feature is really useful if you want to blast music continuously on the speaker without any interruption (or pausing it to recharge).

With that said, the JBL Xtreme 3 does come with older wired connection options such as auxiliary in and USB-A output, while the Xtreme 4 speaker only comes with a single USB-C port. However, we liked the fact that the Xtreme 4 speaker comes with the newer Bluetooth 5.3 audio codec with Auracast which supports pairing with an unlimited number of speakers (you don’t need to use JBL PartyBoost’s app to do this as is the case with older JBL speakers).

Should you upgrade?

If you have listened to the JBL Xtreme 3 speaker before, the JBL Xtreme 4 is certainly a welcome addition and delivers a much-needed boost to the lower-end bass response. It has a much deeper frequency range and punches deeper with more power and rounded bass, and it can handle louder music soundtracks really well. It’s also slightly louder than the Xtreme 3 speaker by 3dB, which is marginal but still a subtle improvement. Overall, we felt that the JBL Xtreme 4 felt louder, has much more bass and overall depth and it has much more volume and power as compared to the JBL Xtreme 3.

Perhaps the biggest improvement that the JBL Xtreme 4 has to offer is its battery capacity upgrade to 24 hours of playtime on a single charge, and you have the option of replacing the battery pack which makes things convenient if you need to play music continuously on the JBL Xtreme 4 speaker.

With that said, the Xtreme 4 speaker adds AI tuning but loses the auxiliary input and card slot which is supported on the Xtreme 3. This is worth mentioning because it does not process lossless audio codecs such as aptX or LDAC which means that some detail in the music may be lost in transmission if streaming from Spotify.

Design wise, both the JBL Xtreme 4 and Xtreme 3 have an essentially similar design and comes with carabiner clips on both speakers which helps you to strap it on your shoulder while taking it outdoors. Both speakers are IP67 waterproof and dustproof and designed for outdoor use, so you can bring it to the beach or pool without any issues.

One final thing to note about the JBL Xtreme 4 is that the Auracast feature only allows it to pair with newer JBL speaker models that support Auracast – in other words – you won’t be able to pair the JBL Xtreme 4 with the old Xtreme 3 model which is kind of a let down.

The final consideration for the JBL Xtreme 4 is undoubtedly it’s price. The price is rather steep and the JBL Xtreme 3 delivers a relatively similar sound signature to the Xtreme 4 speaker at much more affordable price point, which is definitely something you should consider.

The Verdict?

We would say that the JBL Xtreme 3 is really a budget Xtreme 4 speaker. It is the more affordable and cost efficient option and has a very similar sound signature to the Xtreme 4 speaker and both speakers are almost as loud (with only a marginal 3dB difference). Perhaps the biggest improvement to the Xtreme 4 is the battery life and replaceable battery pack which makes it a very convenient option if you need to play music continuously, otherwise the Xtreme 3 is still a relatively good option at a budget price point.