JBL Charge 6 vs Soundcore Boom 3i, fancy lights or refined sound

Boom 3i from Soundcore, being the latest addition in the “Boom Series” just got launched at $129, which is kind of a joke as the much bigger Boom 2 is also at the same price right now - more about this “joke thing” in the conclusion section. In this article, I am going to compare the JBL Charge 6 with the Soundcore Boom 3i. This is kinda a mismatch as the Charge 6 is much bigger and expensive, but Soundcore’s Boom Series speakers have a track record of holding their own against much bigger and expensive speakers. Also, Boom 3i has things that JBL doesn't have. So, it’s still worth taking a look at, between those 2.

Inside-the-box

Typical Soundcore packaging like in other Boom speakers, but I noticed that the “getting in the box” experience is a bit refined and much easier. You don’t need a knife or stick your nails in really hard to get the seal off, this time it’s similar to opening some high-end smartphones like the Google and Apple phones. You can just pull and rip in a blink, if you want to get in. So, inside the box Boom 3i has some accessories like the USB Type-C to Type-C charging cable, carrying strap, strap adjustment buckle and user guide. Even though the speaker is not that big, I appreciate the included carrying strap with Soundcore branding.

The JBL Charge 6 also has good packaging but without the modern paper pull tab of Boom 3i. However, the Charge 6 doesn’t come with a type-c charging cable, keep that in mind. Charge 6 has a carrying handle included, which is very good. The Charge 6 is wrapped inside a foam pouch, which feels better than a plastic wrap. Also it’s placed inside using recyclable cardboard molds, very nice and good protection. This is more quality than Soundcore’s packaging because the Boom 3i has some paper holders to hold the device and smoky plastic wrap. Charge 6 also comes with a user guide. Check the manuals for Boom 3i & Charge 6.

Design and Build

Just like the packaging and presentation indicate more quality, the build is also more expensive on the JBL Charge 6. Let’s talk about the design first, I have thoughts. I have been really liking what Soundcore has been doing with the passive radiator design on their recent Boom speakers. They are gluing a cool somewhat transparent plastic cap or cover on top of the exposed passive radiators. There might be some slight disadvantages to adding weight and air movement, but they look really cool when they glow. Those diagonal stripe patterns combined with beat-synced LEDs make the speaker look pretty fancy.

That was what I really liked about the Boom 3i, but the front grille look - not a fan. I just don’t like it as much as the other aspects of the whole design. The front grille cutouts look like they are poking out - wouldn’t they look more polished and refined if they were poking in ..? Some people might say this sticking-out design goes well with the stripe looking passive radiators. I understand that, but I would have liked a different and better grille design that would complement the passive rads more. I still like the overall look of the Boom 3i, it is a refreshing design that looks new and exciting, giving me cool vibes. Also, it is available in 4 colors - adventure black, ocean blue, jungle green & rose brown. I usually like plain black, but when the accent color is really good I can switch - rose brown is my favorite.

With the rose brown color, you have a dark color as dominant and rose brown as an accent or complement. However, with the jungle green, green is the dominant color plus dark as a complement - this makes the look really vibrant and popping. Some people will really like that kind of look, but I like subtle catchy accent color, which is why I like the rose brown. I think all the colors are good and serve for different tastes. The carrying strap is also color matched with the dominant color - you only get green strap with the green.

The Charge 6 has its traditional JBL design, whereas Soundcore doing new things. I like the JBL design too - it’s more professional. The passive radiators on the Charge 6 have a cool bold look now that previously had a professional look. They look pretty curvy and beefy - honestly, the radiators are more exciting with JBL speakers than other aspects of the design. Along with some subtle changes in the design, the Charge 6 has a more refined and better bottom design that I like way more than the Charge 5 speaker. There are 6 colors available for the Charge 6 and I don’t find most of them good. I only like the purple and squad.

In terms of build, the JBL Charge 6 is couple of points ahead. It feels like a premium build, which you don’t get from Boom 3i speaker. The Boom 3i can feel plasticky sometimes, which will give you budget feel, but it’s not a cheap-looking or feeling speaker - just feels good under budget. So, Charge 6 is a clear winner for build, but I like Soundcore Boom 3i more for design. Boom 3i has got lights - how cool and exciting is that ..?

Configuration Check

Both the Soundcore Boom 3i and JBL Charge 6 have the same configuration of having a woofer and tweeter setup. So, they will provide you with a mono sound. Charge 6 is rated at 45 watts vs Boom 3i has a rating of 50 watts. These ratings are just marketing tactics and the Charge 6 is much bigger with less power - come on. However, just to give you an idea, the 45 W Charge 6 refers to 30 W woofer and 15 W tweeter and the 50 W Boom 3i refers to 40 W woofer and 10 W tweeter. Each unit is mono, but coupling them can play in the stereo configuration. Both speakers have this stereo coupling feature - need 2 units of each.

Sound Quality

The sound quality, which is the most important aspect of a speaker, varies a lot between these 2 speakers. One sounds richer than the other, and you probably know which one. But Soundcore is playing games here, their specs say that it has 5 more watts and goes as low (56 Hz) as the bigger and much more expensive Charge 6. The reality is totally opposite in this comparison. I have done other comparisons, like in the Boom 2 vs Xtreme 4 article, the Boom 2 did shine. However, for sound quality, today is not Soundcore’s day.

For low volumes like 50% or below, the Boom 3i sounds very bass heavy that it cannot handle the bass when BassUp is turned on. There is a pretty noticeable distortion even on average tracks and it gets very uncontrolled in bass-heavy tracks. Turning BassUp off mostly solves the problem. The JBL Charge 6 also has a bass-heavy sound signature at lower volumes but it is much better controlled than the Boom 3i. Charge 6 has more details in the bass and goes deeper in the bass. The highs are more open and cleaner on the Charge 6. Both speakers are bass dominant at or below 50%, but Charge 6 sounds more right.

As you go up in the volume scale, both speakers start to sound more balanced from bass-heavy. The bass dominant nature is way less noticeable at an average 50 to 70% volume. However, the quality in the bass is still present on the Charge 6 at this sort of volume. The Boom 3i starts to lose whatever little deep bass it had at lower volumes. It sounds balanced but there is no Charge 6-like deep bass extension on the Boom 3i. Also, the Charge 6 is way more expensive at $200, which is $70 more than the Boom 3i. So, because of Charge 6’s better driver, you hear more details on the Charge 6. It sounds more clean, open and airy with a better fuller room-filling sound at these average volume levels.

At higher volumes like over 70% to 100%, both speakers sound bass light. However, the Boom 3i is noticeably more bass-light than the JBL Charge 6. The most important thing is that the Charge 6 gets noticeably louder at higher volumes than the Soundcore Boom 3i. Even if the Charge 6 sounds bass-light, there is still some mid-bass going on. The high-end sounds crisp and clean at high volumes, which makes the Boom 3i appear kinda muddy. The Soundcore Boom 3i loses it at higher volumes too, it is not clean with less details and sometimes have some high-end distortion. The old Soundcore Motion+ with 4 active drivers and nice stereo used to compete well with the big boy JBLs, but not this Boom 3i.

Both speakers have custom eq in their app. If the mids are a bit too much on the Boom 3i at higher volume and the highs on the Charge 6, you can easily tone it down using the custom eq. But even with a quality Soundcore app, arguably better than the JBL’s app, you cannot get the deep bass extension and the clean open airy detailed sound of the Charge 6 by using a custom eq on the Boom 3i. The Charge 6 upped its game by providing a 7-band eq from the previous 3-band eq. The JBL Charge 6 is a clear winner for sound.

Features and Battery

In terms of features, the big one is that the Boom 3i has beat-synced LED lights. This is kinda like as cool as it gets. JBL not doing lights might turn some JBL fans to buy Soundcore products. The Charge 6 can do wired lossless audio via the Type-C connection, which the Boom 3i cannot do. Both are IP68 water and dustproof, where Charge 6 claims to have drop protection and Boom 3i has 5 times more saltwater protection than other speakers. The saltwater-resistant feature is new, which can open up some new use case scenarios.

Both support true wireless stereo pairing for an immersive stereo listening experience. Especially on these 2 speakers, the TWS feature is a gamechanger as the single unit only has a mono configuration - with 2 you get immersive wide stereo. The Bluetooth version is 5.4 on Charge 6 vs 5.3 on Boom 3i. JBL Charge 6 has support for Auracast technology, which the Boom 3i doesn’t have. But there are limitations with JBL’s Auracast implementation. Auracast is a standard for cross-brand audio streaming, but JBL is putting some limitations on their devices that support Auracast - not sure exactly what the limitations are.

Both speakers have their built-in app support for customizing and tuning the speaker, but the Soundcore app offers way more customization. The JBL portable app for the Charge 6 offers a major upgrade over the Charge 5 because the Charge 6 has a 7-band EQ now vs the previous 3-band EQ. Check out some of my detailed comparison articles related to these speakers. The images below are linked to those articles - click to read them.

The battery spec reads like Li-ion polymer 34 Wh, equivalent to 7.2 volts 4722 mAh for the JBL Charge 6 speaker. Charge 6 offers 24 hours of playback at around 50% volume with an additional 4 hours when Playtime Boost is on. Fast charging is also present on the Charge 6, only 10 minutes of quick charging can give you 150 minutes of playtime. The charging time is 3 hours at 12 - 20 V / 3 A rate. On the contrary, the Boom 3i offers 16 hours of playtime at an average 60% volume with BassUp off. Turning the BassUp on will produce more bass at or below 70% volume, but the playtime will be way less than 16 hours. Battery capacity is probably 3.7 V 5200 mAh and takes less than 4 hours at 5-V 3-A to charge.

Conclusion - Charge 6

Boom 3i in only 780 grams, which is very light vs the Charge 6 has a weight of 990 grams. So the Charge 6 is around 200 grams heavier, but looks much bigger and beefier than just 200 grams. This helps the Charge 6 to produce big sound. From low to mid to high level listening, at no level does the Boom 3i outshine the Charge 6. The JBL Charge 6, being much more expensive at $200, is around $70 more than the Boom 3i, and is on a higher level in terms of sound quality. If sound is your priority, Charge 6 is the winner.

I think the Boom 3i is for more colorful people who just wanna have some fun. It is less analytical, has uncontrolled thumping bass at low levels, vibrant color options, many protections and colorful lightshow. This is kinda perfect, on a budget, in a kinda joking sense. I like the Boom 3i for its many features and decent sound, but the Charge 6 is just a way better listen. I think the Boom 3i should have been priced at $100, not at $129. If you are on a budget and want a portable versatile speaker with a good (not refined) sound, Boom 3i can be your pick, but not a good pick. Take a look at the Soundcore Boom 2.

The Boom 2, being much bigger than the Boom 3i, is also priced at $129. This becomes a joke when you check my Boom 2 vs Xtreme 4 article, there the Boom 2 comes out better than the Xtreme 4. The X4 is a much bigger speaker than the Charge 6. And here the Charge 6 is destroying the Boom 3i. The joke is Boom 3i and Boom 2 have the same price. If a bit bigger speaker is not a problem for you, just get the Boom 2 at the same price and forget Boom 3i. Check out the official product page of Charge 6 and Boom 3i.

Check the JBL Flip 7 vs JBL Flip 6 story

IF you're interested in portable small speakers, check my Soundcore Motion 300 vs Bose Soundlink Flex article. Both did well in a head-to-head.

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