JBL Charge 5 - Portable Waterproof Speaker - Black

Why it's worth it

A waterproof Bluetooth speaker with about 20 hours of playtime and enough output to fill a campsite or a beach setup. The built-in power bank means it can top off a phone, though doing so eats into the music.

The Charge 5 isn't really a car accessory — it's what you use at the other end of the drive. Campsite, tailgate, picnic table, hotel balcony. It has a long-excursion driver, a separate tweeter, and dual passive radiators, which in plain terms means it gets loud outdoors without the sound collapsing into mush. Owners repeatedly describe being surprised by how much volume comes out of something this size.

IP67 waterproofing is what makes it a travel speaker rather than a shelf speaker. Rain, a pool deck, sand at the beach, a cooler full of melted ice — none of it matters. You can rinse it off. That's a meaningfully different product from a speaker you have to protect, and it's the reason people take this camping instead of leaving it at home.

From our review of 10 car travel accessories, by Paul Evans, Technical Reviewer

What we like

• +The Charge 5 isn't really a car accessory — it's what you use at the other end of the drive
• +IP67 waterproofing is what makes it a travel speaker rather than a shelf speaker
• +Twenty hours of rated playtime means you charge it before the trip and don't think about it for a weekend

What to know

• –The USB power bank output is a nice extra, not a reason to buy
• –It's also 2.1 pounds and shaped like a fat cylinder, so it's a real item in a bag rather than something you toss in a pocket