JBL Authentics 200 Black

I have had this JBL box for a few weeks now, but it has already become an indispensable part of my house. Before this I had a cheaper/smaller box from the same brand. Gave nice music, but not very spectacular. But this box is really a different category. This box is nice to see, especially compared to other boxes. Not a boring black box, but a retro box that you can show off. But of course it's all about the sound. You don't buy a box for its appearance. The sound of this box is above average and has enough volume to fill a large living room. The bass tones of this box are also excellent for the box size. There are also larger sizes available (the 300 and 500), but you pay a lot more for them and it is really not necessary if you want to fill a living room with music. What I like is that Google Assistant works well on it. This is easy to set up. You can operate the box by voice, but also by telephone. So you don't have to get up for a different music. If you install the JBL app you can change many more settings, such as the bass. I am very happy with this box. Highly recommended.

The JBL Authentics design is something different from the average smart speaker design. I, and my visitors, think it is a nice speaker so far. As a result, I prefer to place the speaker in a visible place, but that also ensures better sound. In addition, the nice rotary knobs on top for bass and treble are also very nice if you listen to a different genre.

The sound is generally very good, although you do notice that at full volume the bass can have some difficulty, but you are having quite a party if you have the speaker at maximum volume, which is very loud.

After the setup, everything works great, and you can speak to the assistants from anywhere in the room, even when there is music playing. I did have some problems during the setup, when I first set up Alexa, Google Assistant no longer wanted to detect the speaker. After a reset it went smoothly in the other order.

It is an expensive speaker, but the design, sound and functions are all top notch and once installed it works smoothly.

Making a wifi connection is possible but not easy. The JBL one app is very limited in possibilities and support. The sound is good and the design is nice. The built-in "Hey Google" works together with the free "Spotify" that never plays the songs I ask for but refers to a premium account. I do have this but it cannot be linked to the JBL (only via mobile phone but then I have no use for the Hey Google).