Authentics 300 Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (Black/Gold)

This is my review for the JBL Authentics 300 Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (White). I hope this helps you make a decision! Connectivity works great with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and it's easy to set up. I love that you can control the playback volume with your phone (through the JBL app) even if you are using the AUX input with a turntable (though obviously you can only pause, play, or skip tracks when you are in Bluetooth or Wi-Fi modes). As for the sound quality, out of the box it sounded a little boxy and flat to my ears, but once you equalize it, this thing comes to life! It can be very bassy and punchy while maintaining good clarity at the same time, or you can make it more flat if that's what you prefer. It sounds bigger than you would expect for its size, and it can get very loud. For EQ, you can use the physical knobs on the speaker, but to get much better results, I highly recommend downloading the app. It gives you all the configurations and the possibility to shape the sound way better with the 7-band EQ. If you are not into EQ, it also makes it easy for you with a selection of presets that are pretty good and easy to choose from. I haven't tested the battery life yet, but it sounds promising on paper. I bought this with plugged-in usage in mind, but it can work as a portable speaker. It's a little bit too big and on the heavier side for that purpose, IMO, but you can totally use it that way. I got the white and gold one. The colors look great in person. The white is more of a creamy color combined with a subtle touch of gold (not tacky at all)—and they integrate better with my furniture and home decor. Construction and materials feel premium. The only thing I would change is for the volume knob to have a tactile feel instead of being smooth, but the LED indicators do a good job of letting you know the volume level, and the knob feels very high-quality anyway. At this price point, you can't go wrong with this one. Give it a try!

Love this speaker! Picked it up while it was on sale & it's an absolute blast! The sound quality is amazing with ample bass & just great for every day use with movies & music. Connectivity is also amazing with Wifi (Airplay & casting), Bluetooth & option for wired connection. The size is perfect for smaller apartments and can easily fit in smaller tv units. Setup was a breeze, through the JBL One app which lets you connect it Google Assistant or Alexa in addition to EQ settings. It's a perfect all in one speaker if you want to connect it to your TV while also having a smart speaker that you can use for other purposes. It's a beautiful but heavy speaker, so keep that in mind if you plan to transport it, battery life is not bad but definitely not on the bigger size, especially when you pump up the bass. It's definitely made to be a "home" speaker rather than one you transport frequently.

The speaker is incredible. Super premium quality, sounds amazing, retro look is amazing. Really a great purchase what else can I say.

We are very happy with this purchase. Normally, I only like true stereo set ups with two speakers, but our kitchen right now does not lend itself to any kind of decent configuration for stereo. Among the many options for single box streamers, this one stood out on paper, and it has delivered. Pros: - Easy to stream any and all sources (Spotify, Amazon, Apple etc) - high and stable connectivity through our Wi-Fi network - Super easy set up - Works through its own app or others - Roon-ready (key selling point for me) - Streams our music collection from a hard drive, in addition to streaming - Connects to devices via Bluetooth or WiFi - Plays Alexa or whatever else you use - Full sound for what it is, with decent mid-range and not at all tinny - comparable to a single speaker Sonos or Sonos Play 5 and certainly a lot better than your general Bluetooth speaker - Has a built-in battery in case you want to carry it out to the porch or backyard. - Very stable tech works every time Cons - Bass is overly pronounced. Many people will say this is a plus, and I think it’s made for these people I’ve owned three other single box speakers, from Sonos, Heos/Denon, and one from JBL, and this is the equal of any of them at a better price. They all lack the imaging of stereo. So it’s a limitation you have to decide you can accept going in. I don’t mind because we have the stereo set up in the room next-door. This works great in the kitchen for background listening. Really enjoy it. My wife, who is less particular about sound than I am, thinks it’s fantastic and tons better than her old Bluetooth speaker.

My husband loved this gift! It is quite a bit larger than the JBL charge but has way more adjustable settings. We loved that it had a vintage look to it. You can adjust the base, treble and sound on the top and has great sound. Can go very loud. This has already survived us many bachelor trips, roadtrips and other occasions with hosting and it has no signs of wear and tear. It is easy to use, resistant to water & great value for the price. Would recommend this for music lovers!

Sound quality is good. The WiFi connection to AirPlay is very frustrating. It’s not my iPhone either because it AirPlays to other devices just fine. I bought three 300’s to fill my home with music but has filled my house with frustration over the AirPlay feature dropping out after ten minutes of connectivity. Then you have to reboot each speaker in order to get the to connect again. I read some reviews before I purchase, but I didn’t dig in far enough. 90% of the negative reviews are regarding the connectivity.. even on their website if I would’ve looked a little further, they acknowledge this.

I had been toying with the idea of buying something like this since my inexpensive Block Rocker speaker crapped out a while back. I wanted something that was easy to move in and out as I like to take portable music out onto my deck when I'm cooking out there. I was introduced to this model when my friend purchased one several months back. I had some birthday gift cards to Amazon so I went out last weekend to have a look at these and I found it to be on sale for a price that was hard to pass up, so I grabbed one. First impressions out of the box... this thing is SOLID. It FEELS like a very well-made speaker. It's heavy, weighing in at nearly 10lbs. The dimensions of this speaker with the handle folded down are 13"w x 8"h x 7"d. It comes with a power cord for using it with AC power and for recharging the internal battery. The speaker boasts up to 8 hours of use on a full charge of the battery. The sound is amazing. I have never heard a portable speaker this size that produces the dynamic range response that this one does. The highs are amazing and the lows really THUMP. I don't think I could ask for better sound in a speaker this size. This speaker has Alexa and Google Assistant built in as well. You can use one, the other, or both. Both of these can be set up via the JBL One app. The app also gives you a TON of other control for the speaker, including custom EQ setups. The app can also control multiple speakers. This opens up a lot of cool situations where you can have multiple speakers running as part of a speaker network. I'd like to have a second one to play with the networking... maybe one day :)

I just received my JBL authentic 300 a few minutes ago. FedEx just dropped it off at my doorstep. I now have it all hooked up. I have played some music on it already. It sounds very good. Glad I bought it. I love the white and gold color I see there’s not really that many reviews of this speaker so for people who is on the fence of whether to buy this speaker yes, you should buy it. You will not regret it very good. sound easy to set up and place anywhere in your house or apartment. also, I forgot to mention very good base meds and highs definitely worth the money for this speaker. thank you, Amazon and thank you to the merchant that shipped it all the way from the East Coast. it got here very quickly. and safe. Also, I forgot to mention the color of the speaker is not actually white and gold is actually cream and gold very beautiful ✌️🤪🤪

So far so good. Sound quality is good, bass is powerful. The sound can be just a little "bright" with some songs. Connection and set up was pretty much flawless and relatively simple. Got this at 31% off, it's probably a little pricy at full cost IMO.

This portable JBL speaker is convenient and excellent sound of course portability the ease of hooking Bluetooth to whatever your needs may be. And of course, the old school look is awesome.

Absolutely love this thing - incredibly powerful sound and thundering bass. Lovely for all types of listening, especially with the newly added extensive Equalizer adjustment via app to customize better to different genres. The mic array for summoning voice assistants are ok however, my Amazon Echo from 2020 across the house hears me clearer and stronger than this speaker, and often hears my commands intended for this speaker clearly, while this one struggles to translate what I'm asking for properly. However, with recent software updates, the voice assistant features have diminished in reliability. As of mid Nov 2024, Alexa has been going offline on this device daily - requiring Alexa needing to be logged out and reconnected to the device for the assistant to remain "online".

Not really that portable, as it is quite heavy. However, I bought it to serve as a Bluetooth bookshelf stereo speaker for my reading room. I play music on it from my iPad and it does it very well! I play rock music and jazz (once in a while classical) on it. Very impressive with loud and quiet music.

Fantastic sound, rechargeable unit which makes it wireless for hours and hours. Excellent quality and a great retro look. I am happy as can be. Highly recommend.