JBL Link 20

Bought 2x and they failed just over a year old - DONT BUY JBL!!! – One got a crackly speaker and one stopped workign as if the battery had died. Spent over $400 and replaced my bose so now the old bose is back in the house. JBL repair service fee is $69 so basically they force you to purchase a new item. AVOID JBL!!!!!! Show details

Perfect for travelling – I got one of these speakers originally for its Google cast feature and being waterproof. Having Google assistant is a plus and I found very handy when travelling. I prefer using GA on this device to using GA on my phone. Sound is great. I have had it for over a year and use it daily. Update - After just over 4.5 years of use it has died due to… Read more

the USB port where it charges coming loose. Will buy another if I can, still think its one of the best value speakers on the market.

it died just 14 months after the purchase – This speaker died. I spoke to JBL support but they wouldn't do anything as it was out of warranty. That was $300 for a speaker that dies in 14months. Never buying JBL again. Show details

Good value, does the job. A bit bassy – I found my link 20 pretty easy to install, pair and use. My only criticisms is that the sound is too bassy for my taste. I use it a lot. It does what it's meant to, wonderful for the shower, watching Netfix etc. This is NOT hifi but it's good value for money. I got it at Xmas 2018 and I think my daughter paid $A130 for it Show details

Better sound than google home speakers but comes with its limitations – I have been using this for past 4-5 months. I also use google's own home speakers at home so i am in ideal state to explain what is hit and what is miss with JBL Link 20. Hits 1) have battery backup - so can run on battery in outdoors picnic , camping etc. 2) waterproof - ideal with using outdoor again 3) better sound than native google home… Read more

speakers (not Hi-Fi sound but good enough to fill a decent size room and also for outdoors

Misses 1) have to speak louder to activate google assistant - i have noticed that we have to speak much louder than for google home speakers to activate the assistant - especially in noisy condition, assistant get deaf under the sound of its own speaker which is not quite the case with google home speakers.

2) Less frequent firmware updates, to many this might not matter much but to me it's important i have all latest features google provides, mainly coz it extends the life of the product and it dont feel outdated. I already am missing couple of very important features in JBL link 20 vs google home speakers I have at home due to older firmware version in JBL link 20.

Doesn't connect - Poor support – Bought two, spent 4 hours trying to connect. Both failed to respond at end of configuration (message: there is a problem configuring JBL Link 20). Checked google home and JBL FAQ pages, nothing helped (UPnP is on, location service is accessible, devices are on the same network, devices are close to router, reset router, rest device, reset phone,… Read more

reset my kettle and tea bag, etc.). Tried calling support in the morning, dialed continuously from 8am until 10 am, just to hear the same message: "Our office working time is Monday to Friday 8am to 5 pm". Well, to be fair sometimes could also hear a tone which meant somebody rejected the call.

Their "contact us" webpage says "chat with us", but there is no link to chat!!! And no Sir, I see no point in trying to email and waste more time waiting to hear back from them.

Faulty product, no call support, 8 hours of time wasted (1 hour to buy, 4 hours trying to fix, two hours trying to call, 1 hour to return). One of my worst experiences. I am going to return the product today. But who is going to compensate for my time (which I could spend with my family, do my uni assignments or at least work on projects) and my frustration? Or the annual leave time I spent on buying and am going to spend on returning? I will never buy a JBL again.

Stay away.

Huge Limitation - will not play Spotify Playlists – If you ask the Google Assistant in the JBL Link 20 to play a Spotify Playlist, it will not. Instead it will "play a station based on your playlist". This is not a limitation for any of the Google Home devices. Infact you can ask a Google Home device to play a Spotify Playlist on the JBL Link 20 and it will work. You just cant ask the JBL Link… Read more

20 to do it. The Google Assistant appears to be limited. Either the JBL Link 20 Google Assistant firmware is poor or the JBL Link 20 client is not supported by Spotify. Either way JBL should get the issue fixed. This is a huge limitation for a device that many would want to use to play Spotify.

Looks great, sounds great but in use it's a letdown – I really wanted this little speaker to work as intended. It looks great and sounds better than a Google Home, but I feel quite let down by its shortcomings in actual use. Given it's size the audio is acceptable but it's not hi-fi. It is very loud and works well outside as it's waterproof. I regard myself as quite tech savvy but found setting up… Read more

Google Home Assistant frustrating. Please note that I have a Google Home Mini and I had that working within minutes. I even rang JBL support but they were pretty much clueless and had limited product knowledge. They recommended I return it. To be blunt I found their phone support very poor. Eventually I found a way to get it working a few hours later by changing my phone's wi-fi from 5GHz to 2.4GHz.

Unfortunately, the Bluetooth audio is out of sync with video when I watch TV/ Movies/Netflix on my laptop.

You cannot make phone calls with the JBL Link 20 either.

To use the speaker's Bluetooth with any device, a smartphone is required to start the pairing process. If you don’t have your phone with you and the device was not paired earlier, no Bluetooth.

The Link 20 is not quite the Google Home beater I'd hoped for, but I will keep it purely because it sounds so much better.