[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] As usual - JBL creates a thought out product from packaging to build..I own a few JBL speakers now, and every time I buy anything that comes in a box and I have to fight to open it or remove the item from the box - I think of all the times I was able to easily remove my JBL speaker from its box, and start on a positive note from the beginning.
Easy to handle packaging aside - what you get is a speaker that looks and feels well built - it's a mix of hard plastic (the type you can drop and beat on and it'll be fine) and metal (front grate, etc.). I have no issue picking up and carrying it around - I have fairly weak hands from decades on computers, sports, injuries, you name it - so sometimes I am not able to grip objects very well and my hands tire - I can pick this up and walk around with it comfortably.
Changing volume and other similar settings is about as easy as it can get on the top front of the speaker - the dials feel nice with feedback as you turn them - just about what you'd hope for - the buttons feel robust when you press them so I don't feel worried about issues with them down the road (kinda rubbery, I guess as part of the splash proof construction).
Bass boost does exactly what it implies and this speaker while not physically large - will thump the area around it if you play something with any sort of bass - and it's a clean bass as well, unlike cheaper speakers where things sound muddy.
For me the main appeal is the portability, and battery life (the battery being completely replaceable is a nice extra - lots of products you are stuck with what you have, or if you are persistent like myself you end up having to do some electronic engineering down the road to replace the built in one lol). I am always in different areas of my house between my work from home - and working on fixing my home - so it's nice to be able to bring a quality speaker along with me as I work on different areas of the house and keep music with me to maintain my sanity.
If I decide to work outside on the house - speaker comes with. If I decide to work on the car, speaker comes with. It's nice to not need an extension cord!
Personally I am not huge on LEDs and lightshows all the time (nothing against them!) - but connecting to the app was very simple, and controlling the lightshow is about as straight forward as it can be with different options to tweak. Can also tweak the equalizer settings and other odds and ends (what you would expect as far as options to tweak on a speaker).
At some point I hope to try connecting it with another JBL speaker I have, to test the Auracast functionality (connect multiple speakers) but have not just yet. Will also pick up a microphone so I can do my best William Hung 'She Bangs' at some point to annoy my friends :) - the ports for this on the back are behind a beefy feeling rubber 'plug' with a few settings / buttons you can change.
Sound quality wise - I have nothing to complain about. Volume can get well more than loud enough for the size of the speaker - and the source does not get degraded as the volume goes up - music or otherwise stays nice and clear as you'd hope from a quality speaker.
All in all, I recommend this speaker if you need portable clean sound you can bring with you without your arm falling off, and spruce things up with a lightshow and karaoke or a guitar solo if that sort of thing appeals to you. If your drunk uncle happens to splash out of the pool you can rest assured the speaker isn't going to mind :)