JBL Flip 5 vs Sonos One Gen 1 (2017)

The Sonos One Gen 1 SL (2017) is an example of a great Smart Speaker at its $170 budget.

In the case of the $79 JBL Flip 5, however, we weren't able to find enough data to come to any reliable conclusions. If you're considering buying a Smart Speaker in the $90 range, we encourage you to take a look at some other options.

The Sonos One Gen 1 SL (2017) has done great in quite a few roundups from some of the most highly trusted sources available, such as TechGearLab, CNET, and Consumer Reports, which perform high-quality in-depth testing. It got awarded the "Best for Small Rooms" title by TechGearLab, "Ranked 2 out of 7" by CNET, and "Ranked 3 out of 5" by Consumer Reports in their respective roundups. Earning that much praise from such respected sources is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment.

Returning to the JBL Flip 5 - it was really well-received by reviewers at SoundGuys and Consumer Reports, which are among the most highly trusted sources on the internet and are known for their in-depth hands-on testing. It was named "Ranked 1 out of 5" by SoundGuys and "Ranked 3 out of 7" by Consumer Reports, which points toward the JBL Flip 5 being a high-quality product.

We examined all of the review data that we could find and first took a look at sources that reviewed both of them, like What Hi-Fi?, and found that they haven't shown a preference for either product.

Then we checked which sources liked these two Smart Speakers best and found that the Sonos One Gen 1 SL (2017) got its highest, 10, review score from reviewers at Techradar, whereas the JBL Flip 5 earned its best score of 10 from What Hi-Fi?.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Smart Speakers on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Smart Speakers being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the Sonos One Gen 1 SL (2017) and JBL Flip 5 managed averages of 9.8 and 8.4 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sonos One Gen 1 SL (2017) vs. JBL Flip 5 comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.