Is JBL Better than Bose?

Are you thinking about buying a new piece of audio equipment and you’re not sure which brand you should look into? Both JBL and Bose have been praised by their customers for their high-quality, durable speakers. But, is JBL better than Bose? Or is it the other way around? Well, today, we will try to help you get answers to these questions.

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About JBL

As stated on the JBL website, the company was founded over 70 years ago. Its founder, James Bullough Lansing, whose initials form the name of the company, manufactured speaker drivers for radios with his business partner. What started as a small idea turned into a company worth millions of dollars. Today, the company is owned by Harman International Industries. The holding company of Harman International Industries, by the way, is Samsung Electronics.

JBL has two divisions. The first one is JBL Professional. It is responsible for coming out with audio equipment for big audio productions and DJs, with everything from equipment for studios to tour and portable sounds. You can see the JBL logo in studios of the most popular production companies all over the world. On the other hand, JBL Consumer, which is the second division, is the one that designs equipment for regular consumers. Therefore, most devices that you can see in the shops, and are made for homes, come from the JBL Consumer division. 

So, from the very beginning of our article, you can see that it will not be easy to compare these two brands. The main reason for that is the fact that JBL has two divisions, one for regular consumers, and the other one for professionals that is praised by the biggest production companies. In 2002, engineers from JBL even received several awards for their work from the Motion Picture Academy.

But, for the sake of this article, we will focus mostly on the JBL Consumer division. That’s because you probably won’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on something you’re not going to make money off of. 

About Bose

Bose Corporation also shares its name with its founder – Amar Bose. It was founded in 1964, so it’s a few years younger than JBL. From the very beginning, Bose had an ambitious goal. The main purpose of the company was developing systems that used multiple speakers. Those speakers were aimed at the walls that surround them which should replicate the sound of a concert hall.

An interesting fact about Bose Corporation is that its majority owner is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which we know as the MIT. The company was donated by the founder, Amar Bose. The brand spends much of its earnings on innovations in the audio industry.

JBL vs. Bose

As you can probably assume, it is hard to compare the two brands in general. It’s fairer to compare many of their products, look into all of their specifications, and tell you which one we think is a better option for you depending on your needs. But, what we can do for you is tell you, based on the general reviews and what we have tried so far, what we noticed about both of the brands. That may help you decide which brand to purchase from.

JBL and Bose are coming up with new, innovative products. As we already mentioned, both brands put out high-quality products that give you many options and promise good audio. However, JBL is considered to be a much more affordable brand, while Bose is thought of as high-end in the audio industry. So, if you are on a tighter budget, you will get a great deal with JBL at a lower price. Furthermore, JBL is known for its punchy bass. In case you are a fan of the sound that has a strong bass emphasis, you should go with JBL. 

On the other hand, a lot of audio experts think that Bose is on a much higher level. Most devices by Bose have a simple, sleek design that users love. The technology the company uses for its products is considered to be unique and innovative. Moreover, many experts think their sound quality is higher than the one of JBL. In addition, users believe that they produce a more balanced sound. So, Bose audio equipment is perfect for those that are fans of premium products and are into trying out new technologies. However, a lot of customers complained about the Bose products’ abilities to produce powerful bass. 

Another aspect that you might find useful when we talk about the companies in general terms is their customer support. When we buy a product, we don’t really like to think that something will be wrong with it. But, malfunctions happen, and, when they do, you would certainly appreciate good customer service that will politely listen to your complaints and do their best to help you. 

Well, by reading users’ experiences, we can deduct that these two companies do not handle complaints in the same manner. The support agents working in Bose are reportedly being very polite and they address their customers’ concerns quickly and patiently. On the contrary, we found a lot of criticism of JBL’s customer service. Still, you should keep in mind that some experiences in certain countries don’t mean that you won’t get the support in general. But we thought it’s important to mention.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, now you know the basics of both JBL and Bose and what to expect when it comes to their products. We still want to reiterate that every product has its own specifications and that not one brand is best at everything. Furthermore, both companies work hard to make their devices better with every new launch. So, keep that in mind before you make the final decision and choose your preferred brand.

The best advice we can give you at this moment is to get informed about brands in general but to still look for reviews of specific products. There are many articles as well as customer reviews on various websites about each product. They will help you decide which audio gadget is the best for you, depending on your needs.

While we’re on that topic, we have many articles that look into the specifications of popular audio products. So, you should definitely check them out because we’re certain they will help you with your choice. See you in the next one!