What I learned by comparing JBL's smart speaker "JBL Link 20" and "Google Home": Masahiro Yamaguchi's smart speaker life (page 1/3)

　Not only Google Home "is a smart speaker that supports" Google Assistant ", but also manufacturers other than Google are also introducing products one after another.This time, I borrowed a JBL brand product "JBL Link 20" from Harman International, so let's send an impression.

　This is the third smart speaker that supports Google Assistant, which is the third company in Japan after Sony's "LF-S50G" and Onkyo's "G3", but this JBL LINK 20 has no other characteristic that it supports battery driving.。I'm worried about how much different products are finished.

　The JBL brand has a small JBL Link 10 in addition to the JBL Link 20 introduced this time.The difference is the maximum output of the speaker, the charging time, the continuous playback, etc., especially the continuous playback time, about 10 hours for JBL Link 20, and the JBL Link 10 is half and half.

　Therefore, if the battery drive increases, it is recommended to use JBL Link 20, otherwise a low -priced JBL Link 10.There seems to be no significant difference in functionality, so please read the following contents as appropriate.

The body is a cylindrical shape, and the top plate is equipped with a physical button

　The body is almost cylindrical, and the top and bottom are slightly thinner.As a smart speaker for the same Google Assistant, it is slightly closer to Sony's LF-S50G.Although it is long, it looks unstable in the photo, but it actually has a solid sense of stability.The weight is about 950g, almost twice the Google Home (about 477g).

　The top plate is equipped with a firm button that is different from the touch sensor, and can be operated such as volume adjustment, playback and pause.Onkyo's G3 also had a moving button to the next song and the previous song, but JBL Link 20 only played and pause.

　The characteristic is the Google Assistant button in the center of the top plate.By pressing this, you can omit the wakeword called "OK Google".Generally, smart speakers used by battery -driven are always worn out of the battery when they are always in standby, so instead of installing these buttons, they are often invalidated at all times.

　As a specific example of a specific product, this specification is "Amazon Tap" that has not been released in Japan, but JBL Link 20 is always valid, despite this button, so to save battery.Not very useful.It's not a problem, but it is unknown what kind of usage the manufacturer implemented.

　In addition, an LED is provided at the bottom of the front that displays the Wi-Fi connection status.This is because it is more convenient to see the Wi-Fi connection status when carrying it by battery drive.By the way, the power button is mounted on the back, and the power supply can be manually turned on and off.