Sound quality: JBL's Pulse 3 had good overall sound quality. Bass has good impact, but is slightly boomy, and deep bass is lacking. Midrange is fairly even but is somewhat hazy, grainy and a touch plasticky. Treble is somewhat smeared, subdued, and upper treble is muted. So-so recovery of room ambience, sounds a somewhat congested, and lacks fine detail. No significant difference between Bluetooth and wired sound quality. Provides a decent volume level in a small to medium sized room. When two units are used as a stereo pair sound remains somewhat hazy and congested, it can get louder but since two separate speakers are used the sound stage can be made wider depending on placement and room ambience slightly improves but remains so-so, sound quality remains good. However, when two units are stereo paired there were frequent audio glitches such as - breakups and drop-outs.
Ease of use: We found the JBL Pulse 3 ease of use to be excellent overall. Bluetooth: Unit is always in pairing mode when not already paired, shows a pairing mode indicator. Indicates when pairing mode has occurred and never times out. Controls: The volume controls are not prominently located but they are high contrast, there is nothing to indicate that it is a volume control except + and - symbols, it provides a non persistant graphical of volume level and it indicates with a sound when you reach the max setting. Works with line in and Bluetooth inputs. Switching sources: Bluetooth takes priority over line input but when you disconnect Bluetooth (don't have to unpair) then line-in is available for immediate playback. nothing ambiguous.
