JBL Authentics 200 Wireless Home Speaker

The JBL authentics 200 is a classy retro style speaker, that I enjoy very much. With the JBL one app, I have full control of sound adjustments and music streaming via wifi. It also has bluetooth connectivity with no lag or drops. You can voice control, using Amazon Alexa and Google assistant with the app as an option. The sound from this speaker has very well balanced highs and lows, with a punchy base from the down firing radiator speaker. Overall, the JBL Authentics 200, just gave me the sound illusion of a quite larger speaker. The leatherlike feel of the speaker cabinet and front grill is a classy style look, that gives it a look, that I came to love immediately. On the top of the speaker, the volume, treble, and bass knobs light up with the level adjustment. The volume knob pauses and plays your music with a push. The JBL Authentics 200 speaker is compact but don’t be fooled by it’s size when you are playing music. It’s a beast of sound for its size. JBL has impressed me with this speaker with its retro style, classy look, sound, and features in a very good-looking speaker. Additional auxiliary input is in the rear of the speaker with ethernet port and usb. I give the JBL Authentics 200 an A+ on sound quality and size. I am currently using it in my garage workspace.

JBL brings back the cool-retro look from the 70’s with this amazing look and quality sound speaker.

The authentics 200 is th least expensive out of the three that are available in this line. There is also a authentics 500 and an authentics 300 as well.

Upon opening the box initially, it is packaged quite well, with the speaker being wrapped in a white felt. Felt super classy.

The authentics 200 needs to be plugged into the mains, so it is not as portable as other Bluetooth speakers. It’s a little on the heavy side, weighing in at 6.9 pounds.

This speaker is paired your typical way through your phones Bluetooth settings. It’s also operational through the JBL one app (not the orange regular jbl app).

As soon as it powers up it makes this amazing sound. It’s quite satisfying.

The set of controls, volume, treble, bass, favorite (heart) and Bluetooth on top of the unit are very straight forward. Simple and unique but quite functional.

You can stream music wirelesslv via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth or use voice control to access Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. It has the ability to connect via AirPlay, which I found useful. You can also play music in multiple rooms and enjoy the automatic self-tuning that optimizes the sound for any room.

On the back of the unit there is an aux in, usb-c and Ethernet.

Overall this speaker is amazing! It sounds better than any other speaker I have owned in this price range. I absolutely love the simplistic yet functional look. If you’re not sure about buying this, go for it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

JBL Authentics 200 is a very unique product from JBL. It have a retro looking style with the modern quality sound. It looks beautiful first of all, plus it sounds great and the bass is amazing. I was actually surprised by the quality of sound. The only thing minor issue is that it has to be connected to power all the time so you can’t just charge it and take it to a different room or outdoor.

The JBL Authentics 200 punches well above its weight, sounding better than any Bluetooth speaker I’ve used. No nuance allowed in the rating but it’s a solid 4.5 stars.

Pros

• Exceptional tonal clarity from top to bottom once you tweak it

• Simple setup and rock-solid WiFi connectivity

• Unique retro aesthetic (it’s grown on me)

• Big, BIG sound!

• Typical JBL reliability

Cons

• Not designed for portability

• Styling’s not for everyone

• Bluetooth connection is spotty out of the box

• Quite pricey

• Needs another JBL app

Right off the bat let me say that I don’t use smart speaker functions so I’ll leave that for others to weigh in on.

It’s a dense little thing, packed with bits and bobs that make the magic work. I say magic because the sound this pushes is magical.

There’s nothing in the box other than the speaker and a power cord. (There’s no battery so don’t lose it.) You can link straight to it with Bluetooth, triggering the JBL connection chord, but that limits its functionality. Hook it up to WiFi and link the JBL One app to get the update that fixes the Bluetooth glitches. Having done that, you likely won’t use the Bluetooth again as the WiFi use is solid. I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem so the inclusion of AirPlay is most welcome and allows seamless integration into existing audio setups. I can have this and my Denon theater playing the same music in different parts of the house.

The JBL One app is pretty simple, but it’s the third JBL app on my phone. Having one for ear buds, one for my Charge 5, and this one is just kinda dumb; but I don’t use any of them very much so it’s merely an annoyance.

But being Apple-centric also limits my access to the on-boarded music connections. You can set up a scene function that lets you start a selected playlist with the touch of a button. It sounds neat but Apple Music isn’t supported (though Tidal curiously is).

Yet sound is the key and the Authentics 200 delivers. I am shocked at how much sound this puts out with incredible clarity. My go-to test track is “Midlife Crisis” by Faith No More. The bass guitar rumbles, the layered vocals are clearly separated, the guitar and synth ring true, and the high-hat hits without a hint of hiss. It doesn’t have the immersive quality of an Atmos system, but it sure has the quality of any of my individual speakers.

You can read the specs in the listing, but they don’t really represent how well the whole package works together. A key element I didn’t see mentioned it the springy rubber feet; they isolate the vibrations of the cabinet allowing a bit of movement for the bottom-mounted radiator.

There’s not much to adjust, just bass and treble knobs alongside the volume knob – each is backlit in a way that indicated level briefly before fading out. A switch on the back allows voice prompts for Google and Alexa services. Siri is left out as usual, but I don’t mind. I don’t like that if you switch them off you’re stuck with a red light behind the speaker grille. It’s an eyesore.

The volume knob allows for very fine adjustment while the iPhone buttons have pretty big jumps; you can get fine control with the on-screen slider. The in-app eq only has three adjustments but it’s actually enough. This is designed for people with good ears who love music, not audiophile tweakers. JBL claims it auto-adjusts for the room each time you plug it in which accounts for the slight delay when you plug it in after moving it.

So the price… it’s a lot for a Bluetooth speaker but well worth it for all this packs in. JBL has really hit it out of the park with this line, and they continue to lead the way in small powered-speaker technology.

Another successful product from JBL. Im using this in my kitchen. Very classy looking! The sound is unbelievable. Terrific bass which can be adjusted which is new and nice!!! The voice assist is a great feature when your hands are full! Was also easy to use through the JBL one app. Only negative is I wish it would have came with an owners manual. I was so excited when it arrived and I had to wait a day to print it off at work so I knew how to work all the features. Saying it once again though. There is no other like JBL sound quality. Amazes me each time! Excellent product! Sound and appearance.

Authentics 200 is the best wireless speaker I have ever used. It allows you to get the perfect balance of bass and treble, something that is unusual in wireless speakers. In addition to that you have the chance to equalize your music according to your own preference, through the JBL One app. The design is perfect for any corner of your house or office. it just looks great. The bass is amazingly great and at the same time you get a perfect crispy sound so that it is possible to get sound perfection even at a low volume.

I’m definitely impressed with the excellent quality of this product. I highly recommend it!!

The JBL Authentics 200 is a fantastic medium-sized speaker, perfect for a bedroom, office, rec room, or other similar spaces, although it has the power to fill a living room as well if that’s where you intend to use it. After a couple days of owning and testing it, here are my first impressions:

THE GOOD:

– Looks great. Very cool retro look, which adds to the decor in my bedroom and complements my more modern furniture. The faux-leather looks and feels pretty real, and the faded gold accents add a nice touch.

– Sounds great. Nothing new here, the same fantastic JBL sound quality that we’re used to. Clean and clear sound both at low and high volume, and it packs a huge bass for a relatively little guy.

– Very easy to set up. This is where JBL really has made progress from older speakers. I’ve owned an L16 (which I love) for years, but whenever I need to set up a new wifi network or change any setup, it is always a pain to get it to connect to the network again (and I need to look up the manual as it’s not intuitive). With the Authentics 200, setup was incredibly easy. Plug it, turn it on, open the JBL One app, and it will find the speaker and guide you through the steps to connect it to the wifi network and set up the voice assistants.

– Feature packed. Supports Alexa, Google Assistant, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, and a few others which I don’t use but I’m sure other people do. In terms of connectivity, they really have covered all the bases.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

– Lack of battery (needs to be plugged in). I think JBL should’ve made the Authentics 200 the portable speaker in the lineup (ie. It should be the one that has a battery, as opposed to or in addition to the 300). Given it’s the smaller of the 3 speakers, in my opinion it should’ve been the one designed to be portable, as it is the lighter one and easier to carry.

Overall, very happy with the new addition!

The JBL Authentics 200 is a crisp looking and sounding home smart speaker that will keep you grooving!

As always, JBL puts some great thought into their unboxing experience with all of their products. It is very attractively and carefully packaged. It is well protected in its retail box, and was shipped very carefully as well. Opening the box, first things first are the handy quick start guide and manual. There aren’t that many buttons, so it is pretty quick to plug in and connect. However, the JBL One app is a must-have to get the best out of it(which isn’t hard to do), and that itself is simple and well thought out.

I selected this speaker specifically for the looks AND functionality. We are an Alexa house, but find most smart speakers really lacking in sound quality that we expect. We needed something nice looking and great sounding for our living room, and found it in the Authentics series. JBL has married form and functionality very well here! The leatherette covering and brass appointments, as well as the stylistic grill, will find themselves at home with most decor. The sound is shockingly well-rounded for a speaker of this size, I suspect due to the bottom-firing woofer that really fills in the low end. You will not mistake yourself for being in a night club with overly-booming bass; this speaker provides clarity and depth in the whole range from full bottom end to crisp and clear highs. It is also very LOUD! When doing some New Years’ cleaning, I pumped the volume and heard it very clearly over my loud old vacuum cleaner. Perfect!

My only very minor gripes are the lack of a dedicated power button and that the speaker doesn’t support streaming from Apple music through Alexa from the JBL One app. Most of my other Alexa devices support Apple music. It is an easy enough work around to airplay from my phone, but I wish I could just tell it to stream my playlists like I do other Alexa devices. RE: the lack of a power button, that is probably just my eco-consciousness coming through, and wishing that more devices had hard power switches to reduce energy draw while idle.

All in all, this is a SOLID 4.9/5 stars and would highly recommend to anyone looking for something with boutique looks AND boutique sound! JBL for the win!

The JBL Authentics 200 is the smallest of JBL Authentics speaker line. It is a modern speaker with a hint of the companies retro look on the front grill. It is a high quality compact bluetooth/wifi speaker. It has all of the latest features like dual voice assistants, bluetooth 5.3, wifi, a wired LAN connection, a 3.5mm auxilary input. It has physical buttons and dials like play/pause, bluetooth, a favotites button and volume, treble and bass dials. The JBL One app helps make the best of the speakers technology as it provides controls as well as the ability to update the speakers firmware. The speaker packs a punch for its size. The output is rated at 90 watts and can get pretty loud. The sound is crisp, clear, well balanced with great bass. The speaker has two 1/4” front firing tweeters, one 5” front firing full range woofer and one 6” down firing bass radiator which helps give the speaker great bass response. This speaker is a definite keeper as it is packed with the latest features, sounds great, can get loud and looks great.

All I can say is WOW!! This thing looks great and the sound is Amazing. If you like BASS like I do this thing is for you even if you don’t like a lot of Bass it still sounds great. The Bluetooth was very easy to connect. Be careful where you put it because it might move as you’ll see in the video. Whether you like Old School or New School it’s gonna make you SMILE!!! Thanks, JBL you’ve done it AGAIN!!

Hello, I’m reviewing the JBL Authentic 200. I was interested in a smaller speaker to connect to my other Wi-Fi speaker in my living room. After a little research I chose this one. Physically it’s perfect for what I need. The retro look, especially the grille, matches my other speaker very well. It’s smaller but attractive. With an aluminum frame, the build is solid. It’s got some weight behind it. I like the easy to access volume, bass and treble controls right on top too. What’s better than all of this is of course the sound. It sounds like a speaker 10 times this size. The 2 tweeters produce the bright crispy treble I love. They’re angled out to the right and left for separation and it works. The midrange and bass come from a front facing woofer that sounds fantastic. The bass is enhanced even more by a passive radiator mounted on the bottom. All of the sounds can be changed by the JBL One app, the controls on top of the speaker or by the device the speaker is connected to. The choice of inputs are Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth USB-C, or a 3.5 mm jack. Built in Alexa or Google Assistant too. I can just say “Alexa, play jazz on Apple Music” and it happens. Very handy. These can be disabled also. I highly recommend this speaker. I love mine.

Top Notch audio experience that is well worth the price paid. Good levels of tremble and bass that can be adjusted with ease. The interface layout is seamless. I have used this product throughout my house in big rooms and smaller rooms. The sound quality has held up throughout my entire house. Definitely recommend this product to anyone.