JBL Tuner 2 Review

Specifications

Design

Let’s begin with the layout. The cylindrical body of the JBL Tuner 2 FM is designed to be mounted horizontally on a flat surface. On both sides, we have rubber padding on the bottom that gives the speaker some height.

These paddings, however, are slender and thus will not make too much of a difference unless they are put on a fully flat surface.

The body of the JBL Tuner 2 consists of plastic that feels smooth when touched, but has a rubberized look. However, it’s susceptible to smudges. The speaker comes with a rating of IPX7 and can withstand light splashes of water.

The sides are more of a “glastic” type. The power button with a tiny red decal is also located on the left side.

Screen

A greyscale screen on the front of the unit has been included by JBL alongside the grill. The reasoning for this is that the Tuner 2 supports digital audio transmission (more on that later).

The screen indicates the mode (DAB/FM/Bluetooth) in the upper right-hand corner. Similarly, there is the top-left battery indicator, which sadly does not indicate the percentage of the battery.

You can see the exact frequency you are on when using the FM, and if it’s an FM that you have personally saved, then you can even see the preset number.

The screen shows you whether the system is in pairing mode or has been connected to a device while in Bluetooth mode. Click the Bluetooth button at the top and the speaker will restore the connection to the last device attached to it.

Controls

You have plenty of them on the upper surface when talking about keys. You get two big up and down volume buttons on either side. Two rows of tiny buttons lie between them.

The ones in the top row are numbered between 1 and 5. A long press on either of them will assign the button to the specified frequency while in FM mode.

And at any moment, you can get back to that frequency just by pressing the corresponding button.

Similarly, the scan button will return the next high frequency in the bottom row. But by using the two arrow keys, you can tune the FM manually. To switch between the two modes, there is also the DAB/FM button. The others do not serve any function in Bluetooth mode, except for the volume keys.

Battery

Battery 9.075Wh, Up to 12 hours (radio playback)
Charging 5V/1.2A via USB-C port (Up to 3.5 hours)

With the Tuner 2, JBL reports up to 12 hours of battery endurance. I was able to get about 8 hours of playback time in Bluetooth mode, in my experience. This was the entire time with the volume set at top. For charging, through the Type-C port, this speaker supports 5V, 1.2A charging.