Counterfeiting has been around for centuries, and in the modern age of digital consumerism, we don’t always have the luxury of inspecting the goods before buying them. This leads to unfortunate victims of scamming, who end up with cheap fakes that don’t give the quality they were looking for. Over the last 3 to 5 years fake JBL Bluetooth speakers have been appearing all over the world, leading many to return to their boxes and try to establish whether or not they’ve been ripped off.
The best way to avoid a scam is by educating yourself on the differences between authentic and counterfeit items, which will help you identify issues both online and when shopping in storefronts. We’ve got some useful tips you can use to figure out whether your JBL Bluetooth speaker is fake and prevent you from getting scammed by these swindlers.
Note: There are sometimes only almost indistinguishable differences between real and fake speakers, so while these tips will help you identify fakes most of the time, there’s never any guarantee.
Buying From Trusted Websites
The most important thing you can do to prevent getting scammed in online shopping is to buy from a trusted retailer. While some small stores may be enticing, with potentially bigger savings offered – one has to question how they can offer those prices. Retailers like Amazon usually have some of the best prices and are consistently reliable.
I’ve compiled a list of all JBL’s latest Bluetooth speakers along with trustworthy links for each. If you’re in the market to buy, consider checking them out. If you end up buying one, we’ll also earn a small kickback, helping us to continue publishing accurate and helpful audio articles.
Packaging & Manual Inspections
It’s often difficult to get a speaker in hand to inspect it, an impossible task for online shopping. Even without seeing the speaker, there’s a way to identify fakes using the packaging.
Check For Spelling Mistakes
The first thing I recommend looking at is the packaging, specifically for spelling errors. While some con artists go through a lot of trouble to emulate the exact packaging of JBL speakers, others have obvious mistakes in the spelling of their packaging, also look at the manual for signs of spelling mistakes. Giving the package a quick but thorough read can be very effective as a first pass.
Look For Print Problems
Similarly, cheap counterfeits often use printers that don’t create high-resolution packaging, resulting in blurry, pixelated, or washed-out text. The imagery may even have the wrong temperature and look unnatural. Authentic JBL packaging tends to have sharp, defined font and in cases where an image of the speaker is on the packaging, that resolution is usually also high-quality. This is more true for newer releases.
Texture Differences
Some JBL boxes have textured patterns on them, this is a subtle detail that most fake boxes don’t have. Here are some examples of counterfeit boxes lacking these details.
Manual Quality
Aside from spotting spelling mistakes in the owner’s manuals, JBL tends to have high-quality warranty cards and manuals alongside their speakers, though this differs between models and has changed over time. Fake manuals will frequently look cheap and lack gloss.
Barcodes and Serial Numbers
Each JBL product should come with a serial number and a UPC barcode. This information is usually located on the box, typically on the bottom. Fake packaging will often lack any serial numbers. Even if the box does state the UPC, it is worth running a check on the UPC online to see if it matches the product you’re buying.
Inspecting the Speaker
Sometimes the counterfeiters can replicate the original packaging to an uncanny degree, but even then some differences usually exist on the speaker itself. Here are some ways you can tell if a JBL speaker is fake from its design.
Examine The Logo For Inconsistencies
The JBL logo has gone through some changes in recent years, with some speculating that this change is in a bit to prevent counterfeiting. The new JBL logo is more complex than the previous one and slightly less prone to faking. Still, one should be aware of how the logo looks on the original speaker to compare it.
A common mistake counterfeiters would make with the old Flip and Charge series is that they’d place the logo on without embedding sufficiently in the grille, causing it to extend outward from the natural curve of the grille.
Another problem counterfeiters make is not matching the gloss of certain logos, which can be another dead giveaway.
The Grille & Wrap May Look Different
Modern JBL speakers often have a fabric mesh that wraps around the speaker. Fake products frequently feature a design that’s different from the originals, usually with discrepancies in the spacing of the mesh.
Button Spacing
Fake JBL speakers often have inaccurately placed buttons. Usually, they’re spaced too close together and this can easily be seen when comparing it with an original. Look at online imagery from Amazon or other trusted retailers to see how the authentic product’s buttons are placed.
One should not only take note of how far the buttons are spaced apart but also how far they extend out from the speaker. The way JBL designs their speakers differs between models, so it’s best to reference an authentic image.
Design Elements Being Off-Axis
While JBL does occasionally offset the position of buttons, like with the Flip 6 – having unusual off-axis elements on the speaker is a dead giveaway of a counterfeit. The most commonly found flaw here is with the passive bass radiators, which sit off to the side.
It’s not just the bass radiators that one should inspect for being skewed, things like buttons, logos, and connection ports may all point toward the lack of quality control found in fakes.
Generic Charging Cables
JBL speakers come with JBL-branded charging cables. Cables that look generic or cheap, and lack the JBL logo are a red flag. On JBL’s website, they discuss that their cables come with a plastic sleeve instead of cable ties, but this depends on the speaker and some authentic JBL speakers do come with cable ties around the charging cables in the box.
Beware of Non-Standard Features
Authentic JBL speakers will match the spec sheets online and only have the functionality they advertise. Fake JBL speakers may include additional outlets or inputs, like USB-A, aux, or SD card ports. While the added functionality may seem like a bonus, most of these ports don’t last too long on counterfeits.
On-Speaker Print
Additional print or embossing may be present on the speaker, this includes things like compliance tags which form a part of the speaker’s design. Fake versions frequently leave these details out, change the color of the text, or replace embossed text with print.
You Can Hear The Difference
If you put a real and fake JBL speaker next to each other, it’s usually going to be easy to tell which one is authentic. JBL works with some of the world’s best audio engineers to produce high-quality and most counterfeiters just aren’t able to create the same audio experience. Listen for blown-out bass, distortion, volume problems, and a thin sound. These are all hallmark traits of a fake JBL.
Comparing Authenticity
If you’re concerned you may have a counterfeit JBL speaker, use the gallery of images below as a reference. These images are all of authentic JBL speakers. If there are differences between the two products, I recommend then reaching out to JBL for support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one needs to be careful when buying JBL speakers from untrusted sources and on the second-hand market. Many counterfeits are easy to spot when you know what to look for. Using this guide as a reference can help identify the differences between real and fake JBL speakers.