Review: JBL Authentics 200

JBL has unveiled an all-new series of smart speakers, which means yet another option to investigate in the overgrown smart speaker marketplace. Except there is something different about JBL’s stylish Authentics line.

For one thing, they’re arguably the coolest-looking speakers out there, borrowing aesthetically from JBL speakers past and present, like the L100, to dig up some slick nostalgia. When it comes to smarts, they’re the first of their kind to offer both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in conjunction, meaning you don’t have to choose between them. This opens up an array of use cases, and the two assistants mostly work well side by side, if not always together.

But what really won me over in the Authentics 200, the smallest and most affordable of the series, is its fantastic sound quality. While it’s far from cheap, it sits conveniently between Sonos’ excellent Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) and Era 300 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) smart speakers, both in sound quality and pricing.

Bottom line: The Authentics 200 looks great and sounds fabulous for the money, and works with a wide array of smart home products from the two biggest players, making it a great choice for discerning smart home lovers who hate to pick sides.

Photograph: JBL

There’s certainly a place for minimalism in modern electronics; offerings from Apple, Sonos, and others lean into that with creative, if somewhat clinical, tact. The Authentics 200 bucks this trend in refreshing fashion, offering smartly balanced touches of vintage flair, modern design, and robust build quality to feel fresh and yet classic at once.

From the bowed foam grille bordered by lines of gold to the guitar-amp vinyl exterior, the speaker really speaks to mid-century fans, while still looking sleek enough to work with more modern layouts. It’s also made from partially recycled materials and comes in near plastic-free packaging. Acoustic design touches like the raised rubber pads on the bottom ensure bass is free to bellow from the down-firing woofer without causing unwanted vibrations or distortion.

Up top, you’ll find a pleasant collection of tangible controls, including a volume knob with a play/pause key at the center, knobs for bass and treble, and at the backside, a switch to hard-mute the onboard microphones for privacy. You’ll also find a Bluetooth pairing key and a “heart” key on the main panel that lets you program a radio station or supported streaming service in the JBL One app for instant playback.

Speaking of the app, it’s easy to use and worked brilliantly to set up the Authentics 200. I had it connected to Wi-Fi in seconds, and though it went through an update that claimed it would take up to 15 minutes, it was done and updated in just a few. It’s also surprisingly simple to add both Alexa and Google Assistant, connecting both in succession when you click on a single tab.

The Authentics 200 supports loads of ways to play, including streaming over Google Chromecast, Amazon Multi-Room, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth—it doesn’t play favorites. There are more supported streaming services from within the app, though neither Spotify nor Apple Music are among them. In addition to wireless streaming, you’ll get a 3.5-mm analog input, a USB input, and Ethernet as a backup for Wi-Fi.

Full disclosure: I’m not really much for using smart assistants on my own time. I’ve tested a fair few of them, and I find them convenient for quick commands on occasion, but I generally find most actions just as easy (and more accurate) to perform myself from my phone. It took me a while to discern just what to expect when using a two-assistant-in-one speaker.

Part of the promise here seems to be that you can theoretically use one assistant to start a process or command, and then switch to another to complete it. In practice that wasn’t always successful, especially when it came to one of the most convenient use cases: hands-free audio playback.

Due to generally closed smart home ecosystems, both Alexa and Google Assistant have their own preferences and limitations. For example, as someone who mainly uses Spotify Connect to stream music, I found out quickly that Google Assistant didn’t want to play that way, preferring Chromecast instead. As such, if I started a song or playlist in Spotify Connect, and then asked Google Assistant to pause, the reply was, “Nothing is playing right now.” Alexa had no such problem, working perfectly with Spotify Connect.

Google Assistant will start and stop music using Chromecast by default, while either voice assistant can easily control volume across services. As noted in JBL’s Authentics FAQ, if you really want to stop the music from an opposing voice assistant, either will comply when using the universal smart commands, like “Stop,” “Dismiss,” and “Quiet.”

Just to see what would happen, I tried starting a few commands on Alexa and stopping them with Google Assistant, which didn’t always execute properly in my tests. Frankly, though, there’s no real need to bounce back and forth between assistants for such use cases—you’re better off just sticking to one throughout a given task. As a Spotify Connect fan, I found Alexa to be the best option for hands-free playback, and it also seemed to be a bit quicker on the draw.

On the other hand, as a Nest thermostat owner, it was convenient to be able to switch over to Google Assistant to check my house’s internal temperature or turn up the heat. If you’re someone who has a spread of different smart home devices from Google and Amazon, JBL’s dual-threat voice assistant system could really pay off.

Instead of waiting forever for the Matter Protocol to streamline multiple systems in concert, the Authentics line brings you the convenience of marrying dual smart home ecosystems succinctly and conveniently right now. Unfortunately, due to the “walled-garden” nature of such systems, Apple’s Homekit products likely won’t be in on the fun.

Photograph: JBL

From the first song I played, I was all but floored by how great the Authentics 200 sounds. It’s a speaker that rises well above its size and stature to create clear, balanced, and full sound that breathes with depth and detail for almost anything you play.

Bass isn’t just big for a speaker this size. It’s massive, digging surprisingly low when called on to rumble the floor from across the room. There’s also a pleasant sparkle up top, with good clarity in high-frequency instruments. But it’s the rich and ruddy midrange that really elevates it all, lending punch and definition to everything from gritty electric guitars to golden B3 organ and snappy snare rimshots.

Instruments are well defined not only across the front of the soundstage but back behind it, creating a sense of dimension that lets their different timbres pop into the forefront or blend sweetly into the background. You won’t get a ton of stereo separation here, but music does pop out beyond the speaker’s small frame to create a broader soundstage than expected, outdoing smaller options like the Sonos Era 100 there.

When comparing the two speakers back-to-back, I was at once pleased by how well the Era 100 stood its ground considering its smaller, tubular design, and impressed by how well the Authentics 200 stepped above it to justify its higher cost. Heftier bass may be the biggest bonus, but the sound is also weightier throughout the midrange and lower treble. I will praise the Era 100 for its nimbler bass response. The Authentics 200 tends to drag a little down low in demanding moments like the bassline in The Raconteirs’ “Carolina Drama.”

Comparing JBL’s speaker to the Era 300 is more apples to oranges, given that the 300 is designed to support 3D audio via Dolby Atmos. Atmos aside, it was clear that the Era 300 is the more confident and poised performer, but the Authentics 200 held its own. Given that the Era speakers are two of WIRED’s favorite smart speakers, it’s a real compliment that the Authentics 200 fits between them so neatly.

If you’re looking for a smart speaker with something extra, both in audio performance and overall smart home versatility, I can’t think of a better choice than JBL’s Authentics 200. Even in a dense smart home market, this one is a stand-out winner.