JBL is taking on Sonos in Kiwi lounges with Cove, a three-speaker Wi-Fi system built to carry music from the kitchen to the deck. Here's everything you need to know about JBL’s interesting new setup.
The typical New Zealand house doesn't keep its music in one room. The kitchen runs into the lounge, the lounge opens onto the deck, and on a decent summer evening half the household ends up outside by the barbecue.
That's the problem JBL Cove is built to solve, and it arrives in a corner of the market Sonos has had largely to itself here for years.
For a brand most Kiwis know from Bluetooth speakers thrown in a beach bag, this is a new direction. Cove speakers live in the house, sit on your Wi-Fi and work as one system.
JBL Cove is a range of three Wi-Fi speakers (M1, P1 and X1) that play alone, in stereo pairs or across the whole house through the JBL One app. JBL Cove NZ pricing runs from $369.95 to $799.95, every streaming service it supports is available here, and it's sold through JBL, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Noel Leeming and PB Tech.
JBL Cove is a range of three Wi-Fi speakers: the M1, P1 and X1. You can use any one on its own, pair two of the same model for stereo sound, or group any mix of them around the house.
They work like any Wi-Fi speaker system. Services such as Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz stream straight to the speakers over your home network, so your phone isn't tied up playing the music. The speakers can then play in sync across rooms, or each room can play something different. If you've used Sonos, it's the same idea.
Everything is set up and controlled in the JBL One app, the same app JBL uses for its current soundbars, and JBL says setup takes three steps and doesn't require an account.
Bluetooth is there as a backup. A visitor can connect and play something without joining your Wi-Fi, and the P1 still works when you take it somewhere with no Wi-Fi at all, but you lose the multi-room features when connected this way.
All three share the same software features. They differ in size, drivers, Dolby Atmos support and whether there's a battery.
The M1 is for a kitchen bench, the bedroom or a home office. It's the only Cove without Dolby Atmos, because it has no up-firing driver to bounce sound off the ceiling.
The P1 is the one built for Kiwi summers. Its battery is rated for up to 14 hours, which covers a long afternoon on the deck with plenty to spare. It recharges by sitting on its dock. The IP56 rating means it's protected against dust and strong jets of water, so a passing shower or a splash from the paddling pool won't hurt it.
The X1 is the big one, with no battery and two woofers instead of one. It's aimed at the main living area, which in a lot of NZ homes means a large open-plan space that a small speaker struggles to fill.
| Range | JBL Cove M1, Cove P1, Cove X1 |
| App | JBL One |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Streaming | AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, Roon Ready |
| Hi-res audio | Yes |
| Sound tech | Automatic self-tuning, Constant Sound Field, AI Sound Boost |
| Stereo pairing | Yes, two of the same model |
| Soundbar compatibility | JBL Bar 300, 500, 800, 1000 and 1300 MK2 |
| Physical control | Moment button (Music Follows Me, Spotify Tap) |
Yes, all of them. This is less of a given than it sounds, because plenty of smart speaker features arrive here half-finished or not at all.
Every service JBL lists runs in New Zealand. Spotify and Tidal can be sent straight to the speaker from their own apps. Qobuz, the hi-res service, has been available here since 2021, so the Qobuz Connect support is useful from day one.
For anything else, AirPlay 2 covers iPhone users and Google Cast covers Android. Any local radio app or podcast player that can send audio to an AirPlay or Cast speaker will play through Cove without needing its own integration.
Each Cove speaker has a physical button JBL calls the Moment button. It does two things.
The first is Music Follows Me. Say the music is playing in the kitchen and you head out to the deck with the P1. You press and hold the button on the P1, and the music moves across to it. You don't need to touch your phone or open the app.
The second is Spotify Tap. One tap of the button starts Spotify on that speaker.
Grouping has also been simplified. You can set up a whole-house group in the app. If you then want music in just one room, you start playing there, and you don't have to break the group apart first.
| JBL Cove M1 | JBL Cove P1 | JBL Cove X1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ RRP | $369.95 | $699.95 | $799.95 |
| Role | Compact home speaker | Portable home speaker | Flagship room-filler |
| Drivers | 3 tweeters, one 4" woofer | 4 tweeters (1 up-firing), one 4" woofer | 4 tweeters (1 up-firing), two 4" woofers |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | No | Up to 14 hours | No |
| Water and dust rating | None listed | IP56 | None listed |
| Colours | Black, white | Black, white | Black, white |
Yes, with the current MK2 models: the Bar 300, 500, 800, 1000 and 1300 MK2.
Every Cove speaker can join a soundbar in the same app for multi-room music. The more useful option for TV watchers is using a pair of Cove speakers as the rear channels in a home theatre setup.
At launch, only the M1 and P1 can be used as rears. The X1 will get multi-channel support in a future software update, and JBL hasn't said when.
If you want height effects from the rear speakers, the P1 has the edge, because it has the up-firing driver the M1 doesn't.
This matters more than the speaker you pick. Cove streams everything over your home network, so each speaker needs a solid Wi-Fi signal wherever you put it.
Most NZ homes on fibre have more than enough internet speed for music. The weak point is usually coverage inside the house, not the connection coming in. Signals often drop off in a garage, a sleepout, a brick back wall or the far end of the deck.
Before you buy a P1 for outside, stand where you plan to use it and check your phone's Wi-Fi strength. If it's patchy, a mesh Wi-Fi system will do more for a multi-room setup than any speaker upgrade.
JBL Cove NZ pricing is $369.95 for the M1, $699.95 for the P1 and $799.95 for the X1, in black or white.
No. JBL's NZ release doesn't list a voice assistant.
JBL's European launch announcement says built-in Alexa+ is coming later this year. That's unlikely to matter here, since Alexa+ is one of the services that still skips New Zealand.
If you like asking your speaker to play something, that's a point for Sonos, whose Era speakers support Sonos Voice Control and Alexa where available. If you run music from your phone or the Moment button anyway, it won't make any difference.
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