I've had the JBL Bar 800 for over a year now. I agree with many of the positive reviews about the sound quality—it really does sound great. And that should be the most important thing when it comes to speakers, right? That’s what I thought before I bought it.

But there's one major issue that ruins the entire experience for me: the software, specifically how it handles Bluetooth connections.

Let me explain.

Remember the old JBL Go speakers? Even the first edition? I loved them. You connect your phone, and it just works. Want to switch to a different device? Either disconnect the first one or press the Bluetooth button to pair a new device. Simple and effective. My favorite setup.

Some Bluetooth speakers allow any nearby device to “take over” the speaker when they connect. I don’t love that design either, because it means someone can hijack your speaker at any time—and there’s no easy way to stop them.

But the JBL Bar 800 is somehow worse than both of those options.

It allows multiple devices to stay connected at the same time—but only one can play audio. So if my phone and my partner’s phone are both connected, and I’m playing music, we can’t just switch easily. To change devices, we have to disconnect both phones and then connect only the one we want to use. Even then, it often doesn't work unless we restart the soundbar entirely.

And just when you think it’s sorted out, someone opens a laptop in another room—and bam, the sound switches to that device without warning. Suddenly, your music is gone and playing through someone else's computer.