Is the Toyota 4Runner’s JBL Flex Portable Bluetooth Speaker Any Good?\
Key Points:
- New Toyota 4Runners with the Premium Package — or the Limited trim level and higher — come equipped with a 14-speaker JBL stereo that includes a dashboard-mounted, removable Bluetooth speaker.
- When removed from the dash, the speaker functions like most portable Bluetooth speakers, has enough battery life for about six hours of use and can be charged externally, as well.
One of the neat, almost Easter egg-y features of our long-term 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium is its removable JBL Flex portable Bluetooth speaker. It’s part of the stereo on new Limited, Platinum, TRD Pro and Trailhunter 4Runners, as well as the 4Runner TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road when equipped with the Premium Package. The speaker sits in a little recessed holder behind the central touchscreen and can be popped out with a press of a button. From there, it functions like most other portable speakers with which we’re familiar — but is it any good?
2025 Toyota 4Runner | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry
Sounds Like a Portable Speaker
2025 Toyota 4Runner | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry
Key Points
- Sound quality is not great, but it does seem acceptable for a small portable speaker.
- Is there any Bluetooth speaker that sounds good? No, seriously, is there? Some of us are in the market for one.
The speaker’s sound quality seems … perfectly fine, at least to our ears. It’s not going to blow your mind, but the JBL Flex joins the list of Bluetooth speakers that can successfully play audio via a Bluetooth connection, which seems like the goal. Please drop a note via email if you have actual Bluetooth speaker recommendations, though, as I’m considering purchasing one so I can play faintly distorted Fetty Wap songs while pushing my son in his stroller or wagon.
Certainly Useful
2025 Toyota 4Runner | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry
Key Points
- The portable JBL Flex speaker is convenient, especially if parties just spontaneously happen when you’re around.
- The speaker is small, fairly light and somewhat rugged.
- It has up to six hours of battery life and can be charged externally, so you don’t have to go all the way back to your 4Runner to charge it.
I’d argue that sound quality has never been the main purpose of a small portable wireless speaker, however. Instead, this JBL Flex speaker is exactly what it should be: easy to carry, somewhat rugged with its rubberized trim and, despite its integration into our 4Runner’s dashboard, it doesn’t have to be put back in its docking area to charge; after you’ve depleted its (up to) six hours of battery life, the JBL Flex can be charged externally. Just be sure you don’t lose the speaker if you take it out; it serves as the center-channel speaker for the 4Runner’s stereo, and the gap it leaves when removed from its dock is noticeable.
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Is It a Good Reason to Buy a 4Runner?
2025 Toyota 4Runner | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry
Key Points
- Please do not make your car purchase decision based on the availability of a portable Bluetooth speaker.
- The JBL Flex speaker is a fun bonus feature.
The portable JBL Flex speaker in our 4Runner is a nice-to-have feature; it’s fun, can be convenient if you want to use a Bluetooth speaker often but often leave yours at home, and it has a decent battery life. It also sounds fine, which is probably the nicest thing that can be said about the sound quality of a portable Bluetooth speaker. But if you want one so badly that you’re considering spending thousands more on a higher-trim or better-equipped 4Runner, you should just buy one separately — you can purchase one for less than $100.
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Road Test Editor
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Review: Rugged Returns
By Conner Golden
September 30, 2025
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness, off-road front angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
Key Points in This Review:
- Though it’s now on the most recent Subaru Forester platform, differences between this Wilderness model and the last generation are minimal.
- As it was before, the 2026 Forester Wilderness is still one of the best all-around adventure vehicles on the market.
- The biggest changes are a new infotainment system and an available digital instrument panel.
Only Subaru could get away with a redesign like the new 2026 Forester Wilderness. Compared to the prior generation, the biggest clear change for this “all-new” off-road-focused Forester is a new all-terrain tire that’s slightly wider and taller, an upgrade that, in conjunction with a revised suspension, adds just 0.1 inch to the SUV’s ground clearance, which is now 9.3 inches. Everything else, for the most part, is right where you left it on the last gen. Yup, only Subaru …
No critique here. Subaru is the back-to-back-to-back undefeated champ when it comes to knowing its current and future customer bases, with a range of models that appear only incrementally updated compared to their prior generation. With Subie, it’s very much a case of giving the crowd what they want.
Related: 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Up Close: Redesigned and More Capable
In real terms, this is undeniably a next-gen iteration of the Forester Wilderness, even if the hardware changes are slight. Alongside that new tire, revised suspension and minor bump in ride height, a new transmission cooler kicks towing capacity up 500 pounds to 3,500 pounds, and a temp sensor for the rear differential warns of overexertion. Everything else is a transposition of the last Wilderness onto the latest-gen Forester platform, including the aluminum skid plate, shorter final-drive ratio, beefier roof rails, X-Mode off-road drive modes, synthetic StarTex water-resistant upholstery, yellow/gold accents, tow hooks, extra body cladding and a whole heap of Wilderness badging.
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness, off-road rear angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
How Does the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Drive?
- Takeaway: The Wilderness’ 180 horsepower from a 2.5-liter flat-four-cylinder engine doesn’t feel like enough, especially when passing and merging. Handling, ride quality and off-road capability, however, are great.
Also carried over is a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter flat-four engine that’s shared with the rest of the Forester lineup. Its 180 hp and 178 pounds-feet of torque are unchanged, as is my frustration with its performance; the on-paper figures are fine when compared with the competitive field, but acceleration feels flat and sluggish throughout the entire rev range. Out on the rural back roads of Washington state, passing a timber truck oozing along at 20 mph under the speed limit was an exercise in both bravery and timing. Unless you have at least a quarter-mile of clear visibility, good luck feeling anything but nervous as the Forester screams its way through acceleration best described as “Are you sure you won’t hit that oncoming Chevrolet Silverado!?”
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That’s my only beef, really. Everything else is the same satisfying sixth-gen Forester, only now with oodles of ground clearance and a fat-sidewall all-terrain tire that’s equally at home bashing through potholes as it is scrambling up a moderately treacherous trail. The 9.3 inches of ground clearance will have you wincing for an undercarriage crash ‘n’ bash that never comes, with the Wilderness capable of navigating sizable gullies and stepped trail sections that you’d expect to stymie even the most capable unibody SUV.
That was the theme of our Wilderness trail time. Pick a line, gingerly dip one (or more) wheels in, grimace a bit, give it half throttle and scramble through without drama. There were no spotters or trail nannies out here, either, as Subaru folks put full faith in the Wilderness’ capabilities (and our off-road skills) as we crawled through slow, rocky sections and sashayed through the faster grit.
Your mileage (and traction) may vary through deeper sand and mud, but there was enough grip from the Yokohama Geolandar tires and clever power transfer through the all-wheel-drive system that we never toggled through the dual-function X-Mode terrain profiles. Even when the car teetered with one wheel in the air or when starting from a dead stop in the middle of a stream crossing, the Wilderness yoinked itself through obstacles with little more than some slip and scrabble from individual wheels.
You shouldn’t attempt Moab, but it packs 10 times the capability needed for an unmaintained dirt road, barely defined sandy desert two-track or unplowed pass en route to the ski lodge. It’s one of the best adventure-ready vehicles for active-lifestyle folks who off-road not as a hobby but as a byproduct of other activities.
1 / 232026 Subaru Forester Wilderness, front-row seat | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
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How Is the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness for Daily Driving?
- Takeaway: Despite the lifted suspension and all-terrain tires, the 2026 Forester Wilderness is as or more comfortable than the regular Forester, with good tech and an airy interior.
For the days when you’re just commuting, the Forester’s unibody bones shine through the REI wrapper. The all-terrain tires and jacked ride height make it a smidge squishy on back roads, but the excellent dynamic baseline set by the Subaru Global Platform underneath means it’s never sketchy and well offset by the Wilderness’ impressive capacity to hit mute on broken pavement. It’s also still the lovely glass box as before, with exceptional visibility and a unique airiness to the cabin not present elsewhere in the compact SUV class.
And despite my moaning, I’m loath to admit that power and straight-line performance is likely completely and positively adequate for the majority of buyers. Merging at speed requires a stout right foot, but you’ll get there without any real danger, and it’s happy to cruise at or above highway speeds with no more drama than the competition. The cabin is also well isolated outside of moments of aggro acceleration.
Interior tech is solid, too. A vertically oriented 11.6-inch center touchscreen handles infotainment and most vehicle functions, supported by an optional 12.3-inch digital driver display. I prefer hard controls for the engine stop-start function and heated seats, but the dedicated digi-space for these on the bottom of the center display is a decent alternative. Subaru’s EyeSight active-safety tech is good, but the lane departure steering assist system is still overly active to the point where I personally would keep it permanently toggled off.
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How Much Does the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Cost?
- Takeaway: The no-option 2026 Forester Wilderness starts at $39,835 (including destination).
From a materials and presentation perspective, the Wilderness feels like driving a hiking boot — a good thing, I promise. I suspect most folks aren’t performatively purchasing the Wilderness trim and are frequently sweaty, gritty and salty (or a combination thereof) on any given weekend. For this, that moisture-resistant StarTex upholstery is happy after a simple wipe-down, and standard rubber floormats and a cargo area tray keep crud from the carpets. That roof rack is a particularly useful feature, with the prior generation’s 800-pound static capacity carrying over.
It’s certainly nicer to live with and drive on a daily basis than some of the larger off-road SUVs — and cheaper, too. A no-option 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness is $39,835, slightly undercutting the similar Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, which starts at $42,110, and significantly whupping the larger, beefier and pricier $51,185 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road for value and ground clearance, if you’ll believe it.
You won’t find a more capable unibody SUV than the Forester Wilderness short of springing for the top trims of the Bronco Sport. For returning Forester owners, welcome back — will you have your usual? Excellent choice. This model year, the chef decided to add just a pinch of spice, but don’t worry, everything’s (nearly) right where you left it — just the way you like it.2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness, off-road rear angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
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Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
West Coast Bureau Chief
