Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: wireless speaker

  • UE Megaboom Review – The Best Boom

    UE Megaboom Review – The Best Boom

    Over the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to the current-generation of Ultimate Ears’ Bluetooth Speaker lineup; the UE Megaboom, UE Boom2, and UE Roll. This comes after owning the original UE Boom for about two years, and listening to is almost daily in my car, at home, in my office, and in parking lots while putting on ski gear. That’s to say, I have a lot of experience with the Boom, and know how it sounds. This review focuses on the big daddy of the lineup – the UE Megaboom.

    uemegaboom-app-min

    What It Is

    The UE Megaboom is the latest generation of Ultimate Ears’ popular portable, rugged bluetooth speakers. It’s the largest, beefiest, loudest, and most robust speaker in the lineup, and still sports the awesome ruggedness, waterproofness, and class-leading sound quality and features of the rest of the UE lineup.

    “UE MEGABOOM is the 360-degree wireless Bluetooth speaker on steroids that blasts freakishly amazing sound to every corner of the party.”

    Find official specs here: http://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/uemegaboom

    913TIthhRCL._SL1500_Who It’s For

    This is the largest UE speaker, but it’s still waterproof, rugged, and portable. This speaker is for the more discerning listener who wants the highest quality sound from a portable bluetooth speaker. It’s for the rich kid who wants to totally rock his medium-sized house party. It’s for the weekend warrior who is setting up at the campsite and making lots of noise. It’s for the home listener who has a hip and new kitchen or living room and wants simple, high quality sound throughout without fuss. The Megaboom is sleek and cylindrical, and comes in a variety of nice colors – so it’s easy to fit in with your decor, it sits flat on a surface, and it has no weird shapes that stick out, get in the way, or call too much attention. The one place it’s not best for is for the permanent, integrated home or office audio solution. Sure, it can be mounted on a tripod or similar, and can be charged and powered at the same time, and connected to aux-input. However, the general design makes it not the best. If you’re looking to wire your house for permanent sound, go with something else. But if you’re looking for rockingly loud, high quality, portable, rugged speaker that can rock your kitchen as well as it can rock your picnic, and you have the cash and discerning ear to want the best you can get, this is the one.

    If you’re looking for something smaller and less pricey, and want more casual listening or background music, get the Boom2. If you’re on a budget, want to listen to mainly podcasts, want to give it to your kids, or want to backpack it out to the campsite, get the UE Roll.

     

    Testing Method

    I tested the UE Megaboom in my home, in my office, and while traveling up and down to the Colorado ski mountains over the course of about a month. I listened to music on Spotify from my iPhone AND an android phone, locally stored FLAC tracks from my computer, podcasts from the iOS podcast app, audio cast from the Chromecast Audio and connected to the aux port, and took a bunch of conference calls on it.

    First Impressions

    I owned the OG UE Boom for two years and loved it. I tested the UE Boom2 and UE Roll, and they were both great. But after 2 minutes of turning on the Megaboom, I’m blown away – this thing is awesome. For the modest increase in size and weight, this speaker rocks so much harder than any of the others, and is still easy to pick up and drag around. The battery came 30% charged, and it didn’t quit throughout my entire hours-long first listening session. Awesome.

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    Like

    • The Megaboom has mega sound quality. It’s definitely a step up from Boom2 in both loudness, clarity, and range. The bass of the Megaboom is deep and present, and doesn’t sound overly processed. It’s obvious that the larger physical size of the Megaboom allows it to produce genuinely deeper, clearer, louder bass. The highs are still crisp and clear, like they’ve been on the other UE speakers. But the bass here really shines.
    • The pairing process of the Megaboom is a breeze. Additionally, it pairs quickly with my iPhone when I turn it on, and confirms power, pairing, and power with nice sounds and voice feedback.
    • The volume of the Megaboom is controlled directly from my iPhone. This is a small detail, but important. When I click the volume buttons on my phone, the actual volume of the Megaboom changes. This is in contrast with the other, less-good method of volume control, where I change the volume on my phone, giving the speaker a “hotter” output, but the actual volume setting of the device is independently controlled on the device. With the Megaboom, these two volumes are the same, which I like a lot.
    • I love squeezing the Megaboom and hearing it tell me how much battery I have left.
    • For its size, the Megaboom gets LOUD! Like, really loud! It can easily rock a good size room of people, and can fill a living room with loud, clear music for a whole party. The battery life is great – it plays all night.

    Don’t Like

    • I kinda hate that the power and audio ports are on the bottom, and the power on the top. I know it’s meant to be picked up and handled and dragged around – but it would be cool if it was a bit easier to keep plugged in while using etc. I know I can just turn it over, but I like having the bass drivers at the bottom of the speaker.
    • The motion activated functions – tap tap for track skipping etc – I don’t care. I never used these except to test that they work. And even when I was using the speaker in a more “dynamic” environment.. with friends rocking out in a parking lot before skiing – my phone was never so far away that I felt I needed to pick up the speaker to change the track. It just seems like an unnecessary feature.
    • That’s about it that I don’t like – everything about this speaker is pretty amazing.

    91bsqG77dmL._SL1500_Should you buy it?

    If you’re looking for a great quality bluetooth speaker that can rock your house, house party, backyard etc, and you have the budget to buy the best, this is the one you should get. Of course it’s not as portable as the other smaller speakers. But it’s still small enough to throw into a picnic bag, or weekend bag. I really don’t think that a more portable speaker is necessary. Do you really really really need a speaker small and light enough to backpack with deep into the woods, or carry in your luggage as you travel the world? I dont think so – take a break, enjoy nature. Leave the rocking out for when you can rock out with the best bluetooth speaker – the UE Megaboom.

    Find It Here

    Amazon

    Final thoughts

    Of all the bluetooth speakers I’ve reviewed, this is the one that sticks around as the offices daily listening speaker. Sure I’ve tested a bunch of others and listened to them for a while – but this the one I actually use on a daily basis when not evaluating for a review. Get it.

     

  • UE Roll Bluetooth Speaker Review – Great Sounding, Wobbly, Fun

    UE Roll Bluetooth Speaker Review – Great Sounding, Wobbly, Fun

    The UE Roll is Ultimate Ears smallest, and least expensive bluetooth wireless speaker.  I had the opportunity to test it out for a few weeks around the house, in the office, and on the go. Here’s how it went, and what you should consider when buying it.

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    What It Is

    The UE Roll is in the latest generation of Ultimate Ears’ popular portable, rugged bluetooth speakers. It’s a rounded disc, a little larger in diameter than a BluRay, fires sound out of one of the broad sides, and sits on its back resting on bungee cords. It’s bungee cord allows it to be attached to a variety of object, and it includes an audio-in port.

    “UE ROLL is the 360-degree wireless Bluetooth speaker that brings unapologetically awesome sound to beaches, cliffs and mountains.”

    Find official specs here: http://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/ueroll#ueroll

    And be sure to check out this quick video from Digital Trends, which goes behind the scenes of the development of the UE Roll:

    71oEZbOMdzL._SL1200_Who It’s For

    The Roll is the smallest, lightest, and least expensive speaker in the UE wireless speaker lineup. It’s aimed at kids on a budget who want  a fun, decent sounding speaker that won’t break the bank. It’s aimed at travelers looking for acceptable sound in a lightweight and rugged package. It’s aimed at beachgoers who want to turn on some podcasts or background music while hanging out. It’s certainly not for the audiophile, home high quality audio listener, or for rocking a good sized party alone.

    The roll also has somewhat unconventional looks- its rounded shape make it awkward to sit on a shelf – but for getting out and about, it’s perfectly fine being placed randomly on a tree stump, poolside, or bungeed to a support beam or whatever. The volume buttons are huge and easily accessible on the front of the speaker, impossible to miss, and totally usable with gloves on.

     

    Testing Method

    I used the UE Roll around my home, sitting next to me in my office, bungeed to the showerhead in the shower, and even dragged it into the woods and hung it off twigs of a tree stump. I listened to lots of podcasts, and music with it, mostly on Spotify.

    First Impressions

    The Roll is a fun, bright color, and is kinda fun to hold and play with on the desk. I initially thought that the bungee cable enabled the Roll to stand up on edge with the bungee acting like a rigid kickstand – but no – the bungee is limp and rubbery, and is really just good for strapping it to bars, handing it from hooks, and attaching it to its floaty. I wasn’t super impressed with the aesthetics of it at first, but given its pretty good sound for the size, i’m convinced it’s pulling its weight.

    51t+PeNlxEL._SL1200_Like

    • For its size, the Roll sounds pretty good. Music at low volume is perfectly find for background, or passive listening. If you’re hanging out with friends and need some random music to fill the background, this is great. It’s also great for podcasts. It certainly gets loud enough with no distortion to listen to podcasts over the noise of the shower or cooking. And when paired with my Macbook via Bluetooth, it’s nice to bring a louder speaker closer to me while I’m watching Hulu and cooking at the same time.
    • For a shower speaker, the bungee cable is pretty neat. It’s easy to slip over the showerhead, and the waterproof port covers keep everything dry.
    • The volume of the Roll is controlled directly from my iPhone. This is a small detail, but important. When I click the volume buttons on my phone, the actual volume of the Roll changes. This is in contrast with the other, less-good method of volume control, where I change the volume on my phone, giving the speaker a “hotter” output, but the actual volume setting of the device is independently controlled on the device. With the Roll, these two volumes are one and the same, which I like a lot.
    • Hit both volume buttons and it tells you the battery charge level. It’s a small feature, but for a speaker that’s a pain in the ass to keep plugged in all the time, this is a good stress-relief feature.
    • For its size, it gets plenty loud, and doesn’t distort.
    • It’s rubberized and rugged – I’m not going to try, but it seems fairly indestructible.

    Don’t Like

    • The Sriracha color I was sent is pretty damn ugly. It’s fun for beside a pool, I suppose, or if I was a bit younger. If I had kids, they’d love playing with this thing and listening to kids songs on it.
    • No speakerphone feature. I guess I’m not super missing this feature, but it’s kinda nice for impromptu conference calls. I understand with the price point etc, though.
    • It’s sound quality isn’t all that – it’s clear with good highs, but the bass lacks a bit. Given the size though, I’m ok with it.
    • It rocks and rolls when sitting on a flat surface. Again, great for running around with, but not the best home speaker.

    Should you buy it?

    Sure! At this point, it’s inexpensive enough to almost impulse buy. And compared to all the other speakers in this price/size category, this is definitely the best one. If your’e looking forward to lots of hanging out at home listening to podcasts, want an occasional speaker to bring out for some background party music, or want some light tunes at the campground this summer, grab the Roll. Any more rocking out, go for the upgrade with the UE Boom or UE Megaboom (the Megaboom is my favourite..)

    Find It Here

    Groupon Coupons partner T-Mobile sells a few colors of the UE Roll here, and paired with one of the many coupons on Groupon Coupons, there could be some sweet discounts.

    Or, find it on Amazon

    Final thoughts

    For its price and size, the Roll is fun and sounds great. It’s indestructible, versatile, and interesting. Don’t look to it for party rocking volume or audiophile sound, but it gets the basic music job done well.