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Review: UE Megaboom: It’s all about that bass

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Incredible quality sound is central to this new iPhone speaker

Ultimate Ears is back with a brand new speaker designed to work in perfect harmony with Apple’s iPhone handset. Billed as a sequel speaker to its popular UE Boom, the brand new UE Megaboom promises users more power, more sound, and more bass. And it’s available in a range of different colors.

Compared with some of the market’s other high-end portable speakers (like Jawbone’s Big Jambox and Braven’s BRV-X), the UE Megaboom is particularly impressive. It offers a clarity of sound which, in our opinion, is unsurpassed, and features levels that extend from deep bass up into harmonious treble. Plus, if you dare to crank UE Megaboom all the way up to full volume we can guarantee you’ll be pleased with the results – albeit a little deafened.

Being fully waterproof, UE Megaboom can withstand the elements while blasting out your favorite tunes.

Being fully waterproof, UE Megaboom can withstand the elements while blasting out your favorite tunes.

Like the first-generation UE Boom, the Megaboom model offers 360-degree sound that can easily fill a room. It’s small and sleek enough to hide among the books in a bookcase or alongside a lamp or ornament in your living room. Four colors – Charcoal Black, Lava Red, Electric Blue (our review unit), and Plum – are available to choose from, and with a weight of less than two pounds the Megaboom is light enough to take on tour in a backpack or carry case.

Battery life, at 20 hours, is lengthy and thanks to the speaker’s next-generation Bluetooth functionality users can check UE Megaboom’s current battery level right from their iPhone handset. Advanced Bluetooth support also means users can move their iPhone up to 100 feet away from the speaker without the connection breaking. We were able to verify this in testing; users will find that UE Megaboom is able to easily maintain its connection with an iPhone through several walls, too.

Being fully waterproof and stain resistant, Megaboom can withstand a diverse range of environments. You can also use a smart UE Megaboom iOS app to remotely turn the speaker on or off, to alter the speaker’s EQ, to configure an alarm for the Megaboom, or to “double-up” another UE Boom or UE Megaboom to create a speaker set capable of blasting out some seriously loud music. Usefully, and for the first time ever, updates to the speaker will now be pushed out over-the-air (OTA), too.

Each UE Megaboom comes with the same impressive feature set. The speakers are lightweight and look great.

Each UE Megaboom comes with the same impressive feature set. The speakers are lightweight and look great.

After testing the UE Megaboom for a couple of weeks, the speaker is honestly hard to criticize. Our only issue concerned UE Megaboom’s packaging: the speaker is housed in a plastic, cylindrical tube-like case, and opening this up proved particularly difficult. Once you’ve got past this packaging, however, users can be assured that inside lies an impressive, powerful speaker that iPhone owners will love. Included is a power pack and a USB cable, along with the usual documentation.

If you have the cash to spare, UE Megaboom is hands down one of the best iPhone-compatible speakers available today. You can purchase the speaker now for $299.99 (£249.99) from Ultimate Ears’ online store,