Roger Fingas
Ultimate Ears recently refreshed its popular Boom line of Bluetooth speakers, led by the Boom 3, arguably the line's all-purpose "everyman" model.
The most conspicuous thing about the Boom 3 is its giant volume buttons, which borrow their design from UE's Blast speakers. The appeal of these is liable to be subjective, but so far we like them, as they add a bit of style and eliminate any fumbling around.
The speaker as a whole is a little smaller than we were expecting, which is welcome — it should be easy enough to stuff into a backpack or suitcase, or fit on a shelf or bath rack. On that note, the Boom 3 is IP67 waterproof, meaning it can be submerged to a depth of 1 meter (a little over 3 feet) for up to 30 minutes. It even floats. While you probably won't be tossing it around at the sort of imaginary pool parties UE uses in marketing, it should survive a quick dip or your daily shower.
Some further design differences in the Boom 3 include a port for UE's Power Up charging dock, and a relocation of the micro USB port from the bottom to the side. The latter is a common-sense decision, since people who want listen and charge simultaneously can finally do so without tipping the speaker on its side or upside-down.
Audio has so far been pleasing, at least for what UE is attempting. It lacks the clarity or deep bass of something like a HomePod or Sonos, but it's serviceable, and surprisingly loud. You may want to keep your finger over the volume-down button when you first fire it up, since you could actually hurt your ears at close range.
We'll need to do more testing to get a better sense of sound quality, but it's worth noting that like other Boom speakers, a
Logitech's Boom 3 speaker retails for $149.99.
Keep following AppleInsider for a complete review coming soon.
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
5 Comments
This line of speakers looks religious to me. Is that a cross on the front?
Prefer the JBLs. Maybe you could convince the two companies to let you do a comparison, AppleInsider. It would be interesting.
I procured a Bluetooth speaker recently to replace an Eton Rukus. I would have gotten Homepod if it could run on batteries. Considered JBL, then discovered it's a subsidiary of Scamdung. Googlerized speakers made in U.S. and found Klipsch, then bought a Groove. I suspected (and was right) that being their super-cheapo speaker, it would be made in China, but it's nice and bassy; does lack some treble.