For a long time, Ultimate Ears’ Boom brand of outdoor-friendly speakers has offered modestly room-filling power in a compact, waterproof design. The Ultimate Ears Boom 3 ($149.99) is the most recent model, and it sits between the Wonderboom ($99.99) and the Megaboom 3 ($199.99). It’s a sleek speaker that can be loud and has good balance, although the bass is a little weak for the price. It also faces stiff competition from versions that provide more power, a lower price, support for voice assistants, or a mix of the three.
The UE Boom 3 is priced at $129.99 ( R2,999, £129.99 / AU$199.95), which is around $30 more than its predecessor, the UE Boom 2.
The Boom 3 is priced at the higher end of the portable speaker market, costing more than the Bose SoundLink Color II, which has a higher standard of music quality but a lesser IP rating.
The Boom 3 is 7.3 inches tall and 2.9 inches broad, and it has the same cylindrical design as its predecessors. It comes in eight color combinations, three of which are just available at Best Buy and one of which is only available at Target. Except for a strip of rubber spanning the length of the speaker and ending in a fabric loop, and the top and bottom, which are firm rubber, the round sides are covered in grille cloth.
The volume controls are large plus and minus symbols on the front of the speaker, dominating the grille fabric opposite the rubber strip on the back. A huge, circular multipurpose button (dubbed the Magic Button by UE), a smaller power button, and an indicator LED are all found on the top panel. That’s all there is to physical controls.
A micro USB charging connector is placed behind a rubber door on the Boom 3’s back strip and a cable is included. With the extra $39.99 Power Up charging base, the bottom of the speaker has a small indentation for charging without a cable. There is no option for a wired audio connection.
This small speaker packs a punch, with a maximum volume of 90 decibels and two 2-inch drivers, and two 4-inch passive radiators for room-filling sound. We found the sound to be wide, with good frequency separation, thanks to the conical design, which allows for 360-degree listening.
Although the bass frequencies sound decent (if a touch shallow) for the speaker’s size, the mid frequencies, which are extensively featured in vocals and keys, were significantly muffled in comparison to the bass.
We tried guitar-heavy tracks like Belle and Sebastian’s ‘Your Cover’s Blown,’ and felt that the highest frequencies could have benefited from a harder kick.
If you don’t like the default equalizer settings, you may change them in the app, which has four presets: ‘The Standard,’ ‘Cramped Spaces,’ ‘Voices,’ and ‘Bass Jump.’ Although you can construct your unique equalizer settings with the changeable tuner – probably just move your slider down and up on the bottom, mid, and treble sliders unless you find a sounding that like — switching between these presets had little effect just on audio output.
One unique feature of the app is that it allows you to connect two UE Boom 3 speakers for stereo sound. Though you can connect up to 150 Boom and Megaboom speakers for a massive sound wall.
You can use the provided micro-USB cable to charge the UE Boom 3, or you can use Ultimate Ears’ charging dock, which gives you a few different options depending on whether you’re on the move or listening at home.
The speaker checks all the boxes in terms of portability: it’s light, convenient to carry, and therefore can play for up to 15 hours on a single charge. We had no issues with Bluetooth connectivity, and the 150-foot range claimed by the manufacturer was very accurate.
The waterproof design appears to be effective, as we had no issues doing so in the shower. Just on top of such a speaker is a fabric hook. So you can put it away while you clean it.
The Boom 3 has an IP67 rating, meaning implies this covers with water but still functions. As well as handle dust and dirt. The speaker is also floating, so it will float if dropped into a pool.
The Ultimate Ears Boom and Megaboom app for iPhone and Android. Allows you to customize the sound of the Boom 3. It has a five-band Equalization with several presets, as well as a few other functions. You may use the app to program the Miracle Button in the upper of the speaker. To play Amazon Music, Deezer, or Spotify playlists. In party mode, the app also allows you to connect the Boom 3 to many more Boom 3, Megaboom 3, and Hyperboom speakers for concurrent playback.
The speaker could last for up to 15 hours without charges, according to UE. However, this depends on your desired volume settings. Because the Boom 3 lacks a microphone, it cannot be used as a speakerphone. But does not enable voice commands such as the UE Blast or JBL Link Portable.
This UE Boom 3 connects and operates using Bluetooth, and it comes with Android and iOS software that enhances the user experience. The app, which appears on your home screen simply as ‘Boom,’ allows us to operate the Boom 3. You can enable it to turn on the speaker and modify the volume without having to touch it. You can even use it to alter equalizer settings, try setting up wireless daisy-chaining, make playlists for compatible applications, and set an alarm on the speaker. The software also displays the battery state of Boom 3 as a percentage.
Aside from that, the app enables firmware upgrades again for speakers as needed. Indeed, the app isn’t that useful. However, the ability to turn upon that Ultimate Ear Boom 3 from a distance is astonishing.
There is a bit of battery drain due to the active standby required to keep the app-based power switch running, but this isn’t a lot. We recorded a drain of 4 percent over 44 hours.
On a fully charged battery, the UE Boom 3 lasted roughly 13 hours, during which time we utilized it at various volumes. This is fantastic for a wireless speaker, but it’s especially wonderful for the Boom 3 because of its loudness (more on that in the performance section below). Between charges, you’ll be able to utilize this speaker for lengthy listening sessions. While a Micro-USB charging connector wants an update, it does the job as you can use whatever power adapter you have on hand.
For something like a speaker that costs roughly $129.99, the UE Boom 3 has several big flaws. It nearly doesn’t seem worth the price with no microphone, aux connection, AptX codec compatibility, or Micro-USB charging with really no provided charging adaptor. The speaker’s appealing appearance, high waterproofness rating, capacity to float, and powerful, clear sound are all key pluses.
For the most part, the UE Boom 3 delivers on its most crucial parameter: sound quality. Although the Boom 3’s sound isn’t perfect due to the lack of sub-bass, it’s loud, clean, and thrilling for the most part. You may also carry it almost anyplace with minimal chance of damage.
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