Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 £170
FOR Punchy, solid presentation; weather proof; fine build AGAINST A hint of thickness through the midrange
Building on an already excellent predecessor, the design tweaks, sonic boosts and nifty new features make the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 even more enjoyable to use than before. The portable Megaboom has always been designed for outdoors use and the fabric that protects the latest version of the speaker has been reworked. It’s now IP67 rated, so it’s dustproof as well as waterproof (up to one metre of water for 30 minutes). And it floats. Like the petite Wonderboom, this third-gen Boom can bob in the pool while still playing music – just don’t leave it in for too long.
The big strip that housed the giant volume buttons has been moved to the back. This allows the speaker’s 360-degree sound to be delivered more freely, and gives a cleaner look, too.
In fact, the UE Megaboom 3 has a more sophisticated appearance overall, thanks to a flatter top panel and dual-tone finishes to the new fabric. You can get the speaker in Night (black), Sunset (red), Lagoon (blue) or Ultraviolet (purple), and two Apple-exclusive colours: Denim (deep blue) or Cloud (light blue).
The top button has been redesigned, too, with a nice glowing white LED to indicate responsiveness.
The magic button
The speaker itself feels chunky and as indestructible as ever, but it’s still light enough to carry around.
One of the banes of the older Booms and Megabooms has finally been rectified; the charging port has been repositioned, so you can now charge the Megaboom 3 upright. Or you can dock it on a Power Up charging stand. At £35, that’s a touch pricey, but nice to plonk the speaker on. The speaker lasts a claimed 20 hours on a full charge.
The redesigned top button, the “Magic Button”, has learned some new tricks. You can play and pause songs with a tap, skip tracks with a double tap, and summon a playlist with a long press.
That’s right, the speaker can play your playlists without you having to reach for a phone. The Megaboom 3 just needs to be connected to your smartphone.
You’ll need the accompanying Ultimate Ears app to set up multiple playlists, and you can also skip through them with more long presses. It’s a nice little addition, and gives you slightly quicker access to your music.
The new playlist feature is fun, but it does have limitations. Currently, if you’re an IOS user, you can import playlists only from Apple Music, while Android users will have to use Deezer. There’s no Spotify, but UE says it’s in talks with other streaming services to join in.
Other staple Ultimate Ears features such as Partyup and Stereo can also be controlled through the free app. You can link up more than 150 Megabooms and Booms, of any generation (so don’t throw away that first-gen Boom from 2014), for an almighty party, and you can pair up two Megaboom 3s for stereo mode. Its Bluetooth range has been increased from 30m to 45m, too. With Megaboom 3 boasting so many features, it’s easy to forget that it’s “just” a portable Bluetooth speaker. Thankfully, it sounds just as fun, punchy and capable as we’ve come to expect from a UE speaker. It’s a hugely enthusiastic sound that favours excitement while still keeping an eye on balance.
The 360-degree dispersion of sound is impressive, easily filling a room. Push it too hard and you’ll hear its limits, but the sound is satisfyingly solid, has welldefined edges, a great helping of detail and a terrific sense of rhythm. The Megaboom 3 has been given a bass boost thanks to popular demand, with Ultimate Ears enhancing its passive radiator to give deeper bass. Sure enough, the wireless speaker sounds a lot more bassy and punchier, especially compared with its stablemate, the Alexa-powered Megablast, now at a similar price. The Megablast sounds distinctively thinner and coarser in the treble next to the new speaker, with the Megaboom 3 filling in the lower midrange to make it a weightier, smoother listen.
Basslines are deeper, charging the song along with more momentum and grip, and that solidity runs through the entire frequency range. It can sound a touch thick thanks to the added bass weight – in some tracks, voices could sound cleaner – but overall the Megaboom 3 is a more enjoyable and easier listen next to the Megablast.
At its price of £170, there really isn’t much to rival it directly. While the Audio Pro Addon T3 is a more nuanced, refined listen, its boxy, more domestic design will attract a different audience from the rugged Megaboom 3.
There’s no shortage of weatherproof portable speakers, but UE has carved out a niche by combining great design and fun features with an entertaining sound.
The Megaboom 3’s new playlist features, sleeker design and improved sound are definitely worth your time.