Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2
Just over six months ago, we gave five stars to the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom, a robust, decent-sounding portable Bluetooth speaker. Despite its success, the Californian firm clearly isn’t one for kicking back, because the secondgeneration version has landed, promising a whole new range of features and improved bass.
Inside, a new chipset promises a crisper sound, longer battery life and, most notably, 10 per cent more bass than the original.
There’s also a new ‘boost’ button on the underside of the unit for using the Wonderboom 2 outdoors. When pressed, this restricts the bass frequencies, allowing the UE to play louder through the midrange and upwards. This is claimed to make the sound easier to hear when the unit is used outdoors.
Battery life has been increased to 13 hours, from the 10 hours on the original Wonderboom. It’s just as waterproof as the first version and is still designed to float. The material covering the speaker is now both sand- and dust-proof.
You’ve always been able to pair two Wonderbooms together, but now you can do so in stereo mode – as long as they’re both Mk 2s.
The Wonderboom 2 is available in red, black, blue, grey and a millennial pink, called ‘Just Peach’.
We cue up our iphone 7 and listen to The Waking by Kurt Elling on Spotify Premium. The first thing to note is that the extra bass promised by UE is here, and it pays dividends in the mix. Elling’s voice is as forward as we’d expect, but thanks in part to that extra bass injection, it never dominates. The Wonderboom 2 delivers a sound as cohesive and detailed as we could hope for at the price. The presentation takes a step forward too. There are discrete musical nuances in the double bass that weren’t obvious on the original.
We switch to Aerosmith’s Water Song and the glass harmonica, wind gong and bullroarer instrumental at the top of the track is suitably spine-tingling, as is the strike of simultaneous drums, which comes through clipped and brimming with attack – no small achievement for such a small speaker.
The outdoor mode is a welcome addition. More than just a gimmick, it accentuates frequencies you can hear most of outside.
Summary
The Wonderboom 2 is every bit as precise and musical as the original five-star model, yet it delivers a weightier sound and is more durable. For under a ton, this is where the wise money goes.