UE Megaboom 3
With the Megaboom 3 portable Bluetooth speaker, Ultimate Ears continues its enviable run of five-star products. It builds on an already excellent reputation, and the design tweaks, sonic boosts and nifty new features make it even more enjoyable to use. The portable Megaboom has always been designed for outdoors use – by the pool, at a festival, muddy camping etc – but now the high-density fabric protecting the latest version has been reworked. It’s now IP67 rated, which means it’s dustproof as well as waterproof (up to one metre of water for 30 minutes). It floats too.
New look
The big strip that housed the giant volume buttons is now at the back. This allows the speaker’s 360degree sound to be delivered more freely – and leaves a cleaner look.
You can get the Bluetooth speaker in the colours Night (black), Sunset (red), Lagoon (blue) and Ultraviolet (purple), and two Apple-exclusive colours of Denim (deep blue) and Cloud (light blue). The Megaboom 3 feels as chunky and indestructible as ever, but it’s still light enough to carry around in your backpack or around the house. Also, the charging port has been repositioned so you can now charge it upright. Alternatively, you can dock it on a Power Up charging stand. At £35, it’s a touch pricey, but nice to plonk the speaker on.
This speaker lasts 20 hours on a full charge and you can pair up two of them for stereo. The Bluetooth range is up from 30m to 45m.
This model 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 well-defined edges, a great helping of detail and a terrific sense of rhythm.
The Megaboom 3 has had a bass boost, Ultimate Ears enhancing its passive radiator. Sure enough, it sounds a lot bassier and punchier. The added weight can make voices sound a touch thick on occasion, but overall it’s a big improvement.
Summary
At £170, there really isn’t much to rival the ‘3’. While the Audio Pro Addon T3 is a more nuanced listen, its more domestic design will attract a different audience.
There’s no shortage of weatherproof portable speakers, but Ultimate Ears has carved out a niche by combining great design and fun features with an entertaining sound.