Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM: The Party Animal – Full Review

I love music. In fact, it’s like my daily dose of caffeine. Finding the right pair of headphones or speakers can be tough but there’s wide options available in the market. Now picking up a portable speaker on the other hand can be a bit challenging. Most of the time, it doesn’t live up to its expectation. It either has an underwhelming sound quality or some other limitation. Well, that’s not the case with Ultimate Ears.

Ultimate Ears makes audio peripherals, be it headphones, IEMs and speakers. Last year they unveiled the UE MEGABOOM, a speaker that has a dimension of a water bottle but the sound quality… Oh my god. But did I mean “Oh my god” in a good way or was it a disappointment “Oh my god”? Well, time to find out in this review.

Inside the Box

The UE MEGABOOM comes in this black carrying case, which is also the packaging as well. Like what they did there. The moment you open the case, you’ll find the small compartment which has the Micro USB cable. The speaker on top and you’ll find a box with the adapters for the wall charger. Straight forward, nothing complicated.

Design & Build Quality

The UE MEGABOOM is in a cylindrical shape which is convenient enough to hold in your hands. On the front, you’ll see the rubber UE Tag with a + and – sign. That’s the volume rocker. On top of the speaker, you’ll find the power indicator, Power and Pairing button. On the bottom, you’ll find a UE screw and two ports – Micro USB and Headphone jack covered by the rubberized seal.

In terms of design, it’s interesting. Despite it’s cylindrical shape, the top and bottom has a scooped out shape. It’s a very smart design because it doesn’t cause any interruption – like pressing the power button by accident. Build quality on the other hand is impressive. The speaker has this woven cloth material all around which looks and feels amazing. The weight across the speaker is balanced perfectly and it doesn’t topple at all. Because of its material and how it’s constructed, the speaker feels rugged and can take a beat. Also, the choice of material is amazing, giving the speaker a premium feel to it too.

Connectivity

1/3

As for connectivity, the UE MEGABOOM has two options – via Aux Cable or Bluetooth. Starting off with the Bluetooth connectivity, pairing with the speaker is easy and straightforward. Power up. Press and hold the Pairing button. Connect with your phone. Voila. It was simple as that. Not only the connectivity was easy, it was also strong enough. Unlike certain Bluetooth Speaker in the market which tends to lose connection, the UE MEGABOOM didn’t go through any of those.

Ultimate Ears has a MEGABOOM in App Store and Play Store. This allows you take complete advantage of the speakers. You can control the speaker remotely – by turning on and off with your phone and increase/decrease volume. It’s also easy to monitor the battery as well. If you have more than one MEGABOOM, you can pair up everything and play the same song on everything, giving you a surround experience. Taking your party up a notch.

If you think that pairing with an Headphone jack is a lot convenient, you have an option for that too. Good to know that.

Sound Quality

Before I jump into the Sound Quality, here’s what you’ll find inside the speaker. It has two 2″ drivers and two 2″ x 4″ Passive Radiators. The speaker covers ranges from 65Hz till 20kHz. It has a maximum sound level of 90dBA. Now on to the Sound Quality.

Honestly, this is literally the only portable speaker that handled every single song like a monster. At 30 percent volume, I could literally hear clearly at every corner of my room. Bringing the volume up to 90 percent felt like as if I am using some Stereo speakers at the pool side. The quality was top notch and out of the world. The bass and the treble response on the UE MEGABOOM is amazing. Completely amazing.

There’s one thing that made me love the MEGABOOM a lot. Unlike most of the bluetooth speakers, the MEGABOOM doesn’t sound distorted in maximum volume. It tends to maintain the quality really well. Thanks to the A2DP support, making it better.

Versatility

Now carrying around the UE MEGABOOM in it’s case isn’t the easiest, but the speaker let a long it a lot easier. Just throw into your bag and voila. Bringing it along for trips or event different locations to have a party and sorts, is a lot more convenient, thanks to it’s small package.

The design and the color option stands out from the rest and blends in really well.

Durability

The MEGABOOM is IPX7 rated. The speaker can be immersed in water upto 1m for 30 minutes. If your MEGABOOM collects dirt and sorts, you have the option to wash it away. I used it for almost a year and the speaker handled most of the situation like a tank. But that doesn’t mean you can drop it too many times.

Battery Life

The MEGABOOM has a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery under the hood which gives you 20 hours of battery life. During my time using the speaker, I went 4-5 day using it on and off and had no issues charging it as well. In fact, you can even charge the speaker with the help of your Battery pack that you use to charge your smartphone.

When the speaker hits less than 30 percent, it says “Battery Low. Please Charge.” When it hits below that, it says “Battery Critically Low”. The way it indicates the battery life by saying it, is actually convenient. You don’t have to worry about bringing the speaker to a different county because it comes with swappable heads for your Charging adapter, making life a whole lot easier.

Conclusion

Back in the day, Boombox is something that brings people together and have some fun. In fact, it’s the kind of speaker that makes the party alive. The MEGABOOM defines what exactly a Portable speaker should be. Phenomenal sound quality, amazing build quality. I call it the Modern Day Boombox because that’s how amazing it is.

The UE MEGABOOM was released last year and right now it’s sold for RM 1,199. Honestly, when you look at that price tag, it’s actually expensive. But on the other hand, the MEGABOOM is worth every single dime. If you’re lucky, you can even find the MEGABOOM for like RM 999 at certain stores or even online. So, grab while you can. 🙂 If you’re looking for something a lot more portable, you can go for the UE Boom or Wonderboom. It may have different sound quality, but with that form factor, you cannot go wrong with it.