3 photos
The Ultimate Ears Boom 3 ($150) and Megaboom 3 ($200) are the company’s newest portable Bluetooth speakers, which have several subtle aesthetic changes from last year’s UE Boom 2 and Megaboom, including a two-toned outer fabric and “magic button” on top of the speaker that’s used for play/pause and skipping tracks (and a few other things for Apple Music subscribers). The audio quality and durability of the speakers have both been improved, albeit slightly. The biggest change, however, is the price – at launch, both the Boom 3 and Megaboom 3 are significantly more affordable than last year’s UE Boom 2 and Megaboom.
For clarity, there has never been a Megoboom 2 speaker. Ultimate Ears skipped that model to prevent confusion and align the Boom 3 and Megaboom 3 in the same generation of speaker.
The Good: These are arguably the best sounding Bluetooth speakers you can buy. I tested the Megaboom 3 directly against the Megablast and, despite being similarly sized speakers, the Megaboom 3 sounded noticeably better; it had better midrange separation and the overall audio sounded crisper. The “magic button” isn’t game-changing, but it’s admittedly nice to not have to touch your phone to change songs or pause tracks. Both the Boom 3 and Megaboom 3 float, which is new. Also, the charging port has been moved from the bottom of the speaker to the side, so you can charge and listen to each speaker simultaneously, which was a small design flaw in the Boom 2 and Megaboom.
Who They’re For: Anybody who wants a loud, great sounding Bluetooth speaker that’s also easy to use. If you have other Boom or Megaboom speakers, you’ll be able to pair them in a “party mode” feature.
Watch Out For: No Alexa. These aren’t wi-fi speakers, like UE’s Blast and Megablast, so there’s no integrated virtual assistant. The “playlists” feature only works with Apple Music and iTunes, and for Deezer Premium subscribers on Android – sorry Spotify subscribers. The UE Power Up charging dock ($40) is convenient, but needs to purchased separately.
