Ultimate Ears Boom 2 Speaker – Supported by readers. When you make a purchase through a link on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
() – Ultimate Ears has become a household name since the founding of Logitech (now just Logi), since it released a variety of Bluetooth speakers on the market. The first UE Boom, released back in 2013, was one of the best portable speakers we’ve ever heard, all things considered, so when the follow-up UE Boom 2 was announced in 2015, I was very happy.
Ultimate Ears Boom 2 Speaker
But at first inspection the series looks similar to the original cylindrical shape; Put both sides aside and only the eagle-eyed can see any contradictions. But in fact, there are many changes: Ultimate Ears has redesigned the UE Boom 2 from the ground up, bringing great sound from the same external design framework, it is fully waterproof (even with the connectors open), and some more colorful options to Boot. .
Ultimate Ears Boom 3 Portable Bluetooth Wireless Speaker
As we beat the first model, is the UE Boom 2 the new portable Bluetooth speaker? We listened to it in the office, in hotel rooms while traveling, and on the road. Is it a case of love at second sight?
The UE Boom 2 takes one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers, the original UE Boom, and makes it even better for the second round. Complete waterproofing and crisp sound go hand-in-hand with a classy design – but this is more than just a redesign. Maybe that’s a good thing, because they can be mean at times.
However, since the first boom was launched, we have seen a bunch of competitors launch capable speakers at competitive prices, often with 360-degree sound reproduction. This is one of the few things against UE Boom 2: it is not the galactic leap from the original model (which now costs much less), the rest of the market is in the process of updating to play.
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But if you’re looking for portable, premium sound wherever you are, the UE Boom 2 hits the nail on the head. Have reasonable expectations for bass delivery and it’s a very hot Bluetooth speaker. Sure, it’s not cheap and you can save a bit by buying the original, but as the world goes on, so do the Ultimate Ears. So, yes, it’s definitely love at second sight – and we’ll definitely be taking the UE Boom 2 everywhere for a long time to come.
As we say, the UE Boom 2 is not particularly different from the original, except for the new mesh-shaped material that covers it, which is now made of improved materials.
But this is not to say that there is nothing new: the original model was one of the first Bluetooth speakers to hit the idea of producing 360-degree sound on the head, something that the UE Boom 2 handles with equal atmosphere – surprising , indeed, given its track record. It is the same. The cylindrical shape perfectly attracts the audio from all directions, which is perfect for picnics, parties and casual placement wherever you are.
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And let’s face it, the Boom 2 looks brilliant; It’s effortless and intuitive thanks to the stylish visuals – take the big plus/minus icons that act as volume buttons – and the variety of color options on the box. Our review model is more summer charcoal, but there are reds, blues and other bright colors with complementary accents available.
Perhaps the best thing about the UE Boom 2’s design is how simple it is. There is a button on top, sitting next to the Bluetooth pairing button; Band up/down buttons on the side panel; While a hanging metal cable sits underneath, with the micro-USB charger and 3.5mm headphones hidden in their dust and water-resistant cover.
This is one of the main points to be taken away from the UE Boom 2: it is now completely waterproof, including the bottom ports, so even if the USB / 3.5 mm ports are exposed, there is no problem. The pads are there just to keep away from the guns and the anger, whether you’re banging the Boom 2 around a stadium, party or anywhere. We dropped the Boom 2 in the shower, if it fell off the table and opened the bag without worry, thanks to its solid construction, which is reassuring.
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We’ve been traveling a lot lately and the UE Boom 2 has become our perfect travel companion. With a height of 180 mm, a diameter of 67 mm and a weight of 548 g it can be placed in a bag without much drag. It will even fit in a bike bottle.
Although winter is approaching and outdoor opportunities are not often presented, as we experienced with the first UE Boom, the sequel is an ideal companion for the outdoors. Come rain or shine, it’s perfect for the holidays or beyond. Or, as we found in our case, as a portable speaker to amplify the audio above and beyond the small output of our laptop.
When it comes to sound quality, the UE Boom 2 is really loud, but not to the point of distortion. The volume control works independently of the output of the connected Bluetooth device, so you may need to balance the output of the two. Perhaps the jump between each volume level can be tricky, but otherwise we have no complaints about the production level. It’s louder and sharper than the original version, not that you’d really notice.
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Another thing to consider is your expectations for bass output. The volume and bass balance is not great, certainly not in the low bass levels, but the UE Boom 2 pushes enough pep for rock tracks, pop and mix genres to give it enough richness.
Still, it’s not all about the bass, with the Boom 2 offering plenty of crispness in the mids and highs. Other speakers of this size don’t do better – so if it’s bass you really want, look at the larger UE Megaboom (or elsewhere), which in some ways dwarfs the standard Boom models.
When it comes to Bluetooth pairing, it’s pretty simple: turn on Bluetooth using your device of choice, press and hold the UE Boom 2’s pairing button, and you’re done. You can even rename the boom to something clever (anything you like in 15 characters – so keep it simple). If you have NFC (near field communication), this is also supported for touch-based connectivity.
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All this is accompanied by a confirmation bongo rhythm – one when the boom is turned on, another to confirm that Bluetooth is working, and another when the device is turned off. We really like the obvious meaning of the patterns, because the pre-recorded voice – like the “robot” connected – tends to sound cheesy. After that, when we docked at Tokyo airport, we could have done with the loud bongos to be a little smarter.
If you have more than one Ultimate speaker, they can be paired in stereo through the app. And they don’t need to be two UE Boom 2s; You could also have a UE Roll or UE Megaboom, which can be paired with any mixer for a proper Bluetooth stereo output. It’s a nice solution, but of course buying two products raises the price significantly – and the latest Ears market isn’t exactly budget friendly anyway.
The future of the app will allow more products of the Ultimate Ears to be connected and even more productive, something we saw in the log center with 10 boom speakers running in tandem.
Ultimate Ears Announces The Ue Boom 2 360 Degree Waterproof Speaker
You don’t need to use the app to stream music to the Boom 2, but it makes a lot of sense to download the preset equalizer controls (there’s still nothing manual here). It’s also useful to use the app to see how much battery life is left (we got around 12 hours of life, using different settings and a smart standby time that I don’t). Technical manual included.
If you’re looking for portable, premium sound wherever you are, the UE Boom 2 hits the nail on the head. Have reasonable expectations for bass delivery and it’s a very hot Bluetooth speaker. If you make a purchase using the links in our stories, we may receive a commission. This helps support our journalists. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing
Fantastic sound from a compact speaker. About the size of a tall boy’s bud candle clay. Pause or skip songs when you cast. Drain and blow, you can abuse. Excellent wireless range, much greater than most Bluetooth devices. The battery lasts well over the quoted 15 hours.
This Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker Is Over 60% Off Today On Amazon
For the past few years, our favorite Bluetooth speaker here—in fact, one of our top tech products overall—has been the UE Boom. This $200 compact speaker looks amazing and lasts more than 15 hours on a charge. It stands upright, spreads stereo sound in a w-y-d-e arc, and has a footprint about the size of your morning beer. After the product became a hit at launch, UE (owned by Logitech) began to iterate on the design, offering a larger version.
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