Ultimate Ears has unveiled its newest portable Bluetooth speaker, the Wonderboom. It joins the line of fellow Boom-branded speakers, the UE Boom 2 , and UE Megaboom, while boasting a $100 price tag that beats out both of its siblings, as well as a smaller design for better portability.
The portable speaker is designed to offer continuous sound in 360 degrees, which allows you to place the speaker in a room or outside without having to worry about what direction it’s facing. Ultimate Ears says the Wonderboom has a 10-hour battery life and a connection radius up to 100 feet. The speaker is charged via a USB micro port.
The physical design retains the tough, resilient construction and simple aesthetics consistent with the rest of the Ultimate Ears family of speakers. The Wonderboom is made with rubberized plastic surrounding the outside of the speaker, and is rated IPX 7 for its waterproof and dustproof qualities, meaning it can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes without sustaining any damage. It can actually float in water, and is even equipped with a small bungee-like loop to hang the speaker with.
The Wonderboom also uses a simple set of controls — just a power button, volume controls, and a “UE” button that functions as a play, pause, and skip button all in one. It functions similarly to the controls on Apple headphones. Interestingly, there is no other form of user interface featured on the Wonderboom — not even a battery life indicator. Instead, the UE button is used to check the battery life, with a tone relaying how much juice is left.
The UE button can also be held down to enable pairing mode, allowing you to connect your smartphone or other Bluetooth device for playback. It can also be used to sync with another Wonderboom for bigger and broader sound coverage.
The Wonderboom comes in a number of different colors, including Lilac, Cashmere, SubZero, FireBall, Phantom, and Stone.
First impressions
We had a bit of time with the new Wonderboom, and came away generally impressed. The speaker had some definite low register, especially compared to the almost nonexistent bass on Ultimate Ears’ similarly priced UE Roll 2. The Wonderboom was simple to set up, too, immediately pairing an Android smartphone to the speaker for playback.
We also like the overall design of the speaker and feel of the material, especially the continuous 360-degree output. That said, we did notice a bit of a learning curve when it came to the Wonderboom’s controls and interface (or lack thereof).
Keep an eye out for our full impressions on the Wonderboom soon.
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