It’s sonically better than the Amazon Echo 2, the Echo Plus, the JBL Link 10 and the UE Wonderboom. I guess that’s the price you have to pay for the Blast’s smaller size. Again, when compared to the Megablast the Blast sounds slightly congested. Instrument separation, however, could be a tad better. The highs also lack a little energy, there’s more noticeable roll off at the top end and it sounds a little softer than its larger sibling as a result.Īs for soundstage, the UE Blast shares the same 360-degree audio characteristics as its Megablast so no matter where you’re sitting in the room the music sounds the same. Listening to Finesse by Bruno Mars the singer’s voice is more subdued than it should be. Its strong mid-bass presence means the mids are pushed back and recessed and that means vocals aren’t as strong as they should be. However, it doesn’t have the same control as the UE Megablast and lacks the extension in the lower frequencies of the likes of the Sonos One. In Catalina by Raekwon these tendencies are exposed to a tee: the bass hits are pronounced and when the speaker is turned up there’s a physical impact to the beat. It’s impressively loud for such a small speaker and, better still, it doesn’t distort or clip at max volume. It’s a warm-sounding speaker with a strong mid-bass slam and it struggles to bring forward mid-range frequencies. The UE Blast very much has the Ultimate Ears sound signature. READ NEXT: UE Wonderboom review: Portable, stylish and pool-friendly Ultimate Ears Blast review: Sound quality When you’re out of the house, the smart features are essentially useless. The catch is that the speaker needs to be set up and used on a Wi-Fi network for this to work. You can ask about the weather and or the football scores and it can also be used to play a specific song from a streaming service, such as Spotify or Amazon Music. I needed to shout at it in before it was able to pick up my voice.įor those new to Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant allows users to ask questions and control various services and devices with your voice. However, it struggled when music was blazing through it. I found the far-field microphones on the speaker (similar to what’s found on the Amazon Echo speakers) to be able to accurately pick up my voice in a quiet room from over ten to 15 metres away. And the speaker’s Alexa feature is similarly middling in its performance. That’s fine, but hardly earth-shattering. If you aren’t interested in smart features, Ultimate Ears has the waterproof UE Wonderboom at £58, down from £90 and the UE Boom 2 at £100, which looks just like the UE Blast but doesn’t have Amazon Alexa built-in.Īs for battery life, Ultimate Ears quotes a 12 hours battery life, which in a real-world scenario might be a little less depending on how much you interact with the speaker. Keeping all things Amazon, there’s the 2nd generation Amazon Echo costing £90 and its larger, more capable sibling, the Echo Plus at £140. If portability isn’t important to you then the impressive Sonos One speaker can be yours for £200 it has Alexa built-in and a powerful set of drivers that deliver excellent sound quality. The UE Megablast is a brilliant deal right now at £180, and does all the same stuff as the Blast but sounds better. There’s the JBL Link 10 and Link 20, which cost £149 and £179 respectively, and the Sony LF-S50G at £129, too, all of which have Google Assistant built-in, are splashproof and portable. That’s significantly lower than its 2017 launch price of £200 but even at this reduced price, the UE Blast faces a lot of competition. It’s not only a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi based smart speaker but also one that’s waterproof and offers 360-degree audio.Īt the time of writing, the Blast costs £109. Look at the specifications, though, and something rather special begins to emerge. In fact, it looks very similar to the venerable UE Boom 2, which has been around for ages. On the outside, the UE Blast looks fairly unremarkable. READ NEXT: Best Bluetooth speakers – our favourite wireless speakers Ultimate Ears Blast review: What you need to know It’s very similar to the UE Megablast, a speaker we rather liked when we reviewed it last year, but a touch smaller and a little cheaper. Thankfully, there’s a small handful of speakers beginning to buck this trend and the UE Blast is one of them. Smart speakers are everywhere these days but, unfortunately, most cannot be taken out and about as they require power from the wall. I originally reviewed it at its lowest price, but even at £120, the speaker is still the best smart speaker money can buy. So, be sure to keep a close eye on it on Amazon, as you can grab yourself a good deal if you shop at the right time. UPDATE: The Ultimate Ears Blast fluctuates in price – I’ve seen it as low as £109 and as high as £200.
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