Ultimate Ears Everboom review: the right size

The Ultimate Ears talker lineup is getting rather crowded, having present reached six products with the caller introduction of the $249.99 Everboom. This talker is simply a smaller, much portable instrumentality connected the Epicboom that I reviewed precocious past year. And its halfway entreaty is the aforesaid arsenic immoderate different UE speaker: you’re getting a rugged, waterproof talker that’s chopped retired for some indoor and poolside parties. You tin nexus the Everboom up with different UE speakers successful enactment mode to play euphony successful sync crossed each of them. The controls are casual to usage — particularly the company’s signature, oversized measurement buttons.

So what makes the Everboom different? You get a afloat customizable EQ, which not each of the company’s speakers offer. Like the Epicboom, there’s an outdoor mode that layers immoderate other measurement and powerfulness onto the dependable erstwhile needed. And UE includes a carabiner, which makes it easier to transportation the Everboom connected your container oregon bent it successful originative ways.

Both the Epicboom and Everboom dial up the wide audio fidelity compared to UE’s cylindrical speakers. Like those, they output 360-degree sound, truthful you don’t person to interest astir proceeding them from a definite saccharine spot — successful theory, anyway.

As it turns out, the Everboom is often astir wide erstwhile you’ve got either the near oregon close broadside of the talker straight facing you. Straight on, vocals tin deficiency crispness and item since the drivers look to beryllium side-firing — though the stereo separation is awesome arsenic a result. For indoor listening, I typically kept the measurement level betwixt 30 and 40 percent, and that was plentifulness loud. Outside you tin crank it further, though the talker starts to strain and dependable overly compressed erstwhile you’re astatine the 70 percent mark.

I don’t deliberation the Everboom’s dependable show lifts it precise acold supra established (and much affordable) contention similar the JBL Charge 5, Bose SoundLink Flex, oregon adjacent the precocious released Beats Pill. I’d fertile it higher than thing similar the Sonos Move for dependable quality, but determination are endless alternatives that are worthy eyeing earlier you fork implicit $250.

That said, the Everboom met the infinitesimal erstwhile I brought it upstate for a little water compartment getaway. Listening to Zach Bryan’s caller album, the Everboom did a bully occupation separating John Mayer’s guitar licks connected “Better Days” from the bulk of the mix. Nathaniel Rateliff’s South of Here was besides a pleasant listen, though I again recovered myself pointing 1 of the speaker’s near / close sides towards maine for the champion clarity.

But immoderate genres tin beryllium a small overmuch for it. The Hold Steady’s The Price of Progress sounded much muffled than I’d like. This is wherever the larger Epicboom fares better, since it’s got larger drivers (and much bass growl) to enactment with. But connected the flip side, the Everboom is acold easier to instrumentality connected the spell since it’s lighter and considerably smaller. Battery beingness is much than capable astatine 20 hours of continuous playback.

That said, I don’t cognize if anyone’s buying UE speakers for captious listening. The marque has a bully estimation for making durable products that tin past galore years. (And now, mercifully, the full lineup has yet switched to USB-C.) The Everboom has IP67 particulate and h2o resistance, and it’ll interval if you driblet it into a excavation — and support the euphony going afterward.

But don’t expect immoderate breathtaking bonus features. The Everboom does astatine slightest see multipoint, truthful you tin brace 2 phones to the talker astatine once. And it’s got NFC enactment for precise speedy pairing. Still, I can’t assistance but consciousness Ultimate Ears is resting connected its laurels erstwhile different companies springiness you more. For example, the Beats Pill offers lossless USB-C input, and JBL is starting to clasp forward-looking Bluetooth technologies similar Auracast. Meanwhile, the Everboom can’t adjacent beryllium utilized arsenic a speakerphone. UE’s app has a caller megaphone diagnostic that lets you talk into your telephone and broadcast that to your Boom speakers, but however often volition that beryllium useful?

The Everboom isn’t a unspeakable purchase; nary of UE’s products are if each you’re seeking is simply a decent-sounding and precise dependable speaker. But we’re firmly successful an epoch wherever I’m expecting much than “Yeah, that sounds beauteous nice” from a $250 wireless speaker. The Everboom doesn’t present capable to warrant that benignant of price, and I’d wager astir radical volition instrumentality with the company’s better-known Boom 4. It provides galore of the aforesaid strengths for little money.

Photography by Chris Welch