Just a few years ago, Ultimate Ears (also known as UE) was probably the biggest name in portable Bluetooth speakers. Its line of Boom speakers were colorful, fun, durable and easily recognizable, thanks in no small part to their large "+" and "—" volume control buttons. But that's been changing for two reasons: competition in the space has gotten more fierce, and UE stopped pumping out new generations of Bluetooth speakers as frequently as it probably should've.
Need proof the line is aging? Its most popular current speakers — the 2022-released Wonderboom ($100), and the 2018-released Boom 3 ($150) and Megaboom 3 ($199) — all still charge via micro-USB, which is pretty nuts by 2023 standards.
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While a lot of people have been calling for upgraded versions of its popular speakers, Ultimate Ears has gone in a different direction: it's released an entirely new portable speaker called the Epicboom ($349), which is about twice the size (and cost) of the company's Megaboom 3. It's meant for people who want big, bass-heavy sound in a compact, still-portable size. We took it for a spin to see if it'll restore UE to its former heights of Bluetooth speaker glory.
Ultimate Ears Epicboom: What We Think
The Ultimate Ears Epicboom is the company's largest and best-sounding Bluetooth speaker that still feels portable. (The even bigger Hyperboom is just ... gargantuan. )It's super-rugged and sounds pretty great for its size; plus it has that signature feel fans of UE have come to love. It charges via USB-C, which most UE speakers still frustratingly do not. And it has an environmentally friendly design that's made of mostly recycled fabric and plastic.
The only real knock I can weight against the Epicboom is its price. At $350, it certainly isn't cheap for a relatively straightforward portable Bluetooth speaker. The landscape of portable Bluetooth speakers in 2023 is vast, and you can get similar-sized speakers from the likes of Sony and JBL for a good chunk less.
The UE Epicboom is available in two colors: black (shown) and white. It's available for preorder now, with general availability starting September 22.
The Epicboom is ready for the rain, sprinkler or pool
The Epicboom is about as rugged as you'd want in a portable Bluetooth speaker. It has an IP67 water-and-dust-resistant rating, just like UE's Wonderboom 3 or Boom 3 — which is nearly the highest you can get in a portable speaker. It can be submerged up to three feet, so you can take it to shower, hose it down or throw it in the pool. Heck, it even floats.
It delivers a bigger, more bass-heavy sound
The Epicboom is a bigger speaker than UE's other portable Bluetooth speaker, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it sounds better and gets louder — with speakers, size definitely matters. I wasn't able to test the Epicboom against the Megaboom 3, the company's next-largest speaker (not counting the aforementioned, significantly larger Hyperboom), but I was able to compare it against the Boom 3 and Wonderboom 3 — and the Epicboom is a definite upgrade. It gets significantly louder. The soundstage is wider. And the bass is deeper ... especially when you turn on the Outdoor Boost feature.
It's also worth pointing out that the Epicboom is a true 360-degree speaker. This means that unlike a lot of other portable Bluetooth speakers out there, you can place the Epicboom in the middle of a party and it sounds similar no matter where you're standing around it.
The Epicboom is a simple, (almost) no-frills speaker
The Epicboom is a pure Bluetooth speaker — there's no built-in Wi-Fi (and therefore no voice assistant) that could potentially complicate how you set up or use the speaker. You simply turn the speaker on, pair it to your smartphone, and (epic)boom — you're jamming. The speaker only has a couple buttons on top, for power, pairing, play/pause and switching it between Indoor and Outdoor modes (the latter boosts its bass). And, of course, there are the huge volume controls on the face of the speaker.
Thankfully, it supports USB-C charging
The Epicboom is the first portable Bluetooth speaker from Ultimate Ears that supports USB-C charging. That's right, you don't have to worry about keeping track of a micro-USB charging cable like with UE's Wonderboom, Boom or Megaboom speakers. You can charge this bad boy with the same USB-C charging cable that you use with most of the rest of your new-age gadgets.
The battery life is decent, but not exceptional
The Epicboom has good battery life, but not great. It's rated to give you up to 17 hours of playtime, which better than the company's smaller speakers, the Wonderboom 3 (14 hours) and Boom 3 (15 hours) — but not quite as long lasting as the Megaboom 3 (20 hours). It's also not that great compared to similarly sized speakers such as the Sony SRS-XE300 ($200) and Sony SRS-XG300 ($348), both of which can deliver at least 24 hours on a single charge.
The magnetic lanyard is handy
The Epicboom has a 5-inch nylon lanyard attached to its back. It's a pretty standard feature for a portable speaker — it makes it easy to hang the speaker on the edge of a table, chair or some kind of hook — but the Epicboom's lanyard is unique thanks to of the magnetic puck attached to its end. This helps the lanyard stay flush against the back of the speaker when not in use. It's also pretty satisfying to when it thumps back in place.
It supports multi-group pairing with other Boom speakers
The Epicboom is compatible with UE's Boom app. You don't absolutely need to download this app, but it does open up some more advanced features. If you have other Boom speakers — including the Boom, Megaboom and Epicboom — you can group them all together via the Party Up feature and thus create a kind of multi-room speaker system so long as they are all in Bluetooth range. (Note: the smaller Wonderboom speakers do not support Party Up.)
The Boom app has been updated as well, and now has a built-in equalizer. If you have a Boom speaker, including the Epicboom, you use the app to manually adjust its EQ or pick between several different preset EQs.
Ultimate Ears Epicboom: Alternatives
Frankly ... there are a lot. The Epicboom is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds solid and is super-rugged, but it's on the big and expensive sides. Two similarly sized speakers that I have are the JBL Pulse 5 ($250)and Sony SRS-XE300 ($200). Both are relatively straight-shooting portable Bluetooth speakers that are also a good deal more affordable than UE's newest offering.
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