[Review] UE Boom 2
While it feels like Summer has just started in Auckland, you can continue to get into that Summer feeling through Autumn by playing your favourite tunes out loud on the UE Boom 2. My BrainFreeze blue-coloured UE Boom 2 has not skipped a beat since its first full charge, and is happily playing away to its (my) heart’s content.
The UE Boom 2 still comes in its signature cylindrical box, albeit fatter than its predecessor, the original UE Boom. While the UE Boom 2 has not changed its shape (I think it’s a teeny bit lighter than the original Boom), the shape of the box has gotten shorter and fatter. It seems like the box has had a pretty good Christmas feast!
Unboxing the UE Boom 2 gets you the speaker itself, a charging adapter, and a generous-lengthed tangle-free micro USB charging cable. I already have a few Anker micro USB charging cables bought last year so don’t really need to use its bright-coloured charging cable.
UE Booms are notable for their 360-degree output of sound. This means that no matter how you place the Boom the whole room is able to hear the music loud and clear.
What I like about the UE Boom 2 is its Tap Controls. If you tap the top of the speaker once it will play music from your mobile device. Tap it again to pause. To skip a track, double tap. Easy right? This means at just under 30 meters you can control the music from the speaker itself!
Did you know: PartyUp from Ultimate Ears allows you to wirelessly connect more than 50 UE speakers?!
There are very few differences between the UE Boom 2 and its predecessor, with one being that the UE Boom 2 is now IPX7 Waterproof whereas its predecessor was only IPX4 splash resistant. Did I also mention that it is shockproof too? Just like the UE Megaboom!
The official battery time on the Boom has not changed between the current and previous generation, both boasting a mighty 15 hours of playtime. I can get it to around 8-9 hours at about 75% volume. The range of the new UE Boom 2 has also doubled, increasing it from 15 meters of Bluetooth connectivity to 30 meters.
Another notable difference is the charging time. The original UE Boom charged from 0% to 100% in about 3.5 hours, whereas the UE Boom 2 shaves off an hour to fully charge, charged in just around 2.5 hours! A great help when you want to continue partying the next day!
Siri and Google Now voice is also integrated into the UE Boom 2. So when you want to ask it to play music, check the weather, convert some measurements you can now do so conveniently with the Boom.
While you may not notice the difference, the UE Boom 2 is 2 decibels louder than its predecessor. Pumping tunes at up to 90 decibels compared to 88 decibels, clarity and loudness has never been better on the UE Boom! In fact, according to this chart, 90 decibels is equivalent to hearing a food blender going at 0.92m! Although it does say at the bottom of that chart:
An increase of 3 dBA is barely perceptible to the human ear.
The UE Boom 2 can connect up to 8 Bluetooth enabled devices with a maximum of two paired to it simultaneously. And if connected up to two compatible UE Booms, you can party even louder.
Overall, if you are already happy with the original UE Boom, you’ll be more impressed with the UE Boom 2!
The UE Boom 2 has an RRP of $330 and the cheapest I have seen them here in NZ go for about $220 to $230. You can buy your very own UE Boom 2 by clicking here!
For more information please visit: http://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/ueboom2
