Ultimate Ears - BLAST Smart Portable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa - Graphite

Great all around Bluetooth speaker ! R Duffey ...

Overall this is a good portable unit if you wish to have a portable sound system with the convenience of Alexa/Amazon access. The unit is made very well, durable for the environment and being water proof is a nice touch. I really loved how they chose to protect the USB access point underneath with a screw and rubber cap. During my testing this was very durable and prevented any water from trying to get through. The Sound is good but not the top ranking like other portable sound units out there. However appears to last a good long time over moderate usage and charge is quick so thats a plus. My only concern is the Alexa software that you use to compliment this device, caused my Alexa to freeze to the point where I had to power cycle a few times. PROS - Good Sound Quality Plays Local Music Playlists or Streaming Music Service Waterproof Battery Quick Charging Portability Volume Keys Easily Accessible Position of the USB charge access point and durable cover CONS - Treble Sound Difficulty at High Pitches Non-Removable Battery Lack of Training Material / Learning Curve Alexa Software Can Cause Freezing, having to power cycle unit Software - When setting up Blast there is a small booklet advising to download "Ultimate Ears" on your Smartphone. Once installed you can connect via bluetooth to Blast to setup the WIFI connections. This software also allows you to check on the battery charge / status of the unit. Unfortunately that is the limit of what this software can do and there is no other guidance provided on how to use Blast. After long searching on the internet it appears Amazon has a smartphone application that compliments Alexa on Blast called "Amazon Alexa". This software is not 3rd party as the publisher is Amazon themselves. This software allows you to provide Alexa with "Skills". These skills that you set your Alexa with really helps takes full advantage of Blast. Unfortunately some skills even with being certified by Amazon can cause Alexa to stop responding. The Blast unit still plays the radio station / function you choose but is stuck at that trait. Only way to resolve is to power cycle the unit. I really enjoy using BLAST with the many "Skills" you can train your Alexa however wish there was a better quality check system in place for the approved Amazon Alexa Skills. Otherwise this is a really great product to listen to music locally from your playlist or streaming music service.

I had been looking to get into the speak-your-command speaker game for a while but was unsure of what I would like to go with but ultimately when the opportunity came to get the UE Blast with Alexa I jumped at the chance. While I had some experience with issuing commands to my Xbox I knew the experience of using Alexa was much better since I had set them up as gifts for relatives in the past. When I received the UE Blast it was nearly fully charged and had minimal packaging. It was ready to go out of the box but I did have to download and configure the app which was pretty easy. After linking it to my account on Amazon and establishing a bluetooth and wifi connection I was ready to test it out. The speaker itself is quite similar in design to another speaker that my wife and I had been using for a couple of years now, that is the UE Boom. It's bigger and has better sound. I knew that our experience with the UE Boom had been a positive one, the speaker held a charge a long time, was easy to pair and had excellent sound so I held high hopes for the UE Blast. Once everything was configured the UE Blast was very easy to use by issuing Alexa commands. The toughest part is remembering the best way to address the commands, although it should be noted that Alexa doesn't require rote, specific type of commands (as the Xbox does) but through practice my wife and I have found out that it does respond to certain phrasings better than others. You also have to learn to add a slight pause after saying "Alexa" and not just start yelling out commands but that becomes second nature in practice. I was highly disappointed to see that Alexa could not control Spotify and that Spotify would only work when using a Bluetooth command, similar in nature to the UE Boom. Spotify is my primary music source and I do not like that Amazon seems to want to steer you to their Amazon Prime Music direction. However, it should be noted that you do not have to be a subscriber to the Amazon music service to use Alexa on this device, but it will open up more music, including your own if you have a subscription to it. I have used the speaker twice now in long sessions and the first session I got about 7 hours out of moderate listening levels which was, in my opinion, disappointing considering the speaker promises "up to 14 hours". We all know "up to" is the key there but still, half of the promised amount is not what I'd consider a home run. The second time listening from a full charge we got roughly 9 hours and that is listening at moderate listening levels so that was a bit better. It honestly made me wonder if the first I was not at a complete charge. It should be noted here that the only way to know the charge level of the speaker is through the app and you will only know two levels of charge, full charge or partial charge and that is a sincere lack of information in my opinion that needs updated with a future fix for the app. The quality of the sound of the speaker is very high for a large room and the speaker will fill the room with sound. Any larger than a large room though and the speaker will struggle but for most people volume or clarity of the music will not be any issue whatsoever. It was disappointing that I was unable to band my UE Blast to my UE Boom to create a stereo, or mirror, effect from one source. I worked on this for well over an hour before looking online and determining it simply is not possible. So word to the wise, if you already own a UE product and are considering buying this to add on as a "stereo" effect or even just a multi-room, one source solution you will be out of luck. It remains to be seen if this will be fixed in a future update but I sincerely doubt that it will happen based upon my research. Ultimately I do recommend this device, it's very clear, very loud, integrates Alexa commands perfectly and has decent battery life. Just be aware though that it won't control Spotify via Alexa, the battery life is not what is promised (but still good overall) and it will not pair with another UE device. Another downside of course is the price. I am not completely sure this is a great value for most people but I will say if you have the money the device will not disappoint. For most people on a budget this would be a better value purchase on sale or at a discounted rate perhaps on Black Friday. There are certainly more reasonably priced devices that will do many of what this speaker offers. But if you want a great all-in-one solution, are aware of some of the limitations of the device and its app and are willing to pay the money you cannot beat the UE Blast.

The UE Blast is quite simply one of the best sounding compact Bluetooth speakers on the market. It easily outperforms similarly priced speakers from the likes of Bose, Harman Kardon, and JBL. It produces a full range of tones without ever sounding tinny or flat. It is capable of producing impressive bass, and volume for its size. I replaced a Bluetooth speaker in my home that was nearly four times the size, without questioning whether or not the Blast could produce the same quality of sound. A unique advantage of this model is that it produces stereo sound as its speakers are multi-directionally positioned within the unit. Now as far as being a “smart” speaker, powered by Alexa...it falls short in a few areas. First and foremost, Alexa is connected through WiFi and only supports (and therefore only can control) Amazon Prime Music or Amazon Music Unlimited. That means that if you use Spotify, Apple Music, or another streaming service, you must connect through Bluetooth and therefore cannot utilize Alexa’s built-in controls. This also means that if you’re streaming music over Bluetooth, that you lose connectivity when Alexa is activated. The speaker cannot simultaneously connect to Bluetooth and WiFi, and is incapable of smartly switching between the two. Once you have activated Alexa you must manually reconnect and restart the music that you had been playing through Bluetooth. This is a huge inconvenience, and the speaker’s biggest downfall. Setup is fairly easy, but requires the Ultimate Ears app to be installed on your phone. The app itself is pretty basic, but even so still has some shortcomings. Once I set up the speaker once, I had to repair Bluetooth to my phone several times for no apparent reason, which was not easily done. Battery life is decent. Not nearly the 12 hours of playback that the materials quote though. Probably closer to 8 or 9. The unit itself is fairly attractive, made out of quality materials, and is fully dust and waterproof which is a must for a portable speaker. My only other complaint is that the charging port is on the bottom of the unit, so you cannot leave the speaker upright (its natural position) while charging. To do so, you would have to shell out $40 for the charging base for either the UE Blast or Megablast. Seems like an ill-conceived design or a way to gouge the customer on what is an already pricey product. If you’re just looking for a great Bluetooth speaker, this does a nice job, but you could probably find a cheaper non-“smart” option.

I received the Ultimate Ears Blast to test and review. I really like the presentation of this piece (especially the box! included in the picture). It is solid and feels very well built and being waterproof is cool. As a standalone Bluetooth speaker, this speaker is very nice. The sound quality is great but not spectacular (does get really loud though which is nice). I really think in today’s market to be a superior Bluetooth speaker you have to standout. They tried here but came up just a bit short. The waterproofing of this speaker makes up almost all that I found unique with it. I will use it a ton this summer but not sure how much otherwise. The app needs tweaking, I am fairly smart when comes to "Tech" but just to get this one up and running was a challenge. Nevertheless, I was able to get it paired and operational in a few minutes (I am hoping that maybe they are still working on the app). I have used other like and non like assistant products such as or similar to Alexa and found the responsiveness from this speaker to be slow or not at all; which required me repeating myself quite a bit. Again though, it did work and Alexa is a fun tool to have around. All in all, I would buy for the speaker aspect and having an Alexa is a plus but not as functional as I would have liked.

Being in need of a relatively small Bluetooth speaker for casual use in my living room, I was looking forward to receiving the Blast. First thing to mention is the exceptional and artistic packaging; beautiful. Setup was quick and easy using the Ultimate Ears app. You first use the app to connect the Blast to the internet for update purposes, sign in to Amazon for Alexa, and ultimately to finalize the Bluetooth connection. Sound reproduction was of high quality with voice/vocal reproduction being exceptionally and crisp. Mids and highs were well balanced and accurate. The low end bass was present but a little weak in my opinion. However, for a speaker of this size this to be expected. In addition to the noteworthy voice, mids, and highs the Blast is able to play at a high volume without creating large amounts of distortion. Overall, the Blast is a well built high quality Bluetooth speaker that is easy to setup, connect to, and enjoy. The only small quirk becomes apparent when you charge the Blast; the charging cable plugs into the Blast’s bottom vertically. This prevents the Blast from remaining upright during charging.

With the Ultimate Ears Blast, UE have created a great portable speaker with some Alexa integration now with more features to come later. The speaker sounds great. Portable speakers are everywhere these days, but this speaker produces some of the best sound I have heard from a speaker this size. I tested the Blast with my iPhone and the set up was easy and within a few seconds I was playing music from my Apple library. In addition to Bluetooth, UE have included Alexa integration over WiFi. In my testing, the Alexa has worked well. I tell the speaker to play Christmas music and it works. The mic can hear me and the voice commands are pretty intuitive. The Blast responds to many basic commands and plays music from Amazon, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. If you don’t have Amazon Music, a 3 month subscription is included. To get the most out of your Blast, you need the Ultimate Ears App and the Amazon Alexa app. I wish the Blast had built in Pandora support, but Ultimate Ears claim that support is coming soon. The entire package would be better if there was a 3.5mm jack on the Blast and if the charging base had been included with the speaker, but beyond that, I really can’t think of anything wrong with this speaker. The UE Blast works great and I highly recommend it.

I’m pretty impressed with this speaker. Looks and feels nice. It’s exterior has a nice soft-touch coating, with large volume up/down buttons. The audio quality is really impressive, and sounds good – even at high volumes. The Alexa voice controls are also very responsive, and seems to be able to pick up your voice very well. It’s also very easy to set up. The app walks you through the setup process, which is very quick and easy. I got a kick out of the funny phrases it had when it was updating. Add waterproof to the list, and you have a great Bluetooth speaker. Pros: Great sound, Alexa integration, waterproof, feels like a premium product, good battery life Cons: I do wish there was more support for other apps (like Spotify), though they mentioned it will be available shortly.