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

I've been looking for a way to get solid sound from the wireless world - particularly poolside. I have a Bose SoundTouch which I love but is wired and not waterproof. I bought a Megablast and it is a regular feature in my kitchen and pool. I bought a second one which I can effortlessly Network in with the other -either as an extension or stereo pair. If that's not enough I can choose to use it with Alexa and Amazon Music, Pandora and Spotify (if I want to buy Premium). Or just Bluetooth from my phone - which is what I am doing at poolside as I write this. I even bought the smaller Blast to stick in my travel bag. I plan to network all of them when I have pool.parties. Most importantly the sound rivals my in wall Polk system. Get this thing. It's amazing.

My Megablast smart portable WiFi and Bluetooth speaker with Alexa was my best gift for me, it sounds is amazing, the battery last enough time and recharge very fast, I really recommend it

This is definitely the best portable bluetooth speaker that I have ever owned. The sound quality is clear and loud, excellent bass and treble. If anyone is looking to purchase a bluetooth speaker, I highly recommend the UE Megablast, it's worth the price.

Sounds great. It's not bulky but it does have an amazing sound. I just love it

All I can say is wow! Awesome sound quality & range. Very impressed with ease of use.

The speaker is amazing. UE makes great products and the Megablast is no different. Quality all the way around. From the packaging to the build quality to the overall sound. A+ across all of those areas. The only thing that left me wanting more, was the Bass. From a speaker this size, I was sort of disappointed in the quality of the Bass. My unit came with the speaker and the table top charging dock. The packaging is incrdible, and makes sure your product is not going to be damaged in any way during delivery/shipping. To cable charge, you simply plug in the supplied USB cable into the bottom of the unit. To charge with the docking station, you simply screw in a charging station cap on the bottom and place directly on top of the charger. The initial charge took quite a long time, and was not fully charged from the factory. But once charged the battery life has been great. UE says a full charge can last 15+ hours, and if you download and connect to the UE App, you can always see how much charge you have left, so you're not stuck with a dead speaker at the wrong time. Setting up the speaker was super fast and simple. Normal bluetooth pairing was immediate to my Note 8. I downloaded the UE App as well and while it looks polished, it felt sort of glitchy. The app recognized the speaker immediately but had trouble running through the rest of the setup. I had to exit the app and start over twice before it let me finish the setup. Not a huge deal to be concerned with, as i'm sure UE will fix the app over time. It's also nice that the speaker can be connected via wi-fi and bluetooth. And you can set it to update itself via wi-fi automatically. Setting up Alexa was also a breeze. Simply go to the Alexa setup in the App and login with your Amazon Alexa account and that's it. Alexa is immediately available on your Megablast. We also have a few Amazon Echos in the home, and using the Megablast with Alexa felt the same as using the Echo device. Speech recognition was very good even from across the room. All the features of Alexa are right here in the Megablast, and portable, unlike a Echo/Echo Plus. I think we'll use the Megablast so much more, simply because we can move it around with us. Build quality is amazing, the speaker is huge and feels very sturdy and almost heavy in the hand. Very nice. The 360 degrees sound field is also great, and you get room filling sound and great volume levels. Sound quality is also very good, as you'd expect from UE. But, from a speaker of this size and build, I honestly expected more Bass. I have numerous bluetooth speakers, some bigger or smaller, some from UE and other brands. Compared to all my other speakers, the Megablast was just ok on Bass response. Don't get me wrong, the Bass is there, and for most it's probably fine. However when listening to bass heavy audio, even when EQ'd, the Bass simply gets compressed and tight, not boomy. i don't think it would be a reason to not get the Megablast, the overall sound of the speaker is amazing, but if you were thinking that a speaker this size would give you over the top Bass, you might be disappointed. Having IP67 weather sealing is nice so you don't have to be worried about getting it wet. A couple things I wish they would have done better; you cannot pair multiple Megablast speakers together in stereo, which for this price and category seems to be a glaring omission, I hope UE fixes that soon. I also wish that the speaker came with a 3.5mm connector, but it does not, wireless all the way, or nothing. When using Alexa, the only way you know Alexa has been triggered is if you're actually looking at the speaker and can see the LED light on top grow brighter, there is no audible tone that tells you Alexa is ready, like when using an Amazon Alexa device. All in all the UE Megablast is an amazing speaker with Amazing features, and integrating Alexa just kicks it up a notch! I'm very impressed with the Megablast overall.

Ultimate Ears - MEGABLAST is a stunning portable speaker with Alexa built-in. I own several Voice-Controlled Personal Assistants, so I am very familiar with Alexa's capabilities & will compare UE MEGABLAST accordingly. LIKES: 1- Bass output is second to no other device with Alexa onboard. Nothing is even close. Put your hand near the side when it is rocking & feel the air from the woofers & passive radiators! Bass sounds like a quality 8" woofer! 2- High frequencies are crystal clear, noticeably more musical than the average Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant, which is an impressive accomplishment. 3- Waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes. 4- Long lasting built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery rocks out up to 16 hours between charges! 5- Built-in equalization emulates "Loudness On". Bass is always leading & high frequencies are above the midrange. The equalization has been finely tuned & is not adjustable. 6- Bluetooth Input permits sound from any Bluetooth source. This is exceptionally handy in areas with no Wi-Fi. 7- Very rugged case is perfect for portable use. 8- Syncs with other Alexa equipped devices; they all answer questions, play the news, announce sports, weather, route time to work & other traditional Alexa functions. 9- Automatic updates arrive via Wi-Fi to improve performance over time. 10- Uses the tried-and-true Alexa app. 11- Voice command most smart home devices. 12- 360 degree sound is much more obvious than in the average Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant, due to the multiple premium quality tweeters & the sound has a spread matrix stereo effect. It really sounds like there are 2 speakers in the room. In addition to the more forward bass & articulate highs, this spread stereo sound is stunning. 13- The charging base (optional & sold separately) makes charging as simple as sitting the speaker on a round disk. Highly recommended! 14- Auto off after a period of time when the music has stopped to save the battery. Or with the Charging Base, it converts to always on, always listening for "Alexa" command. 15- Plays extremely loud! 93dB rated output! 16- No audible distortion in the bass, even at high SPL's! 17- The light on the top shows status / battery / Alexa command following & many more items. 18- Very easy to set-up with both Ultimate Ears & Alexa Apps. 19- Works great with Amazon Prime Music - simply name a song, or ask to stream music by your favorite artist. 20- Expert, reliable control of HUE Lights & many Home Automation Devices. 21- Most beautiful packaging of any consumer productI have ever seen. 22- Standard 1/4"-20 tripod thread on the bottom makes for flexible placement. CONCERNS: 1- "Alexa Lite" best describes the reduced capability of the personal assistant. Having numerous Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant devices already, the differences jumped out: No Sirius XM, Spotify or Pandora Streaming; no "Amazon" wake-up name option (only Alexa); no voice confirmation when you call out "Alexa", though the light on top indicates Alexa has been queried, if you happen to look in that direction. 2- Equalization (bass / midrange / treble balance) is not user adjustable, though it comes factory set to produce amazing sound. 3- No 3.5mm audio input jack to hardwire sound from an external device to maintain clear audio. Bluetooth is a limited fidelity transmission, and this speaker is so good, that really shows. Streaming sound from Prime Music, for example, sounds stunning; streaming from your phone or tablet by Bluetooth lacks the dynamic range, bass punch & high frequency clarity and sounds just "O.K." 4- Pairing 2) MEGABLAST speakers for Right / Left stereo sound is not possible as of this test. However, this feature may appear via a future automatic Software update. CONCLUSION: If you are an audiophile, BUY MEGABLAST!! You will not believe your ears if you stream music from Amazon Prime or other high quality streaming sources. Avoid Bluetooth for audio purity reasons. Sound quality vs. cost make this device an absolute STEAL for audiophiles!! However, if you prioritize the maximum capability of the Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant over sound quality, then other, less costly devices may better meet your expectations. MEGABLAST far exceeded my expectations & earned my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!

If this were a 'NEW' device I would perhaps write a lengthy review but instead it is the fusion/upgrade of a product that has been around for a few years. My best friend received the original Echo back when it first launched and it was pretty sweet though something I didn't really feel the need to own especially since I didn't think it was THAT great of a speaker. I have several Bluetooth speakers but I am always looking for the next and best. With the Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST I feel like I have found that speaker. The UE MEGABLAST (you just have to put that in all caps), is an outstanding Bluetooth speaker. It is by far, the clearest and probably loudest speaker I have every owned (minus my old component system back in the day). Add to that the Alexa functionality and it makes this a no-brainer. I do a lot of cooking and my wife likes to bake so to now have a speaker that we can command with our voices and can fill the entire lower floor of our house with great music, is a wonderful thing. I probably won't be using all of the features of Alexa but I have already enjoyed checking the local traffic and weather in the mornings before heading out to work. I'm betting I will also never have the opportunity to fully test out the waterproofing since I plan to keep this inside most of the time and I don't have a pool, but since it is in the kitchen I at least don't have to worry about it getting splashed. Set-up was a breeze. I didn't even do it the right way and was still up and running in less than 5 minutes. I plugged in the MEGABOOM and paired it with my iPhone and the phone prompted me to download the Ultimate Ears app, once that was downloaded it did a quick 30 sec firmware update and I was ready to sign into my Amazon account. 20 seconds later I had the speaker jamming out some Def Leppard and I was good. I HIGHLY recommend the Power Up base accessory since it makes it a lot easier to keep this thing charged since you just have to leave or drop it on the dock. The white base is nice and I actually didn't even have to use the 'brick' that the MEGABLAST came with, I just have the USB cord going into a power port built into my plug outlet. No muss and no fuss. When I want to take it outside or to the beach I can just grab it and go and know that it is charged up. UE says that you can get 16 hours on a charge and I have yet to test that out but it has gone strong for over 7 so far. If you have been thinking about getting an Alexa capable device and have been holding off, don't. Ultimate Ears has created a top notch Bluetooth speaker that deserves to be bought just for that but then ices the cake by adding Amazon Alexa functionality.