Why You Can Trust CNET UE Wonderboom speaker is ready for the bathroom and the beach
Ultimate Ears' new pint-sized waterproof Bluetooth speaker is both shower-friendly and a good outdoor pal.
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Meet the Wonderboom, the newest family member in Ultimate Ears' line of popular portable Bluetooth speakers. Available in six color options, the Wonderboom looks like the UE Boom 2's shorter, fatter sibling and like that model, is fully waterproof. It carries a list price of $100, £80 or AU$130.
The idea behind this product was to create a very compact speaker that produced big sound with a good amount of bass. That's what a lot of small speakers promise, but the Wonderboom actually does sound very good for its size. It's also got some nice heft to it, weighing a little under a pound (425 grams), and overall feels solid and well built.
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The Wonderboom comes in six color options.
Alas, while it floats, it's not designed to play music while hanging out in your pool (the UE Roll 2 comes with an accessory blow-up floatie), but at least it won't sink if it falls into the water and it has an integrated loop that allows you to attach the speaker to anything the loop can fit around -- perhaps a hook in your shower. Sadly, no carabiner is included but you could pick one up for a few bucks.
As for buttons, the UE button on the top of the speaker lets you play, pause, skip tracks and double up with a second Wonderboom speaker to augment the sound. You can't, however, turn two speakers into left/right stereo pairs. There's also no integrated microphone -- so no speakerphone capabilities -- or auxiliary input option for a wired connection.
Battery life is rated at 10 hours, which is decent for a speaker this size. The Wonderboom is shock resistant and rated to be dropped from up to 5 feet (1.5 meters), and has an extended wireless range of up to 100 feet (30 meters) under the right conditions.
While the speaker does have its sound limitations -- for example, it does distort with certain bass frequencies at higher volumes -- it is one of the better sounding micro Bluetooth speakers you'll come across and well worth a look if this is the type of speaker you're looking for.
Hopefully, it will come down in price to $75 or less because the UE Boom 2 is being discounted and is still the better performing speaker. JBL's Flip 4 also offers stiff competition at this price. Ultimate Ears says that the Roll 2, meanwhile, will stay in the lineup, but it's already being discounted for almost half off.
The speaker is fully submersible and can be washed out if it it gets dirty,
Key specs
- IPX7-rated waterproof (can be immersed in water up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes) and able to float on its own. If it gets dirty, you can rinse it off
- 10 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels
- Connect two Wonderboom speakers together to augment the sound
- UE button on the top of the speaker lets you play, pause and skip your music.
- Drop-tested to 5 feet
- Up to 100-foot wireless range
- Height: 102mm
- Diameter: 93.5mm
- Weight: 15 ounces (425 grams)
- Two-year limited hardware warranty
- Available in North America, Australia and select countries in Europe beginning April 2017, and in Asia beginning May 2017 for a suggested retail price of $100, £80 and AU$130.