UE Megaboom 4: unjustly overshadowed by the Everboom?

It’s been almost five years since the Logitech subsidiary Ultimate Ears (UE for short) launched the Megaboom 3 on the market. A speaker that’s still labelled «portable», but delivers more power than a standard loudspeaker. After 2019, UE’s now delivering the fourth iteration of the Megaboom.

The Megaboom sits somewhere in the middle. Although it’s the largest speaker in UE’s standard lineup (alongside the Boom, the Wonderboom and the now discontinued UE Roll), UE has repeatedly presented larger individual speakers in the past. For example the Hyperboom, the Epicboom and this year the Everboom. That’s why the Megaboom sometimes falls into a grey zone – where it doesn’t belong.

Same but different

The Megaboom might look familiar to you in its well-known cylindrical shape. Visually, it hardly differs from its predecessor. The dimensions are identical: 87 millimetres in length and width, 225 millimetres in height. In terms of weight, it weighs just 10 grammes more than the Megaboom 3. The workmanship is impeccable, the base and the control panel on the surface are covered with silicone, the body is wrapped in a mesh fabric and waterproof to IP67 (in fresh water, up to 30 minutes). So, without further ado I dipped the Megaboom 4 into Lake Balaton in Hungary. As you can see, it worked and, conveniently, the speaker floats.

There’s one visible difference; the large buttons for volume control are no longer tone-in-tone with the speakers, but have a contrasting colour. At the top are the buttons for power, pairing and of course the Magic button. This is used to control the music – skip/search, play/pause and you can also start your streaming app with it. The buttons all have a very pleasant pressure point; they aren’t too sensitive, but you don’t have to strain your fingers either.

To do this, however, you first have to download the UE app for Android or iOS and connect it to the streaming service of your choice. Here, I was pleasantly surprised to see Spotify is available for selection in the list. When I tested the Everboom just under a month ago, this was impossible. There’s a chance that UE has just released an update.

Five years development time for a USB-C port?

A real change to the inner workings hasn’t seemed to materialise. The two 2-inch full-range drivers at 4 ohms have remained, the passive radiators are also similar at 2.5 × 3.4 inches. The maximum volume is practically identical at 91 vs. 90 dB. UE still claims a battery life of up to 20 hours. In my test, it actually exceeded this by almost 90 minutes before the speaker announced «critical battery, please charge» for the first time. By pressing the large plus and minus icons on the front at the same time, you can always check the charge status. I have to say, the manufacturer’s specifications are met or even exceeded. However, there are competitor models that last longer.

The only difference really worth mentioning is at the back, hidden behind a silicone flap – there you’ll find a USB-C port. UE has upgraded a level here. In Megaboom 3 the micro USB standard is still present. Of course, UE also supplies a USB-C to USB-C cable. A quick start guide yet no power supply unit – spartan, but justifiable.

Sound...here we go!

Considering a new line hasn’t been released for a few years, the differences between the speakers aren’t significant, as you may have noticed. But what about the sound? UE advertises the Megaboom 4 as «super-powerful, immersive 360-degree sound with thunderous bass». So here they are, the differences in sound. UE emphasises here that the passive radiators are softer in the fourth version of the speaker. This not only ensures a stronger bass, but also prevent the bass from exaggeration or being distorted. But are the differences big enough for an update?

Warm balance, wide sound stage

First I listen to New Kid in Town by the Eagles. The reason being, even if I’m already excited about the bass performance, I personally want a speaker to also have other qualities. Basically, I want to be able to listen to any kind of music. Not just bass-heavy electro thunder. And unlike headphones, for example, I don’t just want a precise reproduction of a song. I want passion and warmth. After all, this is a party speaker for picnics, not a studio monitor that I use to produce music.

Despite its powerful bass, the Megaboom manages to give all instruments their place without favouring any of them. Unless the song was recorded that way on purpose. The rather reserved voices of Glen Frey and his companions also come across well and are heard. Even when you really hit the plus button on the speaker. It’s common for Bluetooth speakers to lose their precision and fidelity when they get too loud. This is where the difference to its predecessor is most noticeable. Megaboom 3 struggles to achieve this richness of detail, especially with soft voices and generally with sounds at higher frequencies. The Megaboom 4, on the other hand, does this very well.

Bass that doesn’t exaggerate

Now comes the promise from UE. Deep, thundering bass. Without exaggerating, without distorting. I test it out playing Radical by Dyro & Dannic. Good news is, the bass is really strong. It makes an impact, but remains very precise, doesn’t overdrive and underpins the track exactly where it should.

However, in my opinion, the fact it doesn’t exaggerate and isn’t distorted is simply due to the fact that it’s reduced at higher volumes. It audibly loses power if you turn the speaker up really high. Although this prevents it from escalating out of control, it also robs the music of an important element. Not that it completely «drops out» , but you can tell. The predecessor didn’t have this issue, however, the bass rattled at high volumes and simply drowned out other elements.

The app - pragmatic

Of course, UE also provides a free app for the Megaboom 4. The same as with most other UE speakers. This allows the speaker to be switched on remotely – i.e. without touching a physical button on the device. It’s unclear how this affects the battery but it’s probably of little benefit because the unit always has to be nearby and in range. There’s an equaliser with various pre-sets such as bass, podcast, vocals and so on. And you can also play with the controls yourself.

As with the Everboom, there’s also a megaphone setting. If you tap on the small megaphone icon, you can speak into your smartphone and your voice will be heard through the speaker. So cool, and useful when you have to round up people for a barbecue in the woods or something. The delay is only a fraction of a second.

Last but not least, you can easily connect different UE speakers (regardless of which one) via the app using Drag & Drop. The speakers are automatically found and displayed as small icons. As soon as they’re pulled next to each other in the middle, you hear the pairing noise and the sound comes from several directions – up to 150 even, UE reveals.