Ultimate Ears Hyperboom
Frequency: 45 Hz - 20 kHz
Weight: 5.9kg
Battery life: Up to 24 hours
Wireless options: Bluetooth 4.2-5.0
Dimensions: 364mm (height) x 190mm (depth) x 190mm (width)
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Design
Look, nobody is saying that the Hyperboom is the most portable of all portable speakers in the world. It’s the size of something Grandmaster Flash would carry in the 1980s. However, it’s surprisingly light for its size and the handy rubber handle turns something that could be a little monolith-chic into a civilised boombox. The buttons on top are characteristically massive and clear, and there’s a control button that means you can go phone-free. Bluetooth is the only wireless option and there’s no voice control, making the speaker more simple than you might expect for £359. However, there are AUX and optical inputs, and one particularly handy element is the inclusion of two Bluetooth channels, letting listeners switch seamlessly between sources with a quick fade, perfect for party control.
Charging your devices is possible too, with a USB port for when your phone battery is running out and you’re only half way through your “Party Bangerz 2021” Spotify playlist. The wireless range reaches 45m and we had no issues with connectivity, even when stepping outside to check how loud our music was (it was loud). The IPX4 water resistance is enough to protect against showers or any unfortunate drink spillages, and the speaker itself has a really rugged feel, with a rubber “weather door” covering any potentially exposed ports. The battery lasts up to 24 hours, depending on play volume: it’s the sort of speaker that could start out at a garden picnic and still be going strong when the party moves indoors.
Sound
Ultimate Ears has a range of well-respected Bluetooth speakers, small packages that produce considerable sound. With the Hyperboom, UE has gone for it. It’s a booming beast. From the brilliant bongo sounds when switching the speaker on and off, to the visceral blast that hits you whenever any bass kicks in, this is a big boy for big celebrations.
UE says this speaker has three times the volume and six times the bass power of the previous sound king, the Megaboom 3 (£199.99, Ultimateears.com). You can certainly feel the difference: at near its full volume, the bass shook the floor and made us immediately switch it off for half an hour as a silent apology to the neighbours.
This isn’t to say that the sound was distorted or anything other than perfectly suited, despite it making the brain rattle. UE’s approach to audio attempts to retain as much dynamic range as possible at all volume levels, and the adaptive EQ worked very well, altering levels rapidly – the microphone inside senses when the speaker is next to a wall, for instance, tempering the bass or shifting the treble. It also senses when the speaker is being moved, making walking along the street like one of the Furious Five a distinct possibility. If you trust yourself more than a piece of highly-researched and developed audio technology, the BOOM app features customisable EQ, along with full control of the speaker.
The verdict: Ultimate Ears Hyperboom speaker
This is a really fun speaker. It takes all the good aspects of UE’s other options – good, clear audio, characteristic design – and puts them into a bigger body. While the bass has been the focus of much of the marketing around the speaker, it never gets in the way of other acoustic details, and less bass-filled tracks sound just as good.
It’s a pricy speaker, quite a leap up from UE’s usual price point, which could be prohibitive when you factor in the lack of voice control. The size of it could be a storage issue for some and the design, while characteristically UE, isn’t as bright and cheery as the rest of the range. However, a bright red speaker at that size would look odd and design doesn’t need to be loud when the audio does that for you. It’s called hyper for a reason: it ramps up UE’s already huge audio game. Simply put, the speaker is ridiculous, brash and brilliant, and a sound investment for a summer hopefully filled with a little more dancing.
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