Ultimate Ears - Boom 2

I took the boom 2 last year (gave it to a friend in Jamaica when I left) it just wasn’t nearly as loud as I was hoping. The year before I took the Tribit Stormbox, but it was almost too large to take, and I ended up leaving it with someone because I was afraid JA TSA was gonna say it’s too big for return trip (plus we were bringing home a rescue dog) I loved the sound and quality from it but was bigger and heavier than I’d hoped. Wish there was something in the middle.

It's very good for the weight. The recent firmware updates fixed the compression at high volumes. I'm only keeping it because I managed to get most of it expensed with my job otherwise at that price I'd rather deal with a less convenient form-factor and stick with JBL Boombox 3. For purely its sound quality for the weight/form factor I don't believe there's better in the industry right now. For the sound quality/price, Boom 2 easily. Xtreme 4 is not an invalid competitor but it loses ALL of its bass at 70% or higher volume which the Bose managed to keep. Bass is even a little too much at times I prefer to put it on -3 in the EQ. It's extremely "Beachable" and extremely easy to carry around. The rubber is also not that rubber that wears off and becomes "sticky". I've seen people call it a purse but I don't have low self-esteem so I guess it never bothered me.

Simply put, if you're even remotely on the fence, I would not get it. You have to be 100% certain that you ABSOLUTELY ONLY want this form factor to power ratio. I'll try my best to answer this because it is a bit of a tricky thing. After 4 more days of listening to it, overall for sound quality as I am at the most recent firmware (4.3.30 as of now) and **I don't hear the issues of distortion** that others talk about or that I have even heard in videos at all. However, after listening to it more, I can "sort of hear" very rarely some compression at the 90% to 100% volume to prevent that distortion. It is substantially less than prior firmwares. Both Xtreme 4 and Boom 2 have their own way to manage distortion. Xtreme 4 drops the bass completely after 70% or higher. Boom 2 just lets it distort. The bass is very overbearing on the Soundlink max so-much-so sometimes that I'm permanently -3'ing it in the EQ. That being said, the Bose Soundlink Max is SUBSTANTIALLY louder than both the Boom 2 and the Xtreme 4. 90% volume across the 3 (so when I can sort of hear artifacts) is NOT equivalent AT ALL. The Bose is INCREDIBLY loud. If I had to try to equate them volumes, 85% Volume Bose SoundLink Max == 95% Xtreme 4 >= 100% Boom 2. Which bring me to my next question, how often do you need something so loud from something so small? Dunno. Honestly 80% is way fine for me. 60% max indoors. So to summarize, the *very rare* compressions only can happen at volumes that I do not regularly use the Max at. I'd just like to note that I did have 2 more issues that everyone "Certified me as normal" (probably because shilling). There is SUBSTANTIAL parasitic drain. Think 20%-25% battery in 2 weeks. The battery also gets MURKED at 80% volume. It's normal that it drains more, but the drainage was insane. The drain wasn't anywhere near that intense on the JBL Xtreme 4 at high volumes. So to repeat myself, unless you REALLY WANT THE FORM FACTOR (and this was huge for me), I'd upgrade to the JBL Boombox 3 for bigger sound or stick to the Xtreme 4 and Boom 2 if you want to keep the form factor. Favoring Boom 2 imo. It's important to note that we probably don't have the same use case. I listen to a lot of genres of music that are often instrumentally heavy but not vocally-heavy and not necessarily always bass-heavy. Xtreme 4 sounds better for vocals because of how much focus it puts on the mids if you don't care about anything else. Boom 2 is just a bass machine. Bose Max for "All-Rounder".

Does anyone know how these compare to UE boom 2? It's the only reference point I have and I'm very happy with the UE.

UE Boom is my favorite speaker. I’ve owned version 2 and now 4. It gets much louder than JBL flip, battery lasts forever and it’s very resistant, not to mention the fact that it stands vertically is perfect when taking it to the beach. I’m not picky with bass or other stuff, I just want good and loud sound for outdoors.

Boom 2 would suffice and very portable. I envy it for its power in a small form factor. It was too expensive here(soundcore here are expensive and no discounts) on my end so ended up with the blast for 190 usd https://preview.redd.it/58zwcu7au23e1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7817f567375012181a1cdc8149ae95496ea471de

I bought both the Boom 2 and Blast (link below) and listened side-by-side and preferred the bass and overall response from the Tribit Blast. There’s a Blast 2 that I’ll be reviewing, but at $300 it is a big jump from the $150 blast 1. [Tribit StormBox Blast 1](https://a.co/d/fm4MQqN)

Boom 2. And if you want an alternative, consider the Tronsmart Mega Pro 60W. I have this and the Boom 2 Plus and the "little" Tronsmart defends itself very well.

You will struggle to get better value for money than the boom 2 if volume is your biggest criteria

while checking out the boom 2, I also came across the boom 2 plus. how would the boom 2 plus compare with uboom?

yea i really like the size of the boom 2 and most reviews compliment the sound and bass

Are you talking about the max? If so that's a pretty innacurate and false perspective of this speaker. I had if for half a year now and it sounds the best at lowet volumes, it sounds the best when you're listening on axis in front of it, the lack of mic is not a big deal for most people. A pool speaker would be a boom 2, but hell nah the bose soundlink max has a great tuning for indoor listening so that's hogwash mate. X600 is funny to even mention, a speaker that has the most aggressive marketing by soundcore, the saptial mode is more than terrible for those who understand sound, and distorts with bass heavy recordings at higher volumes. The voice response of the battery and welcome tones are unique, and by the way can be turned off for those who don't like it. I own over 40 speakers, x600 is one of them, and hell no the x600 will be returned soon.

We were talking about the max, not the flex. And bose soundlink max wipes the floor with the x600. Boom 2 is a different conversation. The boom 2 is a cheaper speaker than the x600 but it's funny how well it competes against the max.

Well the boom 2 is still a better speaker. They tried to make something more premium, but ended up having a worse speaker than the cheaper one they made.

Boom 2 or Earfun UBOOM X, depends what size you want

I know. The Tribit Lava is $130. But after the early bird discount is $100. It has better low Bass rumble than Boom 2 which is also at $100. There are many speakers with good bass. But there aren't many with that Low Bass Rumble

I think the Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 would be a good option. It's about $50 right now on amazon and is waterproof and small enough to prop up next to your soaps and such. It's also tiny and versatile as a general travel/activity speaker. If you don't mind setting the speaker on the floor, the larger speakers suggested in the other comments would be fine, but I personally would get tired of crouching over all the time to adjust the speaker down there. The JBL is fine, if not a bit overpriced for what you get, and the Boom 2 is great, but oversized for your use case in my opinion.

Brane x for a speaker that can give all the music. The boom 2 is good for on the go use because it has lots of bass and a good eq. The earfun uboom x is probably going to sound the best, it has an eq and is tuned to be neutral sounding Tribit just came put with their lava speaker, it seems to be better than the xtreme 4 for less than half the price