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.

I have a UE Boom2, Boom3, Megaboom3, and just got an Epicboom.. i freaking love Ultimate Ears. I’m sure there are better sound qualities out there, but i’m a fan and they fit my budget. I really like the party-up feature to use them all simultaneously. My only complaint is that after a couple years of play, they seem to lose volume just a bit. I couldn’t even swear to that since it’s so minimal and i’ve never actually tested the decibel level. Also the alarm feature is really finicky, wish they’d fix that. But i literally use them every day and have gotten WAY more than my money out of them all, and every one i’ve ever had is still going strong after 5, 4, & 3 years (my epicboom is only 2 weeks old, but i fully expect it to be solid).

Honestly, unimpressed. Currently going to $80 for a 2 pack and couldn’t find any reasonable reviews as they’re pretty new and searching through here there was one other post about a month ago. The good: It looks cool af. It was the reason I wanted to try it, but the display model wasn’t working. The highs sound pretty crisp. You can link more than one to have a stereo mode The bad: The bass is not good. It’s very flat even making adjustments to the EQ. I get it, it’s a micro speaker and all but there are better options for a similar price range. I have the tribit micro 2 which sounds better, but is a little clunky to carry around but ultimately what I’m going to stick with. For reference I also have the tribit flow, Soundcore motion +, ue boom 2. Inb4: “this sub shills for tribit”

I’ve had a UE boom 2 for over a decade.

I love that! Let’s a little traveler with a story, providing music along its journeys.

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".

Hi all, so I played with a friend's mixstream pro and loved it, I just needed someone to show me the ropes, did hours of research and pretty sure I'm getting the FLX4. I'm looking at speakers now, there are very few portable speakers with AUX (UGHGGG) # For context playing little house parties, and outdoor events like camping with friends I currently have a UE boom 2 that has an aux but the sound quality is very meh, it's muddy # I'm looking at * Marshall Middleton (seems to have very little latency) * Bose Soundlink Revolve * Audio TEchnica AT-SP65XBT these 2 are in completely different price brackets, they are around the same size, weight though - and that's pretty much the max weight I'm willing to go. 4-5lbs is much heavier than I usually have for my speakers as I go to festivals where we gotta carry a bunch of gear to and from. Wanted to get a JBL to be on my friend's ecosystem to pair but it seems the XTreme would be the only one with AUX but Marshall Middleton may be better then? has bass/treble EQ too I rather something that I can play with at home that sounds good, at small parties too I know there is the Minirig that has zero latency but then you gotta buy a few to make examples a 2.1, I don't want to deal with all that. This is already a few more items I need to have on FLX4 VS a standalone Mixstream Pro (though for parties I'd need an external speaker anyway) so I really want something simple that's pretty darn good and easy to transport and won't cost more. Any advice? I couldn't see anything comparing speakers with that Audio Technica for example thanks!! UPDATE: bought the Marshall Middleon, I'm in love it's truly amazing. Sound is nice, missing a little bit of mids but honestly , very good. Very clear. Well designed, though I'm iffy about the no cover USB-C and aux in the back.

What I would recommend and what I use are very different (I sell audio gear, but I don't make enough to keep any of the nice units yet 😑). *If I had to pick one- A good sounding workhorse is the Harmon Kardon Onyx Studio series. Anything from the 4 on through to present is solid in my experience. EBay has the brand as a vendor selling them about as cheap as you'll find. *Personal Loadout- I use x2 Bugani M83's (Best Bang for the Buck I've Seen at $25 each) for when carrying two is logistically sensible, or the Altec Lansing Shockwave 200 when it isn't. And an Ultimate Ears Boom 2 when I need something compact. (I don't recomend the AL) I have no idea what I would buy if I had your spending limit because I've not day dreamed quite that ambitiously yet. 🤔

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.

I really liked my boom 2, I only retired it bc the battery was pretty degraded after years of daily use. I’d imagine the newer versions are decent as well. Right now, I have a Bose soundlink flex I bought refurbished directly from Bose for like $120. I’ve been really surprised how much I like it. I bought it after being really disappointed with the JBL flip and charge I tried out

Yeah I keep randomly finding mine and it always works

Ya I have a UE Boom 2 which isn't really micro, but was needing something to hang on a backpack while hiking/kayaking. Luckily don't have anything that small

If you got them for the same price I did, then ya I think for $25 they are good. Not good enough to replace my UE Boom 2, but that's not what it was for.

The Terrain XL sucks. I cannot speak for the others but I have that one and it is very tinny and breaks up at 30%-40% volume anyway. I had better bass from my UE Boom II. How much space are you looking to fill? That is a bigger question as well.

Same. Found it in an alley like 7-8 years ago and it's worked perfectly ever since. Had a couple people borrow and try "forgetting" to return it but I keep tracking it back down. And now, not only does it still sound great but, it's had a life of its own.

if price doesn't mater i would go with ue epicboom or xtreme 4. But those are a bit overpriced. Sony xg300 is a little cheaper. But boom/boom 2 does a very good job in terms of value for money. dockin d fine evo is also an alternative (dont how availability is nowadays outside europe, though)

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. I know you said you are not fond of the looks, but it definitely has more bass then the original Boom, is clearer, and around the same size. If size and weight ain’t a factor though, I would recommend the Boom plus 2 or Boom plus (Tribit Stormbox Blast as the best option)

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.

SC Boom 2 plus is probably overkill for a classroom. Boom 2 will suffice.

Boom 2 is a gem and it’s on sale right now in Canada for $134

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

I tested the Motion 300, Motion X500 and X600 recently in order to review them and honestly, I liked the X500 the most. It seemed to hold the most value. The X600 was a good speaker too, and I honestly liked the spatial audio feature. People call it a gimmick, but I think it depends how you approach it. The spatial audio setting added a perceived increase in dynamics and Soundstage, but it's not life changing. I also tested the Boom 2, which performed better than I had expected, but it's quiet a different speaker than the Motion X series which felt better suited to home use. The shell isn't what I'd consider particularly outdoor friendly compared to plastic shells. I won't spam the review links (can always share via DM to those interested). But I honestly like the X500 quote a lot for its price.

I recently went down a rabbit hole on Bluetooth speakers. I do not want to spend more than $200. I currently have a Soundcore motion x600 ($150) and a Boom 2 ($100) that I’m testing out. The issue I’m running into is that I like both of them for completely different reasons. I like the motion x600 for its indoor capability with a focus on higher quality audio at low-mid volume settings. I like the boom 2 for the bass and loudness that works better in an outdoor scenario or for parties. Is there anything on the market that has the best of both worlds? I’d be using the speaker in my small apartment in most cases, but would appreciate the versatility of something that can still get louder with some bass for other situations. I’ve seen the Tribit Stormbox Blast mentioned a lot on here, but that seems like it’d be a little overkill for my situation. Anything you can recommend is appreciated. I’d also consider keeping one of the two that I’m testing, just sort of torn on what to do. The x600 definitely shines more indoors at lower volumes, versus the Boom 2 that seems to sound better at medium to high volumes.

After listening to both the x600 and Boom 2 all night, I decided to return the x600. Here’s why. The x600 had great mids and highs. However, it lacked bass and the battery power was sort of subpar for the price point. I think it looks awesome, but that wasn’t enough for me to keep it. I also noticed some tinny sounding high notes in some songs with the x600. The Boom 2 really grew on me the more I listened to it, I actually decided to order a second one since you can pair them. I think for the sale price of $100, the Boom 2 is a great value. I like its portable size and the “knock around” design too. Being able to buy two of them for pairing at $200 is pretty solid IMO. Thanks everyone for your input.

Boom 2 is almost as good as it gets for the size and price, it definitely has more bass than the Boom with proper eq

The Boom 2 is a good speaker, but for having a cheaper model to use I'd consider the $47 Mifa Wildrod and $100 Mifa Wildbox which can party mode. Also the Boom 2 has no aux in while the Mifa Wildbox does Check out the ranking of nearly every single Bluetooth speaker and the best EQ tuning for each of them [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/WirelessSpeakers/comments/16zs2ol/ranking_all_battery_powered_wireless_speakers/)

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 is a midsized great speaker for bass and overall listening. If you want you can get the tribit stormbox blast for exactly 200, or depending on cupons and sales for even less than 200

The Motion Boom and the Mifa Wildbox are around the same size, and the Mifa Wildbox does sound better (with the latest firmware). However, the plastic the Wildbox is made of seems to be brittle and I'd probably not recommend it much for backpack use. The Boom 2 gives the impression of more low frequency bass, but its PRs are tuned to 60 Hz, so you're not going to get any real bass below that (for comparison purposes, I think that the Wildbox's PRs are turned at or just above 50 Hz). The higher tuning of the Boom 2's PRs and its use of one larger driver for bass do suggest that overall it will get louder than the Wildbox. So my suggestion would be to go with a Motion Boom or the Boom 2.

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

I’ll add another vote for the boom 2. Should be plenty loud for pickleball

Boom 2 checks all the boxes for me

I have a boom 2 and it is very loud for the size

While I agree with most of what you say if you take a look at the JBL Flip series, most of those are actually also using a 3.6V configured battery. Only they use more than one cell (parallel cells) to get more capacity. OTOH something like the similar Sony XB3x series they are using 7.2V by putting the cells in series. Same energy of course either way (presuming the same cap cells), but both of those perform pretty well for what they are even though one is running a 3.6V battery and the other 7.2V. I believe the UE Boom series is like the Sony, using 7.2V. The thing about these is most of them still only give about *half* the stated runtime in reality. So if they're saying something like 12hrs, they've actually only give 6hrs in typical/real use. (Can see all the Rtings reviews on these things for details.) The advantage of the Ryobi is, even if we say it lasts only 3hrs of the rated 6hrs due to the single-cell (10.8Wh max with the 3Ah battery) is...the battery is *interchangeable.* When the Sony/JBL/etc. run dead, you need to recharge it or at the very least connect it to power, to keep going. When the Ryobi runs down...you just swap in a new battery. Theoretically, with enough batteries, you can keep it going for the whole day, no problem. Also you probably need only 2 batteries if you have the ability to charge one somewhere; because, while the other one is playing you can plug in the spent one to charge and then swap, rinse & repeat. You get the idea. But, I'm most concerned about the SQ which is your original concern. I'll wait to hear it to pass judgement but I have the fear it's not going to sound great either given the track record of "tool brand speakers". TBH I don't even really think the JBL/Sony/UE stuff in this range/class is all that great *either*; but, they sound a heck of a lot better than most tool brand speakers, even ones that are a good bit larger. They may not get as loud given the size but the quality of sound is much better. On the plus side it \[Ryobi\] does at least have a passive radiator so it could sound okay. If it sounds as good as an older-gen Flip, etc., I'd probably be happy enough with that.

Regular boom is extremely durable and great for biking as it fits in bottle cage. Have not seen another speaker as durable with 360 sound….but many have better bass. Sound is fine for outdoor use….but for sure they are expensive for what they are. My wking x10 blows it away for sound quality….but much bigger/ heavier + glue and materials are falling apart after 2 years.

The booms are really nice

True. That sucks. Mine are old. Didn’t know they still use that.

The ultimate ears boom speakers work fine with aux and no delay. Available in various sizes. I'm sure there's better but it's an option

I have a boom and a blast and they’ve both been awesome too. Definitely been wet, dropped, etc.