ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM – rugged, 360°, BT speaker (AV review)

The ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM is a rugged IP67, 360° sound Bluetooth speaker with BOOM app and EQ. Take it anywhere for loud music on the go.

It can also PARTYUP (pair) with other ULTIMATE EARS (UE) BOOM, MEGABOOM, EPICBOOM or HYPERBOOM speakers.

The key difference between this and other IP67 speakers is the 360° sound (sound seems to emanate from front and back). It uses two side-firing drivers for portrait (vertical) use only.

Australian Review: ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM SR0195

Website	Home Page Product page Guide FAQ
Price	$349.95 (seen for <$300, so shop around)
Colours	Charcoal Black, Azure Blue, Raspberry Red, Enchanting Lilac
From	Ultimate Ears online or major CE retailers
Warranty	2-year ACL
Made in	China
Company	Ultimate Ears (Est 1995) is a US-based company acquired by Logitech in 2008. It all started with studio-grade in-ear monitors. (Ultimate Ears) and aims to have the best products in the market.
More	CyberShack Ultimate Ears news and reviews CyberShack AV category news and review

New ratings in 2024

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations), and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.

First Impression – Small and stocky – Pass+

It is a typical ULTIMATE EARS design – 205mm (H) x 85mm (W) x 110mm (L) x 960g, replete with the contrasting + and – volume control symbols on the front side. It is covered in hardwearing woven plastic mesh.

At the top is an On/Off, NFC pairing, Bluetooth pairing, Outdoor Burst and Play/Pause. On the back is a carabiner loop and a USB-C 5V/3A/15W charge port with a rubber cover (needed for IP67). No charger is supplied; you can use any PD or PPS with a 15+W rating. If you use a lower wattage, it takes longer to charge.

Orientation – important – Pass

This is a 360° stereo speaker – a somewhat contradiction in terms. From what we can see, it is meant for portrait orientation, and the speakers fire out each side with the front and rear sound coming from two passive radiators.

Instead of stereo (definite left and right speaker separation), it is more like listening in the round, and side-on sounds distinctly mono.

It has two 56.6×56.2 mm side-firing, full-range transducers (speakers) and two 49.4×87 mm passive radiators.

Best placement: In the centre of things at waist height or more.

Charge time and battery life – Pass+

UE claims 20 hours of life at 42%, loud enough for personal and small room listening. But if you go outside, you will need to go over 70%, where clipping and compression start. It distorts at 80-100% volume. We tested at maximum volume (85dB at 1m), achieving just under 12 hours of battery life.

The recharge time was about 3 hours using a 15W charger for the 22.5Wh battery.

It has three LEDs above the volume + that indicate the remaining battery life or use the app.

The App – Pass+

• Name your speaker
• Bluetooth Standby (default on) but can drain the battery.
• Remote On/Off via app
• One Touch to access your playlists from Amazon Music, Apple Music (iOS only) and Spotify (Android only).
• EQ: Use recommended presets or customise the EQ.
• PartyUp: Pair up to 150 BOOM (2,3,4), MEGABOOM (3.4), EPICBOOM, and/or HYPERBOOM speakers.
• MEGAPHONE: Broadcast your voice remotely, even while music is playing.
• Alarms: Choose your favourite music to wake up to.
• Speaker Updates

Multipoint – Yes

It can multipoint pair with a smartphone and a PC.

BT is SBC only, 16-bit/44100Hz. It defaults to stereo, but you may prefer mono if you use it outdoors.

IP67/floats – tested – Pass+

It is waterproof at depths of 1m for 30m and floats. The woven covering dries very quickly.

How does it sound?

It is good but not an audiophile standard. The maximum volume is about 85dB (at 1m). While it has building bass from about 60Hz, it’s not quite enough for the ‘thump’.

Sound presets can recess the native signature but never add to it.

• Bass Boost: Recesses almost all mid and part of the treble
• Cramped Space: Recesses all mid
• Deep Relaxation: Recesses all mid and treble
• Vocal: Recesses bass, leaving 1-4kHz for clear voice of podcasts.

Its native sound signature is Neutral

The audiophile standard is a flat (good) response that neither adds nor subtracts from the original music! The only issue here is garbage-in and garbage-out – the better the music quality, the better it sounds.

Frequency	ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM SR0195
Deep Bass 20-40Hz	Nil but annoying white noise from 30-60Hz (low bass) that you probably will not hear listening to music
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	It starts at 60Hz, builds to 80Hz, then flat
High Bass 100-200Hz	Flat
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Flat
Mid 400-1kHz	Flat
High Mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat but some clipping at 100% volume – far better controlled at 75%
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Flat
High Treble 6-10kHz	Dip to avoid harshness, then reasonably flat to 20kHz.
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Reasonably Flat
Volume	84dB (limit imposed by Windows and Android)
Sound Signature type	Neutral: The audiophile standard is a flat (good) response that neither adds nor subtracts from the original music! The only issue here is garbage-in and garbage-out – the better the music quality, the better it sounds.
Soundstage stereo	The soundstage depends on where you are listening. It is probably not relevant for a 360° portrait speaker. If you are on the left or right side of the speaker, you hear only the left or right channels (hence our suggestion to select mono in BT) and miss 50% of the sound definition. In front or rear, you hear a fairly narrow stereo sound stage.
Left/Right separation	As the two speakers are side-firing, you only get Left or Right channels if you listen side-on.
Soundstage Dolby Atmos/DTS:X	Dolby Atmos or Spatial content does not add 3D height or widen the sound stage.
Read	How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide).

Missing – not expected

• USB audio in – USB-C is only for charge
• 3.5mm 4-pole headphone/mic jack
• Aux in
• Mic/Voice Assistant
• Wi-Fi (it is not a smart speaker)

CyberShack’s view – ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM is a great travel companion

As the UE ‘Boom’ naming convention implies, I expected more bass. Instead, I got a very listenable portable 360° speaker that competes more with its other portrait (vertical) 360° speakers.

I would buy it over the MEGABOOM 4 or BOOM 4; its sound quality is better than WONDERBOOM’s.

Competition

• $289 Sonos Roam is not quite in the same BOOM class but provides excellent stereo. Not IP rated. Roam V1 review Sonos Roam – Is this the best BT/Wi-Fi portable speaker ever?
• $799 Sonos Move 2 have better sound than the EVERBOOM but at twice the price. Sonos Move 2 – portable oomph anywhere
• $399 JBL Xtreme 3 are a stereo landscape speaker with better overall sound. JBL Xtreme 3 stereo BT speaker is ready to rumble
• $429 JBL Extreme 4 is the 3 on steroids. JBL Xtreme 4 BT, IP67 with extreme JBL Pro sound
• $499 Bose Soundlink Revolve+ II (not IP rated)

ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM Ratings

2024 ratings use a pass mark of 70/100. Older reviews used 80/100. For parity, deduct 10 points from older reviews.

It really should be rated as a 360° mono speaker as that is what it works best as.

• Features: 80 It has everything expected of an IP67 BT portable speaker, but there is confusion between 360° and stereo.
• Value: 80 – As expected for this class. Outdoor Boost does not do a lot.
• Performance: 80 – Good neutral sound signature and loads of volume. Battery life is excellent.
• Ease of Use: 85 – Charge and go. You don’t need the App.
• Design: 80 – All these BT waterproof speakers look similar.