First off, I have looked around stores and Amazon for over a week searching for a Bluetooth speaker. When I found this one, I read up on EVERYTHING. I browsed several of the reviews and saw that even the though the majority were 5 stars, the 1-2 star ones were quite abundant--which was a red flag to me. Many of those reviews said things relating to the battery life and the speaker stopped working after a few weeks of use. These reviews really hindered my decision-making process. The look and design of this speaker was everything I wanted, but I did not wan to spend $200 on a speaker that wouldn't last or hold a charge long.
But I gave in! I purchased a UE Boom having read several of the negative reviews and found that I was one of the fortunate ones! This speaker is absolutely amazing. It is very loud, and the design is spectacular. It is the perfect speaker for being outdoors and moving about! Being the careful person I am, I also purchased the Molded Hardshell Case from Amazon (Surf To Summit vendor). Although I did not like the price of it, it is definitely well-built and fits the UE Boom very well and you can listen to music even with the case on without any degradation in quality. I have no regrets buying the UE Boom or the case for it! I definitely recommend both.
When I first turned on the speaker, it had 50% battery life. I started playing music at about 50% volume on my iPod and had the speaker volume around 75%. I was shocked at the battery life. I played it from 9:00am until 8:00pm, and it went from 50% to 20%. After that, I charged the speaker back up to 100%, which took about 3 hours. Then I went ahead and tested it for real! I turned the volume on the speaker to full, and listened to different volume levels on my iPod. After hours of testing I've found that keeping the speaker volume at full, and your mp3 device around 50% volume, this speaker will lose 10% charge after about 70-80 minutes give or take. This is about 13 hours or so for the battery life, which I feel is great considering how loud 50% is on your device with the speaker on full blast.
I took it outside to the tennis court to test the battery life with the volume turned up louder as well as testing the Bluetooth distance and quality. I had the speaker all the way up, and my iPod around 75-80% volume. This is where the battery life drained faster, as after testing it for 5 hours, the battery charge went from 90% to 30%. So if you plan on keeping the volume high and cranking the tunes, plan on losing about 12-15% of battery charge per hour. --As for the Bluetooth, the company claims 50 feet. Well, with my phone (Moto X) and my UE Boom, I stood 100+ feet from the speaker in clear sight (end of double tennis court to the other) and it was getting perfect reception. Now, that's in clear sight with nothing blocking the path. I have played games of tennis with my phone in my pocket playing music and have not had any issues with it cutting out, with the distance during play ranging from 10 feet to 60 feet away. I also tested it in my house and saw that the range was around 30ft before it started cutting out. But that was going through walls and such.
So in conclusion, I am exceptionally happy with my purchase. This thing gets 2 thumbs up, 5/5 stars! I'm upset that 2 weeks after I purchased it, the price dropped $20! But what can you do... I downloaded the UE Boom app for my Android phone, and it works very well. You can name the speaker, tweak the EQ settings or choose from a couple presets, and also check the battery level.
One last thing, the battery is NOT REPLACEABLE. There are instructions that come with it that shows the user how to remove the li-ion battery that is inside to dispose of it, but Logitech (Ultimate Ears) has not produced any replacement batteries for this speaker. I believe they say this battery should last about 500 charges or so they say. I sure hope it can last that long! I only charge this thing like twice a week tops, so that's years of use for me if it will last the 500 charges. Maybe down the road Logitech will get enough complaints about not having replacement batteries for this speaker and start selling them. Until then, I just hope that this battery will last me a very long time!
| Recommended Uses For Product | Ears,Volume |
|---|---|
| Mounting Type | Table Top |
| Controller Type | App Control |
| Color | Black |
| Battery Life | 15 Hours |
| Included Components | wireless speaker |
| Product Dimensions | 2.8"D x 7.1"W x 2.8"H |
| Audio Output Mode | Stereo |
| Speaker Maximum Output Power | 10 Watts |
| Age Range (Description) | Adult |
| Item Weight | 1.2 Pounds |
| Is Waterproof | TRUE |
| Charging Time | 15 Hours |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Control Method | App |
| Wireless Communication Technology | Bluetooth |
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
| Vehicle Service Type | all-terrain-vehicles; utility-vehicles; off-road-motorcycles; street-sport-motorcycles; street-cruiser-motorcycles; street-touring-motorcycles; street-motor-scooters; snowmobiles |
| Package Type | Standard Packaging |
| Number of Batteries | 1 Lithium Metal batteries required. |
| Connectivity Protocol | Bluetooth |
| Includes MP3 player? | Yes |
| Number of Power Levels | 1 |
| Specific Uses For Product | personal |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 15 Hours |
