The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is a portable Bluetooth speaker designed for use both indoors and outside. It has a 360-degree design for a consistent listening experience from all angles and an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. Its small size makes it easy to carry around with you, and it comes in several different color variants to suit your style.
Our Verdict
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 Bluetooth speaker is decent for music. It has a boomy sound profile with lots of high-bass, but struggles to produce adequate thumpy low-bass. Vocals and instruments sound present and clear, but an underemphasized treble range loses some of the detail found in higher frequencies. If you want a different sound, its companion app has a graphic EQ with presets to customize the mix. Its 360-degree design also means consistent audio delivery from every angle.
- Wide and spacious soundstage.
- Graphic EQ in its companion app.
- Remarkably long battery life.
- Lacks low-bass.
- Some compression present at max volume.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is passable for videos and movies. Though its sound profile is boomy overall, it has a fairly balanced mid-range, so dialogue sounds clear and present in the mix. However, it lacks low-bass, so you don't feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed movie scenes. Its low latency with Android devices is suitable for watching videos, but the speaker doesn't perform as well with iOS devices. That said, some apps compensate for latency differently.
- Wide and spacious soundstage.
- Lacks low-bass.
- High Bluetooth latency with iOS devices.
- Some compression present at max volume.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is good for podcasts. While it has a boomy sound profile, the mid-range is well-balanced, so dialogue is reproduced accurately. However, its treble range is underemphasized, so sibilants like S and T sounds are dark and dull. It lasts nearly eighteen hours on a single charge, so you can listen to several long episodes without worrying about losing power. Unfortunately, you can only pair one device at a time over Bluetooth, which is inconvenient if you like to take turns DJ'ing with your friends.
- Incredibly portable.
- Remarkably long battery life.
- Doesn't support multi-device pairing.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 doesn't have voice assistant support.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is very good for outdoor use. It has an incredibly sturdy build, and it's lightweight and portable. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it fills the air with sound from all directions, which is great for parties outside. It has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance and floats in water, making it well-suited for poolside use. Its nearly 18-hour battery life also lets you use it all day without having to charge it. Unfortunately, it doesn't get especially loud, and there's some compression present at max volume.
- IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
- Incredibly portable.
- Wide and spacious soundstage.
- Remarkably long battery life.
- Some compression present at max volume.
Changelog
- Updated Oct 09, 2024: The Battery sections have been updated with information about the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4.
- Updated Jul 12, 2024: We've added a comparison between this speaker and the Bose SoundLink Max in Frequency Response Accuracy.
- Updated Oct 11, 2023: Added market comparison with the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM in the Frequency Response Accuracy box.
- Updated Sep 14, 2023: We've updated this review for improved clarity and accuracy.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 comes in seven color variants: 'Lagoon Blue', 'NightBlack', 'Ultraviolet Purple', 'Sunset Red', 'Moon', 'Dusk', and 'Jungle Grey'. We tested the 'Lagoon Blue' variant, and you can see the label here.
If you come across a variant not listed here, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is a portable Bluetooth speaker designed for indoor and outdoor use. It has an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance, and a small hook on the top edge lets you hang it on your bag. As its name suggests, it has a boomy sound profile, although, like many small speakers, it struggles to produce a thumpy, rumbling low bass. It has a longer battery life than the Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST, though it doesn't get as loud. Like many Ultimate Ears speakers, it has a 360-degree design, which results in a consistent soundstage from all angles. Although the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4 is meant to replace the MEGABOOM 3, and it has a bit more low-end extension, the MEGABOOM 3 isn't too different with regards to battery life and features.
See our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers for bass.
Externally, the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 and Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4 look a lot alike. Their specs are nearly the same except for the updated USB-C charge port on the MEGABOOM 4 and the ability to skip back a track. The MEGABOOM 4 has a bit more low-end extension, and it sounds somewhat better and more balanced. That said, it doesn't get quite as loud as the MEGABOOM 3, which uses an older micro-USB charge port, and it sounds less detailed in the highs. However, both have EQ, and they're not too dissimilar sounding overall.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is a better speaker than the JBL Charge 5. The Ultimate Ears can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono and has an outstanding soundstage, thanks to its 360-degree design. However, the JBL has a more neutral sound profile out of the box. You can connect it to two devices at once, which can come in handy when you need to switch between two audio sources quickly.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is a better speaker than the Ultimate Ears BOOM 3. The MEGABOOM has a more balanced sound profile, though the extra boom in the high-bass may be overwhelming for some listeners. Also, it has a better build quality and a longer battery life. While they're both remarkably portable speakers, the BOOM is smaller, which some users may prefer. It also has lower Bluetooth latency with iOS devices, though some apps compensate for latency differently.
The Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST is a better speaker than the Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3. The MEGABLAST has a fairly neutral sound profile, whereas the MEGABOOM's is boomy. It can also get louder, which is nice for playing music outdoors. Also, only the MEGABLAST has voice assistant support and Wi-Fi compatibility. However, the MEGABOOM has a much longer battery life, lasting close to eighteen hours. It also has a hook on its top edge, letting you attach it to your bag.
Test Results
This small, cylindrical speaker looks quite similar to the Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST. It's meant to sit vertically, with two large volume buttons on its front face. It comes in seven color variants: 'Lagoon Blue', 'NightBlack, 'Ultraviolet Purple', 'Sunset Red', 'Moon', 'Dusk', and 'Jungle Grey'. A small built-in hook on the top edge lets you attach it to your bag.
This speaker is remarkably portable. It's a bit bigger than the Ultimate Ears BOOM 3 but still quite small and lightweight, so you can carry it with one hand. Since it's battery-powered, you can use it out and about without having to plug it into an outlet.
This speaker has an outstanding build quality. The speaker is wrapped in a durable, tight fabric, and the top and bottom are covered with rubber. It's rated IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, making it a good choice for use outdoors. It floats in water and will fit right in at your next pool party. While it doesn't have an advertised rating for impact resistance, the manufacturer claims it's drop-proof from a height of three feet.
This speaker has sub-par controls. There are a few buttons on the top and sides that are all textured and give good feedback when pressed, including chimes for powering the speaker on and off.
The volume buttons on the side are very large, and there's a chime to indicate when you've reached max volume. However, you need to be sure you press the center of each button to input commands. Nothing indicates the current volume level or when you've reached the minimum volume.
The 'Magic' button on the top of the speaker lets you control audio playback and is pretty simple to use. Still, there's no command to let you return to the previous track.
- '+' button: Increases the volume.
- '-' button: Decreases the volume.
- 'Magic' button: Press once to play/pause audio. Press twice to skip to the next track, and hold to launch a preset playlist from the Ultimate Ears app.
- Bluetooth button: Press and hold to enter Bluetooth pairing mode
The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 has passable frequency response accuracy. When using the 'Standard' EQ preset in its companion app, it delivers a boomy sound with lots of high-bass. However, it struggles to reproduce a thumpy, rumbling low-bass, especially compared to the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM or the Bose SoundLink Max. The mid-range is fairly well-balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix. However, the higher frequencies of these instruments sound dark due to the underemphasized treble range. Fortunately, the Ultimate Ears app has a full graphic EQ and presets, letting you customize its sound profile.
This speaker has exceptional directivity. Thanks to its 360-degree design, you get consistent sound from all directions, meaning you can walk around without affecting your listening experience.
This speaker has a fair dynamics performance. It can get fairly loud for its size and can fill a larger room with sound. However, there's some compression present when you use it at max volume, which impacts audio clarity.
This speaker has an outstanding battery performance. The manufacturer advertises it to last for 20 hours on a single charge, and it lasted around 18 hours in our tests. That's incredible for a speaker of this size, though your settings, like the volume level, can impact its battery performance. Fortunately, it also saves power by shutting off automatically after fifteen minutes of inactivity. The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4 utilizes an updated USB-C port if you prefer to streamline your cable management.
This speaker doesn't have voice assistant support.
The Ultimate Ears app has a few extra features to help you get the most out of your listening experience. There's a graphic EQ and presets to let you customize the speaker's sound profile, and you can use its 'Party Up' feature to create a stereo pair with another MEGABOOM 3 speaker.
Previously, the app wasn't available with Android devices running software version 11 or later, but it was updated after release to allow both iOS and Android users to take advantage of the Ultimate Ears app.
You can't use this speaker wired. It comes with a micro-USB cable, but it's just for charging the speaker.
This speaker has good Bluetooth connectivity. It has an incredible range, so it can receive audio input from a paired device even if it's far away. However, while it has low Bluetooth latency with Android devices, its Bluetooth latency with iOS devices is high, so it may not be suitable for watching videos on paired iOS devices. Some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.
Note: While the manufacturer advertises that this speaker can connect to two mobile devices simultaneously, we couldn't make this feature work, as our unit kept disconnecting from one device when trying to connect to the second.