And you’ll never walk away from the speaker with your phone, a classic party favor in the Bluetooth era. With up to 150 feet of line-of-sight and a lot of distance even to obstacles like walls or windows, you’ll have to wander far enough to cause annoying hiccups.
The UE app adds more options, including multiband EQ, the ability to pair the speaker with up to 150 other Ultimate Ears speakers (if you’re running some kind of outdoor rave), and an Alarm that lets you wake up late. a song is played. There’s also a new megaphone feature that lets you talk through the speakerphone from your phone, which might come in handy for calling the kids at dinner on intercoms from the ’80s.
My favorite feature has to be the ability to wake up the speaker from standby mode without the need to get up from your lawn chair as you sip a cool drink. It’s the kind of luxury usually reserved for Wi-Fi speakers of the Sonos variety, without the need for a local network. Another caveat is that keeping this feature drains the battery very quickly when the speaker is at rest, so you’ll want to save it for times when you use the speaker regularly.
As for battery life, UE claims 15 hours per charge, though I think that’s a bit ambitious. I never got more than 12 hours in testing, but your experience will vary depending on where you store the volume.
Midrange Bliss
You have to adjust your audio expectations from any speaker as compact as the Boom 4, but within those constraints, the speaker offers a great sound experience. Its dual drivers are designed for 360-degree sound, meaning you’ll get a great experience no matter which way the speaker is facing, including whether it’s flipped flat or placed on its end caps.
The basic sound signature goes surprisingly deep into the build of the instruments, especially the mastery from the mids to the highs. There is a warm and powerful beat in the instruments like snares and percussion, a strong presence in the vocals and acoustic instruments, and some nice clarity that rises to the treble, especially noticeable in the foundation synths and effects.