UE Blast review

At £109, the UE Blast is the cheapest, most versatile smart speaker on the market. No other speaker is this rugged and waterproof, has Bluetooth and Alexa compatibility. It’s compact, too, and although it doesn’t sound as good as its bigger sibling, the UE Megablast, sound quality isn’t bad at all.

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UE has gathered a reputation for designing solid-performing Bluetooth speakers, and that also seems true for its smart speaker devices. The BLAST provides a much-needed sound quality boost from the Echo and comes packed with additional features. The fact that UE was able to get about 12 hours of playback out of the BLAST is a feat, and it enables it to fulfill both smart and portable speaker needs for a normal user.

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Not saying it’s not an excellent wireless speaker – most of my expression for it has been positive. It’s just that it doesn’t bring a lot to table from the Boom 2. The design is the same, for all intents and purposes. While the sound is noticeably refined, it’s not a big change – certainly not worth the upgrade if that’s the main reason.

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The inclusion of Alexa makes the Blast useful in the home when paired with the optional Power Up dock - but, even when you're away from Wi-Fi, the Blast is still an excellent-sounding Bluetooth speaker.

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If you want a rugged, portable speaker, you’ll probably be best off buying a marked down Boom 2 or another comparable option. If you want a speaker that has Alexa functionality, Amazon has you covered with the Echo or any other of the myriad of Alexa-powered options it offers. The odd man out here is the Blast. And that’s such a shame, because it is a good speaker, it’s just not worth the price and compromises.

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For the average camper and backyard barbecuer, they’re as waterproof and drop-proof as you’d want. Most importantly, the two speakers sound terrific.

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The BLAST is a great speaker to grab, and based on price alone, it’ll likely be the big seller.

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Overall, the UE Blast is a good speaker but moreso for the right genres of music.  This did sound similar to the UE Boom in my opinion as it had very similar audio characteristics.  The biggest selling point and why you would consider getting the Blast over the Boom or most speakers on the market at the moment, it’s because of Amazon Lex, and how darn rugged this speaker is.

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The new speaker is a slightly re-designed UE Boom with two new features: Alexa voice commands and the Power Up charging dock. Together, these two things basically turn the Blast into a portable, durable Echo with excellent sound quality. Despite my earlier exuberance, however, the device is not perfect.

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