Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST Smart Speaker

Frederik S · Mar 27, 2019

Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST is the newest addition to their expanding smart speaker line-up. Like the BLAST, the new MEGA-version packs a well-performing voice-pickup system and is hooked up via WiFi to Alexa. Besides the smart speaker features, the MEGABLAST is still a very competent Bluetooth portable speaker. We take it for a spin and see how it performs!

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erixx · Mar 28, 2019

thanks! but the part about the (oh so needed!) dock is enormously dark, that is, I don't understand what you are writing about, what a Dock is , etc. The incluced charging part is non working?

Also poor is the info about 'Alexa', I don't know it, and I don't get a clear idea what you can do with it. Do you need to pair the speaker with Amazon or what?! Do you voice control your music if you are playing music from a home server? How? Or is it only for ordering Amazon supplies?

I have a Sony soundbar and it is outstanding, but it is just a bluetooth speaker and mike (just as any BT headset)... What more can one need or does this "Blast" offer?

Caring1 · Mar 28, 2019

Yet another iOT device that can spy on people in their own home, or wherever they are connected.

Frederik S · Mar 28, 2019

erixx said:
thanks! but the part about the (oh so needed!) dock is enormously dark, that is, I don't understand what you are writing about, what a Dock is , etc. The incluced charging part is non working?

Also poor is the info about 'Alexa', I don't know it, and I don't get a clear idea what you can do with it. Do you need to pair the speaker with Amazon or what?! Do you voice control your music if you are playing music from a home server? How? Or is it only for ordering Amazon supplies?

I have a Sony soundbar and it is outstanding, but it is just a bluetooth speaker and mike (just as any BT headset)... What more can one need or does this "Blast" offer?

Alexa can control the playback both on and off the device, volume levels, light and other smart devices. It is a voice assistant like Ok Google and Siri. Problem is mostly when you are a 1+ meters away and with either music playback or a little ambient noise. Setting it up is easy you just use the app, connect to wifi and punch in your Alexa account credentials and you are started. Alexa use here is mostly for looking up and controlling Spotify.

The PowerUp dock was tested in the previous Ultimate Ears review and is really neat. If you need to charge the BOOM or BLAST speakers without it you need to flip the device upside down, remove a screw, remove a cover and insert a micro-usb cable. Having the dock allows you to charge it upright without having to remove anything which from a usability point-of-view is so much better. Also when you are charging it upside down you cannot access the on/off switch.

erixx · Mar 28, 2019

Nice, Frederik, thanks for those daily life details and answers to my feedback. I thought that not all readers do read all previous reviews, or have Alexa devices, so..

And yes, my Sony soundbar also covers the charging usb port (because it is waterproof), but it is just a rubber cover and it is not at the base... a bit better design in terms of usability.

bug · Mar 28, 2019

Caring1 said:
Yet another iOT device that can spy on people in their own home, or wherever they are connected.

Hey, it's speaker from Ultimate Ears. What else would you expect?

@Frederik S I'm pretty sure your finger slipped and this speaker doesn't offer a,b,g,b connectivity.

Frederik S · Mar 28, 2019

@bug

Fixed now!
If you want privacy you can disable Alexa, but all of the command processing is done in the cloud so you loose all the smart speaker functionality.

overvolted · Mar 29, 2019

What the hell does a speaker need a microphone for?

erixx · Mar 30, 2019

Handfree functions from mobile phone.
What I would pay for is a speaker with integrated AutoTune so I can sing to my music thru the speaker.... and my shit sounding good :laugh:

Frederik S · Mar 30, 2019

overvolted said:
What the hell does a speaker need a microphone for?

So you can use a voice assistant. It is pretty neat for controlling what is playing when you are doing stuff around the house and do not have your phone with you.

bug · Mar 30, 2019

Frederik S said:
So you can use a voice assistant. It is pretty neat for controlling what is playing when you are doing stuff around the house and do not have your phone with you.

It would be neat if it had a hardware button to turn it off.

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit

Processor	Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard	Asus H670 TUF
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s)	Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10

Processor	Ryzen 7 1700
Motherboard	MSI x470 gaming plus
Cooling	coolermaster AIO
Memory	16gb Gskill tridentz
Video Card(s)	ASUS Strix Geforce RTX 2060
Storage	Crucial NVME M.2 1 TB pcie SSD and 1TB Western Digital HDD.
Display(s)	LG 34" superwide 2560x1080
Case	Phanteks Evolv X
Audio Device(s)	USB Audio Interface with Stereo Studio Monitors.
Power Supply	EVGA 600watt 80 plus
Mouse	gskill "ripjaw" LOL
Keyboard	Piece of shit Lenovo Freebie - best keyboard ever.
Software	Win 10.

Processor	Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard	Asus H670 TUF
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s)	Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10