Performance

UE BOOM has the same features as the slightly older Logitech UE BoomBox, but with a few new additions. The UE BOOM comes with a new smartphone app that lets you use multiple BOOMs in different ways. The most handy feature is a stereo option that uses two BOOMs to create a stereo-sound image. This feature is extremely neat if you plan on using two at home. Multi-room sound would of course be a cool thing to have, but that is not a real possibility because of its reliance on Bluetooth. Using the BOOM on the go is easy, and the app even allows for you to tweak the sound processor so that they sound their very best in three different scenarios. Setting it up is really easy: you turn on Bluetooth, connect, and the device will automatically be recognized. If you are so lucky as to have your phone feature NFC, you just have to hold it up against the rubber part of the BOOM, beneath the volume controls, in order to setup the pairing. This has only been tested with our Samsung Galaxy S3, but it worked perfectly and is a smart addition, making the use of the BOOM with different devices easy; a really smart convenience feature in my books and that means a lot for this type of device.

App

The app is responsive but a little slow when you are "Doubling up". This is probably due to the Bluetooth protocol; however, there is no way to batch the commands for just doubling up, so you have to go through the well laid-out user interface every single time you want to get both going. It would be cool if UE added a Last Configuration option which would then automatically set them up based on how you configured them previously; evven the addition of a widget would be good here. If you only use one BOOM, the app still has some merits as it lets you pick one of three different sound profiles.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the UE BOOMs surprises in a good way. They provide you with a good enough sound quality to not be obviously bottlenecked by the Bluetooth compression. Their volume is more than powerful enough for a day at the beach or as a kitchen setup. They do not offer audiophile-grade sound quality, but it is definitely not too shabby considering their small size and low weight. Compared to the much bigger Boombox, the BOOM does alright. It is obviously down on bass, but the midrange is almost comparable, both in terms of precision and amount of detail. The treble sounds a bit more artificial on the BOOM, but it is very close between the two, being more than good enough overall for use in a somewhat noisy situation, or for radio listening. Setting the BOOM up for stereo sound does wonders for the sound stage, and here it can outperform the Boombox by a comfortable margin. The stereo setup feature is very neat for a home setup. It is definitely a neat solution compared to, say, buying a small T-amp and two high efficiency speakers; and you get a wireless solution with the BOOM.