Ultimate Ears has a new speaker coming to market in its WONDERBOOM line, the WONDERBOOM 2, and it boasts a list of significant improvements like more intense sound and longer battery life compared to the original WONDERBOOM speaker.
Worth noting is that while Ultimate Ears does show that the new speaker does have more intense sound in its side by side comparison with the older model, the difference isn’t by leaps and bounds, though any improvement on audio is better than no improvement at all.
According to Ultimate Ears the more intense sound gives the WONDERBOOM 2 “way more base” so if you like your speakers jam-packed with it then this should be a notable upgrade if you’re coming from the gen-1 version.
Ultimate Ears added a true stereo experience too, as you can now pair two WONDERBOOM 2 speakers together for stereo audio, and this works when pairing one up with the gen-1 speaker as well so you could pair up the new one with the old one if you already have it and plan to pick up the second model. It does not however pair with any of the speakers in UE’s lineup.
As battery life directly correlates to the amount of time you can use the speaker wirelessly, the bump up should be pretty useful as it increase from ten hours to thirteen hours on a single charge. The battery life also lasts longer without Ultimate Ears having to increase the size of the speaker itself in any way, so if you’re already accustomed to the original WONDERBOOM then things won’t feel any different here when you pack it away for trips outside the home.
Another change worth taking note of is the improved water and dust proof design. The WONDERBOOM came with an IPX7 rating while the WONDERBOOM 2 comes with an IP67 rating, so it’ll withstand more accidental water spills than the first speaker and should hold up better in just about any situation where it might get wet or dirty.
The IP67 rating will also help keep the speaker looking nice should it get dirty, because the outside design of the WONDERBOOM 2 comes with two-toned fabric colors that Ultimate Ears says were inspired by athleisure wear, and you’ll want to wash that fabric off so it stays looking like a brand new unit. Thanks to the IP67 rating you can simply rinse it off if you have to.
Surprisingly, the WONDERBOOM 2 comes in at a price tag of $99 even with the improvements that were made to the feature list, and it comes in four different color options which include Deep Space Black, Crushed Ice Grey, Radical Red, and Bermuda Blue. It even keeps the tiny hang loop at the top so you can carry it with just a finger or hang it from any number of places like hooks or attach it to your bag.
Right now the speakers are only available for pre-order since they were just officially announced, but they are expected to ship by June 24 which is only a few weeks away so pre-orders won’t take too long to get out to customers.