Performance

Creative's design department is definitely more mature than UE's, which becomes clear once you put the two side by side. While the MEGABOOM's design is a more fresh take, the Roar 2's is by no means a dud; it is just slightly less flashy. In terms of sound quality, the two are quite close to each other when on top of a flat desk. The UE MEGABOOM does come out on top when it comes to projection and midrange fidelity, but the Roar 2 gets points for bass power. The Roar 2 is also severely lacking in battery life - don't expect more than around 8-10 hours at normal volume levels.

The new Roar's bass feature puts that part of the music above anything else, which severely compromises the sound quality in most environments. However, its bass qualities can come in handy when trying to get the party started outdoors because bass there is usually drowned out by ambient noise.


The two solutions are pretty close to each other in terms of volume throughput, but the MEGABOOM's form factor makes it look a lot larger. In terms of ruggedness, the MEGABOOM wins hands down as there are many things that can break on the Roar 2. You definitely have to make up your mind about whether you value durability or functionality more before deciding between these two, and whether you need the additional features Creative puts into their portable speaker devices. The MicroSDHC slot and its associated playback features are something I can see a use for in a device you lug around with you as it does not drain your phone. The microphone and voice-recording features are perhaps of interest if you plan on using it as a conference speaker.

Such core-performance aspects as the sound quality under ideal indoor conditions are better on the MEGABOOM on every parameter, and the MEGABOOM's battery lasts much longer as the Roar 2's with around 8-10 hours play time can perhaps even be described as somewhat marginal.