App

The app for BLAST-series speakers has been evolving over the past year. Ultimate Ears now includes a parametric equalizer and a few usable presets. Unlike some competitors, it does not have any room-correcting features. Use the MEGABLAST in the same position every time, and this is not a problem if you manage to tweak the EQ to your liking. It is, however, limiting compared to what the more expensive Apple Homepod can do, which is also almost twice the price. Navigating the app is super quick, and if you have more than one, the management tab is always quick to summon. Charge status and the most essential bits of information are really quick to find, which is as it should be!

One absence is the PartyUp feature from other Ultimate Ears speakers. This means you are limited to running just one BLAST or MEGABLAST, which forgoes the chance to double up and get a stereo setup.


Setup in the app is pretty easy. You connect to the speaker via Bluetooth and feed it the login information for your WiFi. Alexa integration is seamless, and voice pickup pretty consistent, although not perfect. The speaker works perfectly with Spotify, although we did encounter a few playback stops, which is probably due to the Internet connection in my apartment rather than the speaker. In terms of software performance, we updated it to the latest firmware and did have a few playback stoppages that resultet in a very unpleasant static tone loop.

Performance

The MEGABLAST is a bit of a different beast than the BLAST. The BLAST maintained a similar form factor to the BOOM, which probably put it at the limit of what is a portable speaker. Size-wise, the MEGABLAST pretty much matches the MEGABOOM, putting it firmly in the category of transportable speakers. It is quite a bit less handy than the BLAST and also weighs substantially more.


The MEGABLAST feels like a speaker you would want if you plan to primarily use it as a stationary speaker with the occasional on-the-go need, whereas it is the other way around with the BLAST. That said, the MEGABLAST is super easy to pack due to the absence of odd shapes; it also fits into most large side pockets on backpacks.

Sound quality with the MEGABLAST is a major step up, though not quite "mega" compared to the already well-sounding BLAST. The MEGABLAST is louder and clearly has more bass that also extends deeper. Here, you really notice the difference between the BLAST and MEGA version; the MEGA is much better equipped for putting out some decent bass where the BLAST has to fake the low-end presence more noticeably. Both do a fine job in a smaller room, but once you move up in size and place it more centrally in the room, the MEGABLAST pulls away.

Midrange-wise, the MEGABLAST does have the upper hand as well, both compared to the BLAST and MEGABOOM. It just sounds a little more balanced and comes across more naturally over a variety of genres. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that it is running better or bigger drivers.

The fact that the MEGABLAST has a dedicated tweeter does make it quite a bit better at handling the high-end and perhaps also the upper midrange. Going back and forth between the BLAST and MEGABLAST highlights that no matter how you place it, the MEGABLAST seems flatter across the range and is generally more detailed in the upper midrange and high end. The latter is not surprising as the MEGABLAST has a dedicated tweeter, and even though splitting frequencies between two drivers can cause some issues, it is pretty evident that it does not on the MEGABLAST.

Alexa is Ultimate Ears' digital assistant of choice, and the system does work quite well. You still have to be quite loud to summon Alexa while music is playing, but it is pretty consistent if you have line of sight. At medium volume, you can trigger it from up to a few meters away, but here, it also depends a bit on what is playing.

Over the course of testing, the BLAST and MEGABLAST both had a few hiccups regarding connectivity. Both also ran into a solid-tone, unrecoverable error that forced me to reboot them manually. We had better stability in the past, so this might just be related to recent firmware updates or perhaps changes in Spotify handling, which was running on both accounts when the oddity happened.