Ultimate Ears (UE) remain some of the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy. As well as their excellent sound quality, they’re well known for their bright and vibrant colour options, not to mention the giant volume buttons that give them their unmistakable look. Popularised for their chucky build and rugged qualities, the UE boom models are known for having some degree of waterproofing, 360-degree sound and delivering meaty bass, regardless of the size.

But which UE speaker is the right one for you? With several speakers available offering various features at different price points, we have broken them all down from the new Epicboom to the Wonderboom to help you find the best UE speaker to suit your needs.

The UE Megaboom 3 features a nice seamless design. It has a “Magic Button” on its top which allows users to play, pause and skip tracks without using their phone, as well as access playlists with a long press from services including Apple Music and Deezer. The Megaboom offers 360-degree sound and delivers great sound quality, via two 50mm drivers and two 55 x 86mm passive radiators. It has a frequency range between 60Hz and 20kHz, a maximum sound level of 90dB, whilst also offering a 45-metre Bluetooth range.

The Megaboom 3 doesn’t have Alexa built-in and there’s no Wi-Fi either. It does have a battery life of 20 hours though, and charging is convenient thanks to a repositioned Micro-USB port on the back. It’s still Micro-USB, however, so could do with an upgrade.

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The Wonderboom 3 is a great little speaker, in a bunch of ways that are no surprise at all thanks to an incredibly minimal upgrade over the Wonderboom 2. You get slightly better Bluetooth range and a slither more battery life – now up to 14 hours – but, otherwise, there’s no massive change to speak of. That’s no bad thing, considering how much we love this uber-portable range. It sounds excellent with two 40mm active drivers and two 46.1mm x 65.2mm passive radiators delivering a frequency range between 75Hz and 20kHz and a maximum sound level of 86dBA. You’ll get a touch more oomph in the Wonderboom’s dedicated Outdoor Mode, with an equaliser boost to suit the great outdoors too.

The sound is delivered through 360 degrees and it sounds much bigger than you’d expect from its size – which is supremely dinky and the perfect speaker for chucking in a bag (though does have some heft to it at 420g). From a feature perspective, its Bluetooth range is 30 metres and it is IP67 water and dust resistant – our only niggle is the Micro-USB port, when an upgrade to USB-C seems well overdue.

The latest UE speaker to come to market is the Epicboom, and it makes a slightly more easy-to-carry option than the Hyperboom, while still coming close to its power and volume levels. This is a perfect party speaker, with full and loud 360-degree sound.

There’s all the weatherproofing you’ve come to expect from UE, at IP67 water and dust resistance, and it’s fully floatable in case it takes a dip in the pool. The sound quality is terrific but it’s also nice and simple to use, and an included carrying strap makes picking it up for a relocation really easy despite its nearly 2kg weight. It is suprisingly expensive, however.

The UE Boom 3 is the smaller model of the UE Megaboom 3 and the successor to the popular Boom 2. It offers the same design as the Megaboom 3 but in a smaller and more compact model, and there are personalisation options too if you pay a little extra through the MyBoom service. The “Magic Button” is on top like the Megaboom 3, offering play, pause and skip capabilities, as well as access to playlists (music service dependent) and you get the more streamlined design too.

Inside, everything is exactly as it was on the Boom 2 so you’ll still get that excellent sound. There are two 50mm drivers and two 50 x 80mm passive radiators, delivering a frequency range between 90Hz and 20kHz and a maximum sound level of 90dBA. Like the Megaboom 3, it offers a Bluetooth range of 45-metres and it is compatible with the UE App and Equaliser.

The Boom 3 isn’t smart like the Blast, but it does offer a 15-hour battery life, which is charged via the outdated Micro-USB port on the back, or the Power Up contact charging port on the bottom.

The Hyperboom is the largest speaker from UE, and brings absolutely titanic sound to the table. It’s also a bit of a departure from the cylindrical design of the majority of its speakers, but it does keep the iconic oversized volume controls to keep it instantly recognisable.

As a Bluetooth-only speaker, it’s not the smartest out there, but for sheer sonic power it’s hard to beat it, and the bass on offer is particularly earth-shattering at high volumes. Inside, there are two 114mm woofers, two 25mm tweeters and two 89mm x 190mm passive radiators. Its Bluetooth range is 45 metres and it’s said to have a 24-hour battery life. If you’re looking for a monster speaker that’s just about portable, this is a great shout.

How did I choose these Ultimate Ears speakers?

Ulitmate Ears has long been the go-to brand for outdoor speakers. They are popular with campers or those heading to the beach, or for those who just want something for a festival or pool party. At Pocket-lint we have reviewed most of the speakers from Ultimate Ears and have done so through many generations of speakers. So these recommendations come from first-hand experience of using the speakers and in many cases using them for longer than just the review period. The Wonderboom has become a permanent fixture as a travel speaker, so there is plenty of experience in these recommendations.

Aside from Ultimate Ears, however, plenty of other Bluetooth speakers have been reviewed across Pocket-lint, including plenty of other waterproof Bluetooth speakers so that you can trust that we know what we’re talking about when it comes to Bluetooth speakers.