Ultimate Ears Everboom review: the right size

The Ultimate Ears speaker lineup is getting quite crowded, having now reached six products with the recent introduction of the $249.99 Everboom. This speaker is a smaller, more portable take on the Epicboom that I reviewed late last year. And its core appeal is the same as any other UE speaker: you’re getting a rugged, waterproof speaker that’s cut out for both indoor and poolside parties. You can link the Everboom with other UE speakers in party mode to play music in sync across all of them. The controls are easy to use — especially the company’s signature oversized volume buttons.

So what makes the Everboom different? You get a fully customizable EQ, which not all of the company’s speakers offer. Like the Epicboom, there’s an outdoor mode that layers some extra volume and power onto the sound when needed. And UE includes a carabiner, which makes it easier to carry the Everboom on your bag or hang it in creative ways.

Both the Epicboom and Everboom dial up the overall audio fidelity compared to UE’s cylindrical speakers. Like those, they output 360-degree sound, so you don’t have to worry about hearing them from a certain sweet spot — in theory, anyway.

As it turns out, the Everboom is often most clear when you’ve got either the left or right side of the speaker directly facing you. Straight on, vocals can lack crispness and detail since the drivers seem to be side firing — though the stereo separation is impressive as a result. For indoor listening, I typically kept the volume level between 30 and 40 percent, and that was plenty loud. Outside, you can crank it further, though the speaker starts to strain and sound overly compressed once you’re at the 70 percent mark.

Both the Epicboom and Everboom dial up the overall audio fidelity compared to UE’s cylindrical speakers. Like those, they output 360-degree sound, so you don’t have to worry about hearing them from a certain sweet spot — in theory, anyway.

As it turns out, the Everboom is often most clear when you’ve got either the left or right side of the speaker directly facing you. Straight on, vocals can lack crispness and detail since the drivers seem to be side firing — though the stereo separation is impressive as a result. For indoor listening, I typically kept the volume level between 30 and 40 percent, and that was plenty loud. Outside, you can crank it further, though the speaker starts to strain and sound overly compressed once you’re at the 70 percent mark.