As a music nerd on a strict budget, Im intrigued by the EarFun UBOOM X speaker.
Youre telling me its loud, powerful, and bassy, and also just $189?
Could it be one of thebest Bluetooth speakersaround?
Yes, and no.
Theres nothing massively wrong with the UBOOM X. Itisloud.
Does that mean its a bad speaker?
No, it just has a very particular use case.
I wouldnt use this speaker as my main listening gear Ive got wired desktop speakers for that.
For just $189, I would probably grab this speaker in a pinch for a party.
Is it the right speaker for your needs, though?
Find out in this EarFun UBOOM X review.
The UBOOM X is firmly a mid-range party speaker: not particularly hefty, but not exactly compact either.
The weight makes it much more user-friendly than the 19-inch-long and 14.7-pound-heavyJBL Boombox 3($499).
Unlike the Tribit StormBox Blast 2 with its all encompassing grille.
I tried to connect with my iPhone 11 and MacBook Air M2, but soon discovered it was impossible.
It runs offBluetooth5.3, which means its range is around 50 feet.
EarFun UBOOM X review: Features
The most attractive feature of the UBOOM X is Party Mode.
Theres also the EarFun app, which lets you customize things like EQ and set up firmware updates.
Speaking of portability, the UBOOM X has a great durability rating: IP67.
As this is predominantly intended to be a party speaker, I started my testing with some club-classics-adjacent tracks.
Concerned it could be a mixing issue, I switched to a different artist for the next track.
In this song, there wasnt the same muddy issue as with Heat.
Flight fm by Joy Orbison is my go-to bass-testing tune, seeing as its almost entirely bass.
Save for a slicing hi-hat and rattling drum-machine hiss, flight fm is a bass-fest gone wild.
I was a little disappointed with the tracks performance, though.
The bass still rumbled along, but it didnt vibrate the floor.
I couldnt feel it in my bones like I could with the JBL Xtreme 4 a much smaller speaker.
I had to update my firmware to do this, which took an hour, so be warned.
I enabled the Boom xxX EQ preset, which did, in fact, shake the floor.
So if you want all the bass the speaker can muster, youll need to customize your EQ.
Next, I shifted to indie and rock to test the speakers versatility.
In essence, the UBOOM X is a fantastic speaker for bass.
Just dont expect high fidelity.
Realistically, you should get up to 20 hours.
Theres a dedicated output USB-C port for on-the-go phone charging, which is a nice feature.
For $189, youre getting great value for money though.
