Review: Ultimate Ears Boom 4

Neither will walking away from the speaker with your phone, a classic party foul in the Bluetooth era. With its up to 150 feet in line-of-sight range and plenty of distance even with obstructions like walls or windows, you’ll have to wander pretty far to cause annoying hiccups.

The UE app adds more options, including a multiband EQ, the ability to pair the speaker with up to 150 other Ultimate Ears speakers (if you’re running some sort of outdoor rave), and an Alarm that lets you wake up to the last song played. There’s also a new megaphone feature that lets you speak through the speaker from your phone, which could come in handy for calling the kids in for dinner a la intercoms from the ’80s.

My favorite feature has to be the ability to wake the speaker from standby mode without the need to get up from your lawn chair as you sip a cool drink. It’s the kind of convenience usually reserved for Wi-Fi speakers of the Sonos variety, without the need for a nearby network. One caveat is that keeping this feature on drains the battery more quickly with the speaker at rest, so you’ll want to save it for times when you’re using the speaker regularly.

As for the battery life, UE claims a whopping 15 hours per charge, though I think that’s ambitious. I’ve never got more than around 12 hours in testing, but your experience will vary depending on where you keep the volume.

Midrange Bliss

You’ve got to adjust sound expectations for any speaker as packable as the Boom 4, but within those constraints, the speaker provides a remarkably pleasant audio experience. Its dual drivers are designed for 360-degree sound, meaning you’ll get a good experience no matter which way the speaker faces, including whether it’s rolled onto the ground or set on its end caps.

The basic sound signature dives surprisingly deep into instrumental textures, especially talented from the midrange up. There’s a warm and pulpy punch to instruments like snares and percussion, solid presence in vocals and acoustic instruments, and some sweet clarity rising into the treble, especially noticeable with foundational synths and effects.