UE Blast and Megablast smart speakers launch with Alexa support

Ultimate Ears products are widely known as some of the best portable speakers, and they hit all the right spots with the Boom 2 and Megaboom. Today they just improved the experience even further with Ultimate Ears Blast and Megablast, packing Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa.

Are the latest in a series of new Alexa-powered smart speaker, including the Moto Smart Speaker and the Sonos One. They are bigger and more powerful devices compared to their Bluetooth-only counterparts, the Boom 2 and Megaboom. The bigger of the two, the Megablast, can reach a sound pressure of over 93 dB – that’s 40% louder compared to Megaboom, and the improvements don’t stop here. The Megablast comes with two 25 mm tweeters, two 55 mm active drivers and two large 85 x 50 mm passive radiators, where the Blast has two 35 mm active drivers and two 81 x 39mm passive radiators.

Both smart speakers can now be attached to a dedicated wireless charging dock called Power Up. The dock will rid you of tangled cables and make for a sleeker appearance in your favorite spot at home. You don’t need it, though – the Blast is guaranteed to work for up to 12 hours, and Megablast improves it even further with 16 hours of non-stop music. Both of them can be charged with any regular USB cable, sans the fancy dock.

These smart speakers are tough and robust, as well as IP67-certified, so you can take them with you at a pool party and don’t worry about them. They have been tested for 30 minutes under three feet of water, so they can survive drink spills, splashes of water, rain, and even a quick dip into the pool. A crucial advantage over Amazon Echo and Echo Dot – as well as other smart speakers – is that you can take them anywhere without worries thanks to their sturdy build.

The Wi-Fi enabled Blast and Megablast let you use Alexa for a variety of tasks: play your favorite playlist, order food, listen to a news brief, call up a friend, or use any of the other 25,000 Alexa Skills. You don’t need to connect a phone (though you can, via Bluetooth), just ask Alexa to stream music from cloud services like Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

In the US, the Blast and Megablast will be available in Graphite (Black), Blizzard (White), Blue Steel, and Merlot (Red). Pre-orders start today with the Blast available for $229 and Megablast for $299. They will also come in bundles available with the wireless charging dock Power Up from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon for both the Blast ($260) and Megablast ($330). Customers buying one before January 13th 2018 will be entitled to a free three-month Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.