Which Is Better for a Limited Budget: JBL or Ultimate Ears? Under $50: JBL Has the Cheapest OptionĪt the cheapest end, JBL is the only game in town. If you want to know my personal favorite (and what I now most often use while travelling, animating boozy dance-picnics, or inside listening while working out), skip down to the discussion of the Ultimate Ears Boom 3.
#Best ue boom speaker portable#
This is particularly evident with Ultimate Ears early emphasis on 360-degree sound place their portable speakers in the middle of a room or a party, and they’ll sound equally good no matter where you are standing.īelow we explain our top picks, whether JBL or Ultimate Ears, for each category, along with links to longer articles detailing both our own and other critics’ reactions to the speakers. Overall, Ultimate Ears has often been the innovator over the years, and other brands like JBL have played catch-up. The speaker I usually travel with now in the pocket of a daypack: the Ultimate Ears Boom 3. Ultimate Ears doesn’t have anything to offer at these sizes except if you step all the way up to the Hypberboom, which as we discuss below is super interesting, but we’d generally opt for one of the big JBL options. At the larger/more expensive end, JBL has better large boombox-sized and shaped speakers that go lots louder and can really rock an outside party.
#Best ue boom speaker Bluetooth#
JBL has a broader range of speaker offerings than Ultimate Ears, including both very small and very large Bluetooth speakers. So based on personal experience, reports from others, and the manufacturers’ own warranties, I expect Ultimate Ears to generally be a bit better in terms of durability, though I know many people and readers have had their JBL speakers also hold up fine for many years. Also, Ultimate Ears generally has a two-year warranty as opposed to the one-year warranty from JBL. One now-discontinued Ultimate Ears (then “UE”) portable Bluetooth speaker that I’ve had and used heavily for nearly a decade is still going strong-an improbable feat for the rough road handling and the number of charge cycles I’ve put the battery through. At the larger end, the JBL Xtreme and Boombox lines are currently completely waterproof but not dustproof, with an IPX7 rating. That said, JBL has now added IP67 ratings to its middle-sized Flip and Charge lines as outlined below, and those two JBL speakers also tend to do fine in drop tests. And they’ve survived the horrors of many malicious reviewers’ and users’ drop tests.
Ultimate Ears’ Bluetooth speakers are also generally more durable than JBL’s, with an IP67 rating in most cases, meaning that the speakers are not only fully waterproof (can be dunked for up to 30 minutes) but also dustproof. Note, however, when comparing similarly sized speakers, Ultimate Ears’ options are also sometimes more expensive. We think Ultimate Ears speakers usually sound a bit smoother, punchier, and more dynamic when compared to JBL speakers of the same size, though JBL’s speakers at those sizes come in a close second (or sometimes third-we do think Bose can be worthwhile sometimes too). And both brands’ larger models can get loud enough to rock a dance party and annoy neighbors. Both JBL and Ultimate Ears deliver punchy, balanced, powerful sound that tends to please critics like us. Your average listener might not even notice much of a difference when comparing similarly sized and priced models. There are lots of JBL and Ultimate Ears speakers and both brands are fantastic. Completely updated again to reflect new opinions on newer models on July 12, 2022. Updated for new JBL models and flashier prose on December 9-10 2021. This article was first published on July 27, 2020.
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