Logitech UE Boombox Bluetooth Speaker Review

Logitech UE Boombox is the big brother to the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox we previously reviewed.  We were completely impressed with the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox and have been looking forward to putting its big brother through the same testing.

Sculpted aluminum and a minimalist design make the Logitech UE Boombox look like a piece of art.  The lack of bells and whistles and the nicely integrated controls are a testament to how a portable speaker should be made.

The Logitech UE Boombox retails for $250 so we have high expectations for a portable speaker system like this.  It’s nicely designed, costs a lot of money, so does it live up to its price tag.  Let’s find out.

Sliding off the top cover of the two part packaging reveals the speaker system and AC charging adapter plus a tin fold out instruction manual.  No remote controls or frills, just the Logitech UE Boombox and charger.

The Design

The Logitech UE Boombox is 15 inches long and weighs in at 1,980g. The brushed aluminum handle sits above the speaker body wrapped around the ends and is made of a what feels like a solid piece of aluminum.  Large radius ends wrap it up from the body of the speaker and ads to the retro styling.

From base to the top of the handle the Logitech UE Boombox stands 6.5 inches tall and 3.1 inches thick.  For its size, it feels well built.  It’s heavy, but not too heavy to carry around and it’s not going to blow over in the wind if you’re using it outdoors.

The design is simple, functional and nothing like other devices you’d see from the Logitech.  The only branding you’ll find is a small UE logo on the bottom front edge of the speaker grill.  If this UE logo wasn’t there, you’d probably never guess this was a Logitech product.  You’d also have a hard time telling which is the front or the back if it wasn’t for the logo, which is on the front side.

The entire speaker has a matte silver finished with blue oval ends housing the controls and connectors.  The grill covering the speaker wraps over the entire body from the base of one side, over the top and down to the same location on the opposite side.  The grill doesn’t quirt go all the way to the bottom so the last inch or so s a solid rubberized base to the entire speaker that helps it remain stable and stops the speaker walking around on most surfaces.

The Logitech UE Boombox will play music from any Bluetooth enabled device or through the good old classic 3.5mm jack on the end.  Speaking of the ends, one end features a vertical row of buttons and ports with the Bluetooth pairing button located at the top, then a sliding power button.  Below these we have two ports for 3.5mm aux connected devices and the power connector.

The opposite end of the speaker looks identical, but Logitech UE have cleverly made the entire end control the volume of the speaker.  You’d never know if it wasn’t for the indented plus and minus signs on the top and bottom edges of the end.

Power is provided by a rechargeable battery system that is supposed to provide up to 6 hours of continuous playback.

The Sound

We’ve told you how it looks and feels , but how does it sound?  I’m pleased to say that the Logitech UE Boombox sounds absolutely stunning.  Logitech and Ultimate Ears worked hand in hand to engineer the sounds of the Boombox incorporating eight speakers in total.  The Logitech UE Boombox has two 3 inch woofers, two half inch tweeters, and four 2-5/8 inch Passive Radiators.  This setup does tend to give very deep bass sounding results, which can be great for some tracks and could be a little too deep for others.  the end results is a speaker system that produces sounds deceivingly bigger than the physical size of the unit.

The first sound your going to hear is very pleasing strum of a string instrument signaling that you’ve powered the speaker on.  Much nicer than the usual bleeps and clicks of many other speaker systems we’ve tried.

The passive radiators do their job admirably producing rich, deep sounds and nicely balanced Bass.  The two woofers work hand in hand to enhance the mid-section and the two tweeters bring out the treble to amazing levels for such a small device.

The combined speakers have clearly been custom tuned to work together and the overall effect is absolutely amazing.  Cranking the volume to its top levels never produced any distortion and music sounded clear at lower and higher volume levels.

You should still remember that the sound these types of system produce are limited by the Bluetooth connection and the compressed sounds that is transmitted through them.  I hooked the Logitech UE Boombox to my Samsung Galaxy Note II and my Sony Laptop in seconds and switching between them was as simple as connecting and disconnecting on either device.  The Logitech UE Boombox supports eight device pairings and three of them can be connected at the same time.  this is a nice feature that allows you the instantly swap between devices without having to change any Bluetooth settings.  As soon as you stop sending a stream form once device, you can instantly start a stream from another and the Logitech UE Boombox handles the switching.

The Logitech UE Boombox has now superseded my previous top spot portable Bluetooth speaker, the Supertooth Disco as my favorite device.

Conclusion

What can I say?  Logitech UE, you’ve produce another top notch piece of hardware that sits proudly on top of my portable audio hardware list.  It’s not cheap at $250, but you’ll be incredibly happy with your purchase and the never look back.

You can find out more information on the Logitech UE Boombox and its smaller brother, the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox on the Logitech UE website.