This is the review of the comparison between the Bluetooth speakers from two popular brands, those are the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 and the JBL Xtreme. One among these is an updated version and the other is the original version of its lineup model. The difference here is not only in their price range but also in their features. To know which one is better for the price, go to the detailed review.

Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3	JBL Xtreme
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Class-leading battery life. Gets incredibly loud. Punchy sound.	10,000mAH battery. Splashproof. Good Sound.
CONS	CONS
Recessed mids. Bass sounds loose at high volume. Charging dock not included.	Heavy. Expensive.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

The Megaboom 3 from the Ultimate Ears is the updated version Bluetooth speaker of its predecessor the Megaboom and the Megaboom 2. These Bluetooth speakers are retailing for a price range of around two hundred dollars which is among the higher price range Bluetooth speakers in the market. These speakers are available in different colors and the price on these differed on the basis of which color you prefer to buy.

JBL Xtreme

The JBL Xtreme portable wireless Bluetooth speaker is available in three different colors you got blue, black, or red. The JBL Xtreme speaker models are retailing in the price range of around three hundred dollars and the price differs on the basis of which color you prefer to buy.

DESIGN: 

Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

There are only minor changes in the Megaboom 3 in comparison to the Megaboom is, the placement of the buttons has changed from the strap on the front of the speaker, the strap is also really thin compared to the Megaboom, and the other change is that the weave is a lot tighter on the Megaboom 3 in comparison to the older one. The older one gives you a lot of grip like in your hand as well as in this new one you still get some sort of grip to it but the older one feels a lot more secure in the hand compared to this tight weave in these but still, I think this new one also looks better. The only other change they see here as far as physical changes in the magic button as what UE is calling.

You do have a new strap where you can hang the speaker if you want to hang it somewhere. The main thing that I love that they really did change is the placement of the charging port right on the bottom side of the rubber strap on the speaker. I really like that they were able to change that from what they used to have on the older ones because with the older ones if you had to change it to charge when it’s playing you wouldn’t be able to place it straight on the desk and you need to lay it down. But in these, no problem at all but I’m kind of disappointed that it is not USB-C but at the same time I’m happy that they moved it. As far as physical features those are the only notable changes in these.

JBL Xtreme

As far as the weight, this is about maybe anywhere between 5 to 8 pounds, not too heavy but definitely heavier than your UE Megaboom, heavier than your Beats pill XL, and lighter than your Harman Kardon Onyx. You have the woofer moves up and down on both the side of the speaker and some JBL branding on it on both sides, JBL Brandan on the front, and there are your spots on both the sides where you’re going to connect your hooks if you want your carrying strap. Underneath there you got the two legs right there because that is how you are going to play the speaker. The bass is going to come out from the sides so you don’t want to stand up the speaker, if you do it that’s going to distort the sound.

This has a zipper right there and it’s going to be your ports in there. There first of all you have a reset button I think so, there’s a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack in there this way you can a Bluetooth device like an old-school iPod or old-school Walkman or whatever you got and you can still play your music, you got two USB ports in there and this is where you’re going to plug and then port to plug your power cable in. This little zipper is really kind of tight in which is a little bit annoying but it’s big enough though. If you want to stick your cables in there, you’re just going to have to fold it back a little bit but it’s big enough.

FEATURES:

Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

The presentation of the speaker is pretty good, I think Ultimate Ears does a pretty good job at that and in the box, you also find a USB cable, a power brick, and the paperwork stuff. They are all still completely IP67 rated, so it’s completely waterproof, you can submerge it into the water for up to 30 minutes and it will be completely fine that’s if you’re in a meter of water.

The magic button in these speakers I feel like it’s kind of overhyped personally, because all it does is it can play, pause, and skip the next track. The only other thing that maybe that’s why they are calling it the magic button is, if you use Apple Music or Deezer if you use Android, you can program it to where you long press for seconds on this button, it will automatically start your playlist if you have it set up in Deezer or Apple music which is really a nice feature to have.

At the bottom of the speaker, you have a wireless charging point if you have the wireless charging dock as the UE had on the Megablast and the Blast speakers. So, if you have one of the charging docks from UE, you can just place it down and place the speaker on there and it will start charging and you can use it as you want. That’s not something they had on the previous Megaboom so that’s one of the new things which I kind of appreciate. But I don’t like that you do have to buy the charging dock separately. This speaker still has the same battery rating which is about 20 hours of playtime, it’s still a 360 sound, and also the same drivers. The only difference here is only that this one is rated to go as long as 60 Hertz it’s a little bit lower frequency response compared to the Megaboom.

JBL Xtreme

Some of the key features on these as the company claims are dual external passive radiators that demonstrate just how powerful your speakers are. These are splash-proof means no more worrying about rain or spills you can even clean it with running tap water, just don’t submerge it, so it’s not waterproof it’s just splash-proof. This is splash-proof keep in mind now not waterproof, not like the UE Megaboom if this drops in the pool it might be a rap.

You can take crystal-clear calls from your speaker with the touch of a button with the help of the noise and echo canceling speakerphone. So, you’ve got a built-in speakerphone on this speaker. You have a built-in rechargeable li-ion battery having up to 15 hours of playtime and it gets charged via USB port and it’s gonna take around three hours to charge it up fully. You can also wirelessly connect up to three smartphones or tablets to the speaker and get the powerful stereo sound, and also you get a 10,000 mAmp battery on these.

As far as the presentation of the box for 300 dollars, you get a nice box. The box also explains about JBL connect which means you could connect two of these together and have stereo sound, which is really nice. Imagine if this sounds really good being the best Bluetooth speaker, when you connect two of these it’s going to be crazy. Inside the box, you get your usual books and QuickStart guide, your speaker itself, and a charging plug so you’re not going to be able to charge this up with a micro USB charging cable and you gonna have to officially plug this into the wall, charge it up in three hours and get full 15 hours of playing time. Inside the box, there was another little box that contains a nice heavy-duty carrying strap and it feels like a seatbelt material with some nice quality hooks on it.

The front of the speaker is where you have your main button functions. You got your Bluetooth pairing button, you got your volume up and down plus and minus, you got your play- pause button, and this doubles as a lot of buttons so this is going to answer and end phone calls, if you press it twice it’ll skip to the next song, and if you press it three times it’ll reverse to the previous song. Then you have your power button and your connect button right there. If you got two of these speakers and you want to pair them up together you need to hit the connect button right there and connect two of these two together, then you pull out your Android phone or your iPhone you get a JBL to connect the app with the same symbol as the connect button and then you can play with that.

There are some LEDs on there also, you got five LEDs which shows your battery status. when you power these on, the power button will be flashing and you can hear a little sound which means it is in pairing mode. As far as the paring process goes, it is really simple press the pairing button and takes out your mobile with the Bluetooth on it, you will get the JBL Xtreme just popped up on the bottom, you need to tap it and it will get paired up.

SOUND QUALITY:

Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

By my test, I feel like there is almost no difference as far as sound between the Megaboom and the Megaboom 3, it’s completely the same sound signature. If you judge by the low-frequency response test, you can feel that the Megaboom 3 has a little bit of better bass performance in comparison to the Megaboom but it’s not like a lot better at the Megaboom 3 than the Megaboom. I feel like it’s still rocking that bass and not completely the deep bass that we’ve come to expect from speakers having this size.

Personally, I still feel a little bit disappointed because I was hoping for something a little bit better than that as far as bass performance. The mids are okay, the highs are okay, it’s just the bass department where I always feel let down by the UE speakers. Also, these are loud enough as the Megaboom, not more than that but the same as the Megaboom.

JBL Xtreme

As far as the sound quality on these, I tested out these with the max volume the bass on this is ridiculous. The speaker is thumping when I had it on maximum volume. Even when I kept the volume down and my finger accidentally touched the side it’s vibrating like crazy and the base on this is really heavy. The sound on these is ridiculous, nice highs, nice mids, and the bass are punchy enough and crazy. The bass on this sounds great, this definitely sounds like a three hundred dollars speaker for sure.

The speakerphone on these also sounded pretty good to me. That’s just a little feature I mean you’re not buying this as a speakerphone you’re buying it for the speaker and if you happen to be listening to music and you got to make a phone call you got to receive a phone call that’s just a bonus. So, it was good enough for having a conversation for a few minutes. Again as far as the music, this sounds loud enough and I am completely blown away. Also, if you use this as a wired connection it gonna sound a little bit better than what it is actually out of the box.

WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR THE PRICE?

In my opinion, the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 is better for the price than the JBL Xtreme because the Megaboom 3 sounds better than the Xtreme, and also it has better features which the Xtreme doesn’t have like the magic button feature, and the Amazon Alexa feature. Also, you can connect more of the same model speaker together in the Megaboom 3 to get the stereo sound effects but in the Xtreme, you can connect only two speakers of the same model.

Expert Reviews of Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3:

By Tech Radar
The UE Megaboom 3 doesn’t stray from the company’s tried and true formula but it doesn’t have to. The Megaboom 3 is one of the best waterproof speakers you can buy thanks to its rugged design, long battery life, and audio performance, plus the new DJ feature is a clever way to get your friends on the action.

By What Hi-Fi?
Punchy, exciting, and full of fun, the Megaboom 3’s design tweaks, and new features make it even more exciting to use than before.

By PCMag
The wireless Ultimate Ears UE Megaboom 3 speaker improves upon its predecessor with a sleeker, more rugged design and a lower price tag.

By Tom’s Guide
The UE Megaboom 3 has what you want in a portable Bluetooth speaker: good sound quality, long battery life, ruggedness, and more.

By Forbes
The Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 isn’t a smart speaker. If you want Alexa to get involved without using your smartphone, the company has that covered with the Megablast (reviewed here). But if you’re looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker…

Expert Reviews of JBL Xtreme:

By GoodHouseKeeping
The JBL Xtreme can make a lot of noise without compromising on sound quality. With its splash-proof design, you don’t need to worry about surprise rain showers, and it can even be rinsed off under running water. Using the JBL Connect mode, you can pair…

By Tech Radar
JBL’s Xtreme isn’t as good at pumping out high fidelity sound as its cousin, the Infinity One, but at that, it’s still a fantastic speaker. Sound quality, battery performance, and the splashproof design are on-par with what you’d expect for the…

By What Hi-Fi?
We’d certainly recommend you take a listen; you may find the Xtreme’s fortes, of which it has many, justify a little of your own work to find the right balance. If so, this is a versatile wireless speaker with which you can certainly have a lot of…

By Alphr
I always thought having lots of basses was a great thing, but the JBL Xtreme proves there is such a thing as having a touch too much. This isn’t a massive issue, but it does somewhat tarnish the appeal of the Xtreme, especially at its hefty £250 price…

By Sound Guys
The pros definitely outweigh the cons if you can get past some of the more annoying problems with the…