Ultimate Ears Epicboom test: our full opinion –

There was clearly a missing speaker in the Ultimate Ears nomadic range, between the compact UE Megaboom and the enormous UE Hyperboom; an intermediate size speaker to produce more low frequencies and produce a more balanced sound outdoors to create a small festive atmosphere. Like the Marshall Middleton, JBL Xtreme 3 or Sony XG 300, Ultimate Ears now offers the Epicboom. We tested it extensively and put it through the measuring bench.

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Technical sheet

This test was carried out with a speaker lent by the manufacturer.

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Design

The UE Epicboom is a particularly well-designed vertical speaker, equipped with a thick, adherent silicone base which ensures excellent stability and prevents it from transmitting vibrations to the surface on which it is placed. At 24 cm high, 16 cm wide and 11 cm deep, it is relatively large, but nevertheless fits into most backpacks. In addition, Ultimate Ears has equipped it with a carrying strap attached to the back of the speaker by a magnet system. A good idea, even if the 2 kg of the beast would have deserved a strap to carry it on the shoulder.

The Epicboom is a solid speaker, which withstands drops of up to one meter according to its manufacturer, as well as total immersion in water. It also floats on its back and the arrangement of its speakers allows you to continue listening to music in good conditions. The acoustic fabric which largely covers the speaker is pleasant to the touch and is easy to clean (grains of sand, earth, etc.). In short, the UE Epicboom seems ready to face the worst conditions of use.

The volume adjustment buttons are huge and installed on the front, while those controlling playback or equalization are housed at the top, on a grippy silicone tray. The USB-C charging connector is housed behind a hatch on the rear bottom of the speaker.

Good point, the UE Epicboom is made from 59% recycled plastics.

EU Epicboom internal design

The speaker can be dismantled from the base, which I decided not to do, because access to the screws requires removing a plastic plate which seems difficult to reattach without compromising the waterproofness of the speaker. We will therefore content ourselves with the information communicated by Ultimate Ears to discuss the acoustic characteristics of this speaker. The UE Epicboom is equipped with three transducers: two 4.5 cm wideband each housed in the sides and a 12 cm transducer dedicated to low frequencies installed on the front.

First observation, UE did not use passive radiators to increase the volume of low frequencies, which does not bode well. No tweeters either, which necessarily limits the precision of high-pitched sounds. Another point, the sound is not truly broadcast 360°, since there is no transducer on the rear panel and no high frequency is broadcast via the front panel (only through the sides).

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Use and application

Like the UE Wonderboom 3, UE Boom 3 or UE Megaboom 3, the Epicboom is easy to use and has cool features accessible in the Ultimate Ears BOOM control app. The play/pause button at the top of the speaker can be used to start playing four different playlists, after a long press. However, few music streaming services are supported, the choice being limited to Spotify and Amazon Music with an Android smartphone and Amazon Music and Apple Music with an iPhone. The app also allows you to create alarms to wake up to music.

The sound can also be customized through a five-band equalizer and preset modes. A button offers automatic adjustment depending on the sound environment, but I didn’t observe any noticeable difference in this case. Finally, a small tree-shaped button at the top of the speaker automatically reinforces bass sounds to improve outdoor reproduction. We will come back to this.

Finally, PartyUp mode offers the possibility of using several Ultimate Ears speakers simultaneously.

Extended Bluetooth coverage

UE emphasizes the UE Epicboom’s enhanced Bluetooth coverage, which is said to be capable of receiving music up to 55 meters (unobstructed). The fact is that to benefit from this extended coverage, it is imperative to use a Bluetooth source equipped with a class 1 controller. We might as well say it clearly: the vast majority of smartphones include a class 2 controller, capable of transmit up to 10 meters and this improved range is therefore not of much interest. Checked, the speaker receives the signal through a thin partition and a wooden floor, up to 10 meters.

Small downside, it is not possible to use two smartphones simultaneously with the UE Epicboom. Multipoint Bluetooth is therefore missing. If you plan to play with the Epicboom, be aware that Bluetooth latency causes a slight delay in the sound on the image. On the other hand, audio and video are perfectly synchronized when watching films or series. Finally, it is the universal SBC codec which is used during music transmission.

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Audio

The UE Epicboom delivers honest quality sound, but the promises linked to the name of the speaker and the 360° sound are objectively not kept. Despite the presence of a large 12 cm speaker, the Epicboom does not have much room and also struggles to reproduce very low frequencies. Its bass performance is thus that of much smaller speakers, with an emphasis on the high bass which eclipses the very low frequencies a little more. Don’t expect to play the equalizer to effectively correct this aspect or activate the external mode to improve things, as the latter further aggravates the imbalance in the low end. To be completely clear, given the volume of the speaker and its price positioning, there was much better to hope for.

A quick analysis of the curve shows a clear decline below 100 Hz (high-bass) and a rather homogeneous frequency response at the top of the spectrum. What the curve doesn’t show is that the speaker sounds a bit hollow and lacks precision and detail in general. Tonal balance is maintained up to 80 dB sound level and, beyond that, the bass is reduced so as not to damage the transducers. At full power (orange curve), the sound level reaches a maximum of 95 dB, which is very high and enough to drown out beach chats and ocean surf.

• Bass: too forward in its upper part (100 Hz) and insufficient below; very little palette and power
• Midrange: balanced and soft… provided you listen to the speaker from the side, otherwise the lack of resolution is striking
• Acute: same observation as for the midrange, accompanied by a recessed finesse due to lack of tweeter

Note that the speaker produces a slight background noise, audible at 50 cm, for example when placed on a desk. When music is played or the speaker is used outside, it is no longer audible.

Dynamic behavior and soundstage

The advantage of the UE Epicboom is undoubtedly its spatialization. We cannot strictly speak of 360° sound, because only the sides of the speaker diffuse mid and high sounds, while the front side only produces bass and the rear side nothing at all.

However, this arrangement has the advantage of reducing the directivity of the sound. The dynamism could not be more average and the speaker struggles to clearly mark the differences in volume. Difficult in these conditions to produce a catchy sound.

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Autonomy

Ultimate Ears announces a maximum of 17 hours of battery life, at 45% of the speaker volume. With a reinforcement of low frequencies from the equalizer and at 50% of the volume of my iPhone, the speaker lasted around 15h30 on a playlist mixing jazz, pop and rock. This is a little below the announced autonomy, but normal, because equalization increases the consumption of the integrated amplifier. In absolute terms, this duration of use is very comfortable.

Ultimate Ears Epicboom Price and release date

The Ultimate Ears EpicBoom speaker is available in Charcoal Black and Cotton White colors at a price of 389 euros. A clearly excessive price, especially since the competition does better and at a lower price. A look (and ears) at the Marshall Middleton and JBL Xtreme 3 is a must before making a decision.