High Bluetooth Speaker Beneath $100

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• Wonderboom 3 is a compact Bluetooth speaker that delivers a ton of worth for $100.
• It is waterproof and has a 360-degree soundstage, which makes it excellent for outside listening.
• The speaker’s Micro USB charger is not perfect, but it surely affords nice sound for its measurement.

For $100, the Final Ears Wonderboom 3 is a superb Bluetooth speaker for anybody who desires to hearken to music on the go. It is constructed with journey in thoughts, and performs nicely each indoors and outdoor because of its 360-degree soundstage.

The brand new speaker improves upon the battery life and Bluetooth vary of the older Wonderboom 2, whereas holding that mannequin’s compact, waterproof design. The Wonderboom 3 is rated for as much as 14 hours of playback, but it surely lasted even longer throughout our testing, giving it a key edge over comparable Bluetooth audio system which can be rated for 10-12 hours of use.

After weeks of hands-on time with the Wonderboom 3, it is emerged as one in every of our favourite moveable audio system. Although it lacks just a few further options you may discover on larger, pricier fashions, it is a implausible journey companion for the cash.  

Wonderboom 3 is constructed for journey with a water-resistant design and spectacular battery life

Wonderboom 3 stands lower than 4 inches tall with a cylindrical form, and weighs just below one pound, making it simple to pack in a seaside bag or suitcase for journey. There’s even a loop you should use to hold it with a hook or carabiner. 

The speaker is constituted of recycled plastic and wrapped with a cloth that covers most of its physique. The material would not acquire a lot mud and prevents the speaker from getting scratched throughout outside actions. Accessible colours embody black, blue, grey, lavender, inexperienced, and pink; the massive quantity buttons on the entrance of the speaker are at all times a contrasting coloration.  

Along with quantity controls, Wonderboom 3 has smaller buttons for energy, play/pause, and Bluetooth pairing on high. A single button on the underside shifts the speaker into outside mode, which affords elevated quantity.

Wonderboom 3 is water-proof as nicely, with an IP67 score that makes the speaker secure to drift in a pool for as much as half-hour. This additionally means you possibly can simply clear the speaker’s material cowl with water if it will get soiled. 

To enrich its travel-friendly design, the Wonderboom delivers glorious battery life. Final Ears lists an estimated playtime of 14 hours, however the speaker really lasted longer in our testing, reaching about 20 hours on a single cost. With two to a few hours of playback every day throughout common use, we solely discovered ourselves needing to cost it about as soon as in the course of the week. 

The Wonderboom 3 sounds nice for its measurement, but it surely lacks the deep bass you’d get from a much bigger speaker

Wonderboom 3 has an amazing sound profile for a conveyable speaker, providing usually balanced audio. It could deal with each music and spoken-word playback nicely, although followers of bass-heavy EDM or entice music might want a much bigger speaker with deeper bass.  

For instance, listening to the low frequency bass in Benny Benassi’s EDM hit “Satisfaction” or Outkast’s “Aquemini” lacks the satisfying thump you’d get from a speaker with extra vary. However, extra conventional pop music like Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and rock tracks like White Zombie’s “Thunder Kiss ’65” sound appropriately balanced. Podcasts and audiobooks come by means of with satisfying readability as nicely.

The speaker covers a variety with a 360-degree soundstage that continues to be constant regardless of your listening angle. The advantage of the speaker’s soundstage is very noticeable outdoor, since you do not have to fret about correctly positioning it whilst you’re transferring round.  

Whereas the speaker’s most quantity is not extraordinarily loud, Wonderboom 3 nonetheless packs sufficient energy to fill an indoor room. It additionally does an amazing job of avoiding distortion at excessive ranges, so you possibly can hear at louder volumes with out sacrificing high quality. An out of doors mode is included as nicely, which may be toggled to assist sound carry over a wider vary. Simply have in mind, this mode appears to sacrifice bass and enhance treble at a better quantity, which hurts the general sound high quality.

In our testing, Wonderboom 3 proved to be lots loud for a park picnic with associates, even at 50% quantity in its common mode. The outside mode could be helpful should you’re doing one thing extra energetic, like enjoying a sport or swimming round a pool, however we did not really feel the necessity to sacrifice sound high quality for extra vary. 

That mentioned, you may battle to listen to Wonderboom 3 throughout a extra crowded celebration or occasion, which is to be anticipated for a small journey speaker. For instance, at a Tremendous Bowl celebration with about 25 folks, the speaker struggled to compete with the sound of the TV and dialog within the room.

The speaker has a large Bluetooth vary, however there isn’t any microphone or wired port

The one manner to make use of Wonderboom 3 is with a Bluetooth connection. The speaker has a reported vary of 130 ft, which is in step with our testing.

There’s additionally a function that permits you to pair two Wonderboom audio system collectively as a stereo set. We solely had a single evaluation unit so we had been unable to check this mode, but it surely’s a pleasant choice to have for patrons who need to improve to a real stereo pair.

On the draw back, the Wonderboom lacks any ports for wired audio, and there isn’t any Wi-Fi help to regulate the speaker with apps like Spotify. There’s additionally no built-in microphone, which might enable the speaker to obtain calls or take instructions from a digital assistant like Siri or Alexa when paired with a telephone. Having extra choices for hands-free management could be perfect throughout outside actions.

Wonderboom 3 vs. the competitors

Wonderboom 3 is taken into account a funds Bluetooth speaker and customarily sounds higher than different equally sized choices in the identical value vary. The battery efficiency can be finest at school in comparison with common rivals just like the JBL Flip 6 and JBL Clip 4, although we would like their USB-C charger over Wonderboom 3’s older Micro USB port.

Not like some rivals, Wonderboom 3 can be lacking a customizable EQ possibility. It is not appropriate with the Final Ears companion app to regulate settings, so that you’re caught with the default sound except you employ a music service that has its personal EQ function.

The speaker sounds good utilizing its default tuning, however the lack of native app help is disappointing since Final Ears helps this operate on numerous its different fashions.

UltimateEars Wonderboom 3 specs at look

Do you have to purchase the Wonderboom 3 Bluetooth speaker?

The Wonderboom 3 has almost each function you’d need from a conveyable Bluetooth speaker within the $100 value vary. The 360-degree soundscape delivers good audio high quality whether or not you are listening on-the-go or within the bathe, and the outside increase mode can add a bit extra vary for bigger areas.

The dearth of a microphone, deeper bass, and different connectivity options maintain Wonderboom 3 from outperforming dearer house audio system, however these further perks aren’t anticipated in a $100 moveable mannequin. We can we want it used USB-C charging moderately than Micro USB, however its sound high quality and battery life beat out comparable moveable audio system on this value vary.  

For the cash, The Wonderboom 3 is a perfect purchase for anybody who desires a compact, sturdy Bluetooth speaker that may function a handy journey companion for listening to music outdoors.