Logitech UE Mobile Boombox

Last year, Logitech wowed us with its Mini Boombox?, a tiny Bluetooth speaker that puts out surprisingly powerful sound and doubles as a speakerphone. It earned our Editors' Choice for portable Bluetooth speakers, so when Logitech announced a follow-up, we were intrigued. The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox? is the same size as the Mini Boombox, but it has a style all its own, that fits in with the company's new UE audio product line. It doesn't sound quite as clear as the Jabra Solemate, but at $99.99 (direct) it costs half as much and works much better as a speakerphone, making it our latest Editors' Choice for budget Bluetooth speakers.

Design
The UE Mobile Boombox takes a design turn from the Logitech Mini Boombox with a much more colorful rugged look. It has the same clock-radio-like profile and measures a scant 2.4 by 4.4 by 2.6 inches (HWD), but the 0.7-pound speaker replaces the glossy black finish and glowing controls with a rubberized body and metal grilles on the front and back. The speaker is available in five different color combos?flat white, flat black, white with blue grilles, black with green grilles, or black with red grilles.

The top of the speaker houses the controls, which are a lot simpler and less flashy than the Mini Boombox's glowing red touch controls. It only has three buttons built into the rubberized case: Volume Up, Volume Down, and Bluetooth. There are no playback control buttons and no way to pick up calls with just the speaker, both of which the Mini Boombox had. The logic seems to be that you would have your mobile device on you to control music playback and take calls anyway, and with that in mind it's not a big loss. The power switch is on the back of the speaker, next to a microUSB port for charging, and a 3.5mm audio input for plugging in audio devices that don't have Bluetooth.

To pair the speaker with a smartphone or tablet, hold down the Bluetooth button on the top for a few seconds until the blue light on the front starts flashing. You can pair up to eight devices with the boombox, and keep two of them connected at the same time. This is a useful feature when you want to keep your smartphone paired for speakerphone calls and your tablet paired for music. You still can't listen to more than one audio stream at a time, though.

Performance
For its tiny size, the UE Mobile Boombox sounds loud and very clear. I put on some Frank Sinatra, and the crooner sounded clear, warm, and the instrumentals sounded appropriate. For a change of pace, I switched to the slow, electronic stylings of Massive Attack and Solar Fields. Flat, muted basslines and chiming, synthesized treble notes came in perfectly, and filled my apartment with a satisfying level of sound. The UE Mobile Boombox distorted slightly when playing the very-bass-heavy "Silent Shout" at full volume, but for a speaker that size it's not surprising. This speaker isn't built to shake much more than a few square inches of your desk. I didn't experience distortion with any other songs.

For phone calls, the UE Mobile Boombox works well. It isn't particularly loud for conversations, but it's clear, and transmitted my voice far better than the Jawbone Jambox? or Jabra Solemate. The microphone picked up the sound of my air conditioner across my apartment, forcing me to point it at a different angle, but that was the only real problem I had with the speakerphone.

The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox doesn't sound quite as clear as more expensive Bluetooth speakers, but its size is downright tiny, its price is right, and its speakerphone feature works better than most. If you're willing to compromise pure sound quality slightly for extreme portability and price, the UE Mobile Boombox is the speaker for you.

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