For most of us, summer is now in full swing. And just in time for the season of long evenings and outdoor revelry, EarFun has announced its newest Bluetooth speaker, the UBOOM L, which promises to withstand the elements while delivering a big sound on a budget.
The UBOOM L is EarFun's second speaker and builds upon 2019's UBOOM with a larger design, widened speaker diaphragm and additional features. Like the original UBOOM, the UBOOM L aims to create an omnidirectional soundfield but uses larger 5.5cm drivers alongside dual passive radiators and Earfun’s proprietary JumboBass Technology to improve its low-end extension.
Rocky Deng, head of product development at EarFun, says that the new speaker "Surpass[es] our award-winning model UBOOM launched two years ago, it's meant to deliver our EarFun signature bass sound to all the music lovers and get all the party people dancing.[It] is our delicate gift to the world."
If the UBOOM L's 28 watts of power simply isn't enough for your needs, you can connect two speakers together for wireless stereo. Each speaker features Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity as well as a 3.5mm jack input concealed behind a waterproof rubber seal alongside a USB Type-C charging port.
A claimed 16 hours of playback time should be enough to see you through even the most languorous of beach days, while an IPX7 rating and EarFun’s Sweatshield Technology promise to keep the music playing whatever the weather. And if you want to take your tunes swimming, it even floats.
Meanwhile, multi-taskers and workaholics will be pleased to know the UBOOM L has a built-in mic to take hands-free calls and can be used to connect to Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant voice assistants.
Three audio options are available to tailor the UBOOM L's performance to your needs. Indoor Mode emphasises bass, while Outdoor Mode lifts the speaker's loudness. Planning on an impromptu outdoor cinema screening? There's also a Video Mode that employs ultra-low latency to help keep everything in sync.
The EarFun UBOOM L will launch globally on Amazon and the company's website from mid-July, priced at £70 / $80 / AU$112. However, a limited discount of 25% will be available to users who subscribe to the brand's early bird page bringing the price down to an inflation-busting £52.49 / $60. That's considerably cheaper than the similarly outdoorsy Sonos Roam at £159 / $169 / AU$279 and the five-star JBL Flip 6 at £130 / $130 / AU$200.
Of course, we can't vouch for the UBOOM L's sound, having not tested it, but if you have a spare 45 minutes, then you can always watch this extensive video of the speaker being put through its paces by producer Olaf Lubanski, who works with Earfun to tune their products.
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