Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Ultimate Ears BLAST Portable Waterproof Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Speaker with Hands-Free Amazon Alexa Voice Control

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2018

Great sounding speaker. Though I had a problem connecting it with Windows 7 bluetooth, workaround will be to connect to IOS or Android first. Works excellent with Windows 10, IOS, and android. Battery life was good. In low volume, I was able to play it continuously for 7-8 hours with plenty of juice left. For $99 on sale, it kicks my 5 year old JBLs bluetooth speakers ass!
Update 6/12/18:
Won't turn on and won't charge all of a sudden.
2nd update 6/12/18:
Had to do a hard reset
WARNING This procedure can permanently damage your speaker and should ONLY be used if the speaker won’t turn ON. Frequent use of the reset procedure is NOT recommended.

1. Briefly press the “-“ (volume down), “+” (volume up) and small action/Bluetooth buttons at the same time (See picture below).

2. Next, press the large power button on the speaker and it will turn back ON.

Note: it may take a few moments for the speaker to reconnect to Alexa or repair to your mobile device.

3. After resetting the speaker, it’s highly RECOMMENDED that you use the Ultimate Ears app (available from the app stores for iOS and Android) to check for available firmware updates for your speaker. To do this, launch the app > tap on the settings icon > scroll to the bottom of the screen and press “Check for Updates.” (Depending on the version of the app you may need to disable Automatic Updates before you can manually check for updates. If prompted, follow the instructions to update your speaker’s firmware.

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K

Portable speaker first, Alexa enabled second

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

I’m quite surprised by all of the negative reviews.
I did purchase this speaker during the $99 sale. I know the UE products are more expensive and have great quality sound. So $99 with the Alexa feature was a steal. With that being said, it’s important to know what features are most important to you before purchasing a portable speaker vs Alexa stationary products...

To begin, it should be noted that first and foremost, this is intended as a portable, high quality speaker. It is waterproof, allowing for functionality virtually anywhere. It comes with a charging cable, like almost all speakers, and holds a charge for longer than I personally need.

With that being said, the Alexa feature is more of a secondary function or perk. Unless you have a prime account, the prime music will be pointless. However, you can use other music apps, or just synce it vis Bluetooth to your phone. I have not had any problems connecting it to my wifi, and the Alexa works fine for me. However, I would not purchase this for the sole intention of using Alexa. I own both the Alexa Echo and Echo Dot. All 3 have their own benefits.

All together, this is a great speaker. It sounds amazing and fulfills my needs for a portable speaker. The Alexa function is a nice addition, but would recommend the UE Boom if this was not on sale and the Alexa function is not important to you.
If you don’t plan on using it as a portable speaker, and Alexa is the more important feature to you, I’d recommend the regular Echo.

Otherwise, I love this speaker!!

8 people found this helpful

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Matthew M. Hogan

disappointing sound, mixed feature set...but severely overpriced for what it does.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

decent sound, mixed feature set...but severely overpriced for what it does.

This item is somewhat unique in that the only other item is reasonably compares to is the Amazon Tap. As a bluetooth speaker...it is average at best. The sound is slightly better than the Anker soundcore...but significantly worse than the Anker Soundcore boost, the JBL Charge 2+ and the bose mini - all of which happen to be in my house. I was severely disappointed in the sound quality overall. It generally lacks definition and has very little low end response. Generally any $50 BT speaker will sound better, much less any other BT at this price point. Very disappointing. The sound is better than an Echo dot by itself...but that is really not saying anything positive.

As an Alexa device - again general disappointment. First - the WiFi appears to be very weak. It has connection problems in areas that no other WiFi devices I own have problems. The greatest development for Alexa devices is their microphone array that can pick up and distinguish voices several feet away. The BLAST CANNOT do this. At best you need to both over the top of the BLAST and within about 24 inches for Alexa to reliably pick up what is said. But be prepared...the response is VERY slow. This is nothing like the prior generation or current generation Echo devices. The overall experience feels like a BETA test device...not something that was released for public consumption.

The charging pad is necessary...and should simply be factored into the price. at 140+ this is a huge disappointment.

3 people found this helpful

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RichardTerrio

WOW! Sound is great

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

First the positives: The sound will knock you off your feet and it has equalization adjustments. Connectivity is effortless to everything; battery life is great. I played it for hours over five days without a charge. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi distance connection is great. Disappointments: Lately I have received several items through Amazon that have been repackaged which seems to occur for third party sales on items that have been on the market for years, which was the case with this item. It came with the wireless charging base which I didn't order but it was all obviously repackaged. I left the speaker out in the rain all week and it has no issues. BUT,, the charging base filled with water and stopped working. I took the charging base apart to the smallest element and blew it dry which recovered it. The base design is bad and collect water, so you can leave the speaker out, but not the base.

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Martin Kollman

Great Bluetooth/Amazon Echo Speaker

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

I picked up the Bluetooth speaker on an Amazon sale and have been really happy with the quality of sound, ruggedness, and ease of use. We mainly use it for taking out to the patio, in the yard, or down to the river..... so far. I don't worry about it falling over or getting wet/dirty, as it is tough and made for that kind of use. Can't wait to take it to the lake!

I was surprised that it would act as an Amazon Echo "Alexa" and it performs just like our real Alexas, so bonus for us. It is a little shorter and skinnier than the big Amazon Echos, but similar in shape and size. Like carrying around a 16oz can of your favorite beverage.

The charging is easy to do and can be setup on the cord to run anywhere there is power, but the batteries seem to last and last too. We might run it half the day and still have battery power left, so not sure how long you can actually go with tunes cranking out. I am sure volume would make a difference and if it is constant use. We normally plug it in overnight and it is ready to go at full power the next morning, but guessing a few hours would have you back and going with tunes. All and all, very happy with this product.

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Alvin A. Santos

OK but way to expensive and missing some key features (for me) for Alexa.

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

I was enticed to buy this with a sale on Amazon for $99. I am giving it 3 stars at this price - it would have rated 2 stars if I paid full price.

As a portable bluetooth speaker for $99 - this is a no brainer vs the UE Boom 2. Waterproof and durable - it sounds very good and is quite loud.

As a secondary Alexa speaker you can take with you - its pretty cool. I bought this as my portable speaker that I would take on trips.

As an Alexa enabled speaker - there is a lot of functionality missing at launch. If you are thinking about getting this as a primary speaker you will probably want to pick up the charging dock. Without it you have to charge it upside down (ie the buttons are inaccessible) or on its side. That is another $40. Secondly there is no Spotify at launch. If you have Prime Music or Prime Unlimited Music - that works - but if you are a Spotify user then you'll have to wait for Spotify to integrate this speaker. (I haven't seen any promises of that happening - so you are left with a Bluetooth Speaker if you use Spotify)

The calling/Drop-in functionality is also not available. (Just like the Tap) So if you want to use the intercom features or announcement features (and most likely anything else that has to do with multiple Alexa speakers interacting) this speaker is not currently supported.

So bottom line is - I would probably go with an Echo Dot - paired to a battery powered speaker that powers the Dot (There are several available on Amazon) if you wanted an Amazon Alexa that is also portable. That way you would get all the nifty features and updates direct from Amazon.

If you want a bluetooth speaker the UE Boom 2 is probably a better bang for the buck when this thing isn't on sale. Because it was on sale and about the same price as a UE Boom 2 - and I needed a portable rugged speaker - it made sense to pick this up instead of the boom 2.

4 people found this helpful

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curleyfrei

Very disappointing -- great sound but poor WiFi connectivity and moisture damage after 1 week

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2018

Verified Purchase

Only had this speaker for about a week but have been struggling to enjoy it...

I've already tested it a few times (including moisture exposure), but I just requested a refund because the speaker is now exhibiting very noticeable static & distortion after some very light moisture exposure this morning. I had it in the shower -- up on a ledge, away from direct contact w/ water -- but after only a few minutes, it started cutting out again. (Poor WiFi connectivity). When I got out of the shower, I was able to reconnect but immediately noticed that the speaker was now very crackly and distorted.

"Waterproof and virtually indestructible: No matter how wild things get, your music will always be on point. The speaker is IP67 rated and can be immersed in water up to 1 m for 30 minutes"

^ Um... not really.

The speaker got wet, but only from the few times I touched it with wet hands and probably a few splashes from the shower. (It was certainly NOT immersed). I'm glad I didn't try immersion anyway because I doubt very much that it could withstand that if it couldn't even survive a shower.

---
Pros:
- Great sound
- Beautiful design

Cons:
- 1st time setup must be done via proprietary app (because of Alexa), but you can't even connect to Bluetooth until after initial setup. (Lame!)
- WiFi connectivity is spotty at best so playback will randomly cut out or completely stop
- Alexa mic sensitivity not nearly as good as Echo (frequently repeating & shouting commands)
- No 3.5mm aux input (WHY?!?!?!?)
- Other devices can't just connect via Bluetooth -- again, must be done via UE app! (Who's going to do that just to connect to their friend's speaker?!)
---

Not sure if I just got a defective unit (typical of my luck) or if this problem is more widespread, but there are too many cons for me anyway so I'm returning it.

3 people found this helpful

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Swiz

Waterproof in 12 feet of water for one week.

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2020

Verified Purchase

Wow! So I bought Back in 2018 and use it at my Lakehouse with Alexa. Always has a great sound. Last week I took to the boat dock and someone accidentally kicked it in the water. It was dark out and fairly deep, so I didn’t think I would get it back. A week later, we decided to try to retrieve it. It was in about 12 foot of water and a friend actually dove down and found it on the forth try! Anyway, it was not powered on when it was kicked in the water and I remembered that it was waterproof the next day and thought I should try it out. Amazingly enough, it works fine, Alexa can still hear me, and the music sounds as good as it always did. The picture was taken in it's condition after being retrieved from the lake still a little dirty. Seriously waterproof!

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24HourPickles

Not worth the hassle...

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

I purchased my Blast on an Amazon Deal for $99. I see that it's now going for $93 without any deal, and I'm not surprised. The Blast sounds fine...nothing to write home about, but completely decent. I think a regular Boom sounds better, and it saves you from much of the hassle the Blast brings into your life.

In theory, a waterproof decent-sounding Alexa-connected WiFi speaker sounds like a great idea. It becomes the opposite when the speaker in question insists on constantly losing connection to both your WiFi network and then, when, out of exasperation, you try bluetooth, that as well. I wanted a speaker that I could take into the shower and not have to futz with, controlling everything through Alexa. Hopping in and out of the shower trying to fix connectivity issues in not my idea of a good time.

To top it all off, while you can pair blast to blast and boom to boom, the two shall not mix lest they create a new member of the UE family with the best aspects of each (A Bloom? A Boost? A Blam?). I joke, but isn't that kinda what the Blast was supposed to be in the first place? All of the qualities that make the Boom a decent speaker just with Wifi connectivity and Alexa built-in? If that's the case, why can't I connect it to a Boom? UE says it's because the blast pairs via Wifi for a better connection. If I can't get one speaker to maintain a simple Wifi connection, it doesn't bode well for connecting other speakers the same way. More importantly, if UE knew it was going to make a speaker that pairs to other speakers of it's ilk using Wifi, and that the change would make pairing with a preexisting and wildly popular speaker it already had on the market, why not just include both methods of pairing?? So what if I can't use Wifi to pair and listen to a mix of Blasts and Blooms...I'm more interested in pairing my speakers for music than to listen to Alexa coming at me from all sides...at least I'd be able listen to music on all of them simultaneously. I already have a Boom...why can't this be easy?

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Travis Jonquil

Mediocre Sound

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Update: I have changed my rating from 1 to 4 stars. UE just released an update that allows paring, woohoo! So glad, I was about to try to sell it. Also i figured out how to disable the Alexa feature. My only other complaint is still kinda big. The sound is super mediocre. It literally sounds equal to the built in speakers on my iMac...

So it's pretty simple for me. My biggest complaint it the Alexa feature is always interrupting the music, super annoying. (I have a thing against naming that service Alexa to begin with, as I have a dear friend named the same). It's a pain to pair with my other devices. I was unaware when I bought it that it also lacks the one feature that drew me to UE products in the first place, which is the ability to pair with other UE speakers. The sound quality and volume is barely better than the built in iMac speakers and is no better at all than my TV speakers. Oh, and it won't pair with the TV either. I wish I had returned it before my time to do so was up. Don't waste your money.

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