The wireless listening landscape can be overwhelmingly vast, and it’s hard to know where to allocate your hard-earned dollars to get the most literal bang — we’re talking about the audible kind — for your buck. I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ve had two of these Megaboom 3 speakers from Ultimate Ears for close to two years and they’re both still going strong despite several high-impact run-ins with some enthusiastic toddlers who have mistaken them for toys.
And lucky for you, I just spotted one on sale at Target for 25% off. (The Boom 3, a similar model that’s smaller and slightly cheaper, is also currently more than 30% off, putting the price below $100 — a steal, in my opinion.)
The durability of this speaker is one of its most noteworthy attributes. My kids love listening to music, and the “Frozen” soundtrack blasts forth from the device’s high-tech innards at least twice a day. When they were younger, they’d toddle around the house with it, inevitably resulting in the speaker hitting the wooden floor at least once a day — but it’s shown no signs of damage. We mostly use it it indoors, but the speaker was intended for outdoor use, so it’s clearly been designed to withstand the elements. (I’ve never tested this function, but it’s also waterproof and promises to float.)
It has a substantial weight and silicone casing that keeps it firmly planted in place, and once it’s out of our kids’ reach, we keep it tucked high on a bookshelf, where the remarkably clear and loud 360-degree sound fills the room — sometimes to the extent that I find myself having to turn it down.
The controls are incredibly simple and consist of a single round button at the top that powers the device and embossed volume controls that make it easy to quickly adjust the sound without having to interact with your phone. (However, if you do prefer to control the device that way, there’s a nearly-seamless app that lets you connect to the speaker and even pair multiples together, which we’ve done in the past when entertaining.)
This is entirely unscientific, but in my opinion, the battery seems to last forever and I feel like I never need to charge the speaker, despite it being plugged in very rarely.
Target reviewers seem to agree that the speaker is a winner — it’s earned a 4.5-star rating across almost 90 reviews. Check out of some of the customer feedback from Target’s website or just scroll all the way down to get one of these powerful speakers for yourself before the sale runs out.
“Great speaker, super nice sound quality, plus great for the river! Battery life is pretty good as well!” — DoomDorito
“Good sound and decent battery life. I have two of them and sometimes there’s connection issues even when they’re right next to each other. You can use multiple for a “party”. There have been times where one disconnects and music will just play through one or the sound stops all together and starts playing on my phone. This was when they were maybe 12 feet apart. Other than that, they’re great once everything’s setup and running. Love the water resistance as well. Definitely worth it when they’re on sale.” — Lseybert
“I wanted a Bose Bluetooth speaker at first. But then I did my research. $150 cheaper with amazing sound quality. UE Megaboom 3 Is the way to go” — Mward7286
“Powerful speaker! Sound is incredible; love the different EQ settings. Great battery life. Love the mobile app, which is very user friendly. Love that you can connect with other speakers. My husband has the Hyperboom; we connected both and felt like we were at a concert. Definitely recommend! Buy it!” — Jessyxoxo
Before You Go
