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The large volume buttons in the vaguely cross-shape have stuck around. If you use Apple Music or Android’s Deezer platforms to stream your tunes, you can use the UE app to designate up to four playlists that you can play immediately by pressing and holding the magic button for three seconds. Pressing it once plays or pauses the music, while double-pressing it skips to the next track. The top of the UE Megaboom 3 now plays host to what UE calls the “magic button,” which allows you to control the music playing on the speaker without reaching for your phone.
CROSSFEED MEGABOOM SPEAKER PORTABLE
Neither of these portable Bluetooth speakers can talk to Alexa like the Blast and Megablast speakers UE released last year, but there are some benefits to make up for the lack of digital assistant for those who don’t want voice control in the first place. The Megaboom 3 is a physically larger speaker-imagine a fatter version of those tall Arizona iced tea cans you can buy at the gas station-that weighs in at almost exactly two pounds compared to the 1.34 pound Megaboom 3. The $150 Boom 3 and the $200 Megaboom 3 are portable, battery-powered speakers that are waterproof and shaped in such a way that they throw sound in every direction. The top of the speaker still has gunk on top of it from our testing, which included throwing it in a puddle. Instead of voice control, the Boom 3 added a single programmable button, and in some ways, that's just better than a full-on digital assistant. Unlike the Blast and the UE Megablast that arrived late last year. What you won't find inside those stylish, tubular bodies, however, is Alexa. Now, UE is rolling out the Boom 3 and the bigger Megaboom 3, both of which carry on the tradition of excellent audio products you don't mind taking into the shower. It was rugged, looked cool, and sounded surprisingly great in a time when most rugged Bluetooth speakers had the audio quality of an FM radio tied up in a garbage bag.
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The original Ultimate Ears Boom speaker debuted way back in 2013. The UE Megaboom 3 Bluetooth speaker got better because of a button
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