When you live by the beach, you inevitably spend most of your time outdoors – either on the water, along the headlands or on the beach itself.
On a typical weekend, you might find us taking Elliot to the beach pool for a swim or we might grab lunch at a favorite cafe along the stretch of ten beaches comprising the Northern Beaches. It’s not a particularly indulgent life but part of what we consider the beachside lifestyle.
A popular local pastime is to set up near one of the beach BBQs dotted along the peninsula and enjoy delicious grilled food and a glass or two of the local pale ale or Australian red with family or friends. These free gas BBQs are available to all and it’s a perfect excuse to get loved ones down for a birthday treat or just a casual get-together, and relax with the ocean only metres away.
When we recently hit one such area for a weekend barbie, we took along a new friend with us – the UE (Ultimate Ears) Boom portable speaker.
They say great things come in small packages and the latest release of portable Bluetooth speakers proves just that. I don’t usually write product reviews on ISOALLO but the design and features of this particular speaker as they relate to travel and lifestyle intrigued me so I chose to take a closer look.
Once I got past the incredible packaging, the water bottle-size speaker was revealed. I haven’t used a Bluetooth-enabled speaker before so was uncertain how easy this one would be to set up. No dramas there – simply press the buttons on top, make sure the iPhone connects up, and voila. After that, I only ever need to press one button and I’m instantly connected.
The design of the speaker is sleek, modern and entirely mobile.
We set the UE Boom up on a table near the BBQ – it can either stand on one end or on its side. As long as my iPhone was in range, the speaker did its thing. And with its water and stain resistant plasma casing, it can hypothetically be taken anywhere – to the beach, on your travels, even in the office if your coworkers can handle the sound.
Because the most impressive part of the speaker is its astonishing sound. Who knew something so small could be so loud?
It literally booms and none of us at the beach BBQ expected that from a Bluetooth device. The acoustic skin wraps the whole way around the device so it easily outperformed the noise of the ocean, local bird life and, of course, us. With its 360-degree sound capability, we had to turn the sound down, not up.
The speaker is a unique little party piece.
A focal point for our beachside BBQ, it sat pride of place on the table with its interesting design and colourful appearance. Multiple phones could connect at the same time allowing us to play different tracks and I'm told two separate units can be connected via the free app to create left and right stereo sound. It can also be charged simply enough - via a wall charger or through a USB, making it ideal as a companion when traveling.
To prove it could be good for travel, we took it along on our recent trip to Tasmania. It didn’t let us down - it was light and the battery lasted for almost 15 hours. The speaker also doubles up as a speakerphone for when my phone rings and I could use it with my laptop (also good for tablets and Android phones).
So as a traveler and outdoors lifestyle fan, it's a solid piece of kit that suits my world well.
Have you come across any useful tools or gadgets that suit your travel or lifestyle needs? What do you never leave home without when heading overseas? Let me know in the comments below.
The UE Boom currently retails at A$199.95 and the guys behind it have put together some promo videos so take a look if you’d like to learn more. For more details online, head here.
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