Gadgetory

Ultimate Ears new blastin megablast portable speakers are shaped like its earlier boom and mega boom bluetooth speakers but the new models add Wi-Fi connectivity and Amazon Alexa voice control they respectively cost two hundred and thirty dollars and three hundred hours and you can also purchase an optional powerup charging base for an additional forty dollars like with Amazon's echo devices to use Alexa you have to be connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile hotspot you get access to the more than 25,000 skills available for Alexa including the ability to control smart home products that said only Amazon music I Heart Radio and tune in music services will be Alexa enabled at launch Yui expects to add voice control for Pandora and deezer in the future but there's no word yet on when the speakers will get voice control support for Spotify however you can stream any music service via bluetooth the blast is very similar to the UE boom - but bue says the mega blast has been completely redesigned from the ground up and is equipped with new drivers that deliver enhanced sound with a top volume that's 40 percent louder than the mega booms both new speakers are fully waterproof and have a range of 330 feet on Wi-Fi and 150 feet on Bluetooth battery life for the smaller blasts is up to 12 hours and up to 16 hours for the larger mega blast there's also a new Ultimate Ears app which will allow you to update the speakers with new features over time the speakers are set to ship at the end of October in six color options and we'll have full reviews in the coming weeks I'm David Carney for cnet.com thanks for watching you