EarFun UBOOM X

A sturdy carrying strap is also included with the Bluetooth speakers (see review overview) for greater mobility on longer outdoor adventures. The housing is also dust and waterproof to IP67, and is designed to float on the surface of the water rather than sink when you have fun in it.

Battery life

According to the manufacturer, the portable speaker has a battery life of 30 hours, which seems realistic for mixed everyday use. Fast charging is supported at 30 watts, which means that after just ten minutes of power, there is capacity for another three hours. However, it takes four to six hours to fully recharge the box, with four hours possible with a 30-watt quick charge. The power bank function also provides a ten-watt output to power the smartphone when needed. The rear ports are protected by a rubber cover. As well as the two USB-C ports, the Bluetooth speakers also have a 3.5mm audio input for wired playback. Great!

Bluetooth Specifications

In addition to the Bluetooth 5.3 standard, the EarFun UBOOM X supports a TWS mode (True Wireless Stereo Mode) for classic stereo output over two speakers. In party mode, up to 50 individual UBOOM Xs can even be synchronised with each other. A latency-reduced video mode is also available for watching movies and playing computer or mobile phone games, although this can only be used in stand-alone mode and not when multiple units are linked together. In terms of audio codecs, the wireless speakers are also equipped with SBC and AAC, but higher resolution variants are not available. Multipoint connections with two devices at the same time have also been omitted.

The stability of the Bluetooth connection is a positive feature, as it is easy to move between floors and rooms indoors. Outdoors, the first dropouts can occur at 30 metres.

Control

Seven rubberised buttons on the top provide direct access to many functions, regardless of the application. These include switching the speaker on and off, activating pairing mode, starting playback, handling phone calls and skipping forwards and backwards when selecting tracks. The volume can be adjusted in fine increments by simply pressing and in larger increments by holding down the plus or minus button. You can also access the voice assistant and control the RGB lighting. The buttons can also be used to activate or deactivate video, TWS and party modes, with an LED indicating the status.

EarFun Audio App

The sound control of the app connection (Android and iOS) is comprehensive and includes 14 presets for boosting or cutting bass, mids and treble at different levels of intensity. These are followed by 15 genre-specific settings for hip-hop, pop or rock. There is also a choice of seven signature presets from the artist ‘Oluv’, with special tunings for indoor and outdoor use, as well as a flat studio curve. However, there is currently a noticeable loss of volume when using the signature settings, which could be remedied. There is also the option of creating your own settings via a ten-band EQ, which can be saved as presets.

The EarFun UBOOM X’s RGB lighting can also be customised via the app. The colour can be configured, including a play of colours, and the lighting can be either rhythmic or static. You can also adjust the volume of the audio feedback, set a timer and activate video mode. If you are in a hurry, you can also turn the box off directly from the app. You can also control playback and update the firmware.

Hands-free function

Making and receiving phone calls via the Bluetooth speakers is surprisingly easy, as the built-in microphone technology ensures clear, crisp voice transmission. One advantage is that wind noise is completely suppressed outdoors and does not affect speech intelligibility. Loud background noise, on the other hand, will be heard by the other person, but will be attenuated so that your own voice remains intelligible.

The sound

The EarFun UBOOM X are designed to give you a full, rich sound experience with two 4″ woofers, two 20mm tweeters and two passive side radiators. What the Bluetooth speakers do very well, both indoors and outdoors, is provide wide sound coverage thanks to their wide dispersion characteristics. There is no need to stand at a particular angle or directly in front of the speaker. However, the Party Speaker sounds best in closed rooms at moderate to medium volumes. On the one hand, this is due to the midrange, which should be clearer for indoor use, but instead sounds rather washed out, which means that speech intelligibility suffers somewhat. In addition, the basic sound seems to be a little too bassy for indoor use, with the lower frequencies starting to boom as the volume increases. The high frequencies, on the other hand, seem to be under-represented. A certain amount of background noise is also noticeable in closed rooms.

The sound potential of the Bluetooth speakers really comes into its own outdoors. When used outdoors, the party speaker sounds much more structured, dynamic and harmonious, even at medium volumes. As the bass is no longer dominant, the midrange and treble are much more prominent. If you want to boost the bass, you can easily do so using the EQ or one of the outdoor presets. However, don’t expect any real deep bass, as the speaker’s reproduction doesn’t go down far enough. That doesn’t mean you have to forgo a rich foundation for a fun outdoor sound system. Just don’t crank the volume too high, as the sound becomes increasingly thin and treble-heavy. However, at higher volumes, the wireless speakers sound extremely powerful outdoors.

Conclusion

When used outdoors, the EarFun UBOOM X is a robust, portable party speaker with an entertaining sound. The loss of volume in the signature presets seems to be an area for improvement. On the other hand, the buoyant Bluetooth speakers score points with a very good hands-free system, a low-latency video mode, an integrated power supply and an AUX input.