Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review: A crowd-pleasing speaker

Ultimate Ears’ Wonderboom 4 can compete with some of the best portable Bluetooth speakers despite only offering minor improvements over its predecessor. With a colorful but rugged design, painless controls, Google Fast Pair support, passive radiators to enhance the bass, and a battery that lasted me all day, this speaker is a brilliant companion for parties, baths, or outdoor picnics.

At $100, the Wonderboom 4 is exactly the same price as its predecessor. However, there isn’t much that separates the two speakers, so I gave the Wonderboom 4 a thorough test to see if it’s worth the upgrade.

Price and availability

The Wonderboom 4 is available for $100 through Ultimate Ears’ website or retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. It is available in four colors: black, blue, pink, and white.

What’s good about the Wonderboom 4

Brilliant audio in a fun-size package

I was immediately sold on the Wonderboom 4, as I could start playing music within a minute of taking it out of the box. The speaker came fully charged, and thanks to Google Fast Pair, the Bluetooth connection with my Pixel phone was instantaneous. In fact, the only reference I made to the instruction booklet was to locate the EQ mode switcher (it’s on the bottom).

The Wonderboom 4 is a rugged device designed to handle drops, immersion in water for up to 30 minutes, and general knocks and scrapes. However, this doesn’t detract from its friendly appearance. Even the black-and-white colors come with a bright carabiner hook; there’s no avoiding a bit of fun with this speaker.

There’s also an effort made for practical uses. The Wonderboom 4 uses a USB-C charging port, which was bizarrely missing on the Wonderboom 3 in favor of a micro-USB port. This is the bare minimum for Bluetooth speakers in 2024, so we’re glad that Ultimate Ears took the time to bring its speakers into the modern era.

However, audio quality is what really matters when considering a Bluetooth speaker, and the Wonderboom 4 doesn’t disappoint in all aspects. Its sound profile easily captures deep bass and high-frequency notes and sounds brilliant even in large open spaces. On a small speaker like this, bass tends to get lost, but the Wonderboom 4 captured every bass guitar note in Dire Strait’s Telegraph Road without a hitch, even amongst the flurry of guitar and piano notes, which rang crystal clear.

Overall, the Wonderboom 4’s ability to capture clarity and detail across all songs makes this one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market. Consistency is the watchword here; you can expect the same quality on complex jazz songs as with thunderous heavy metal. However, this was all present on the Wonderboom 3.

What’s bad about the Wonderboom 4

Barely an upgrade over its predecessor

The Wonderboom 4 differs from the Wonderboom 3 in precisely two ways. The first is the replacement of the micro-USB port with USB-C (finally!), and the second is the addition of Podcast Mode to the EQ switcher. Thankfully, Ultimate Ears didn’t increase the price, but as you can buy the Wonderboom 3 at steep discounts, the Wonderboom 4 feels slightly pointless for the time being. There’s also some tough competition, notably the Anker Soundcore Motion 300, which is $20 cheaper with a similar sound profile.

The Wonderboom 3 introduced Outdoor Boost, which reduces the bass frequencies to aid listening in open spaces. This great feature returned on the Wonderboom 4 with the addition of Podcast Mode.

Podcast Mode makes vocals crisp and clear, which is undoubtedly true, but I won’t ever use it. This vocal clarity comes at the cost of a lower range of audio. While this is helpful for clarity, the result is thin voices that lose the subtleties necessary for audiobooks and audio dramas.

Andy Serkis’ reading of The Lord of the Rings was particularly affected, turning the care and emotion he puts into his character’s voices into a featureless tone. I can’t fault the feature for delivering crisp vocals, but it’s unsuitable for audiobooks. Stick to the standard EQ setting unless you enjoy podcasts already spoken in a flat monotone.

Should you buy it?

Yes, unless you have a micro-USB cable to hand.

The Wonderboom 4 is a fantastic speaker. It packs an unbelievable range of audio for its size, and its portable and rugged nature means you can take it anywhere. The simple controls also remove the frustration of Bluetooth connectivity, letting you enjoy your music without spending minutes pressing and holding random buttons to prompt a connection.

However, if you already have the Wonderboom 3, you don’t have to rush out and upgrade, as there aren’t too many changes in this newer model. Plus, the new Podcast Mode feels pointless. So, as long as you don’t mind wrangling with outdated cables, the Wonderboom 3 offers the same audio profile. Nevertheless, if you’re willing to pay full price, the Wonderboom 4 won’t disappoint. Whether you’re in a cavernous hall or a tiny bedroom, the Wonderboom 4 will impress everyone in that space. And let’s not forget that you can literally take a bath with it.