A couple of weeks after Sonos introduced a new speaker with Amazon Alexa integration, another well-known speaker manufacturer has done the same thing.
Ultimate Ears today introduced the Blast and Megablast, its new portable Bluetooth speakers. Both offer hands-free voice control, and when connected to Wi-Fi, you can ask Alexa to stream music from services like Amazon Music and iHeartRadio. Voice control for Spotify, Pandora, and Deezer are expected to be added in the future.
You can also use Alexa on the Blast and Megablast to control smart home devices, order pizza from Domino’s, and use Alexa’s other skills, so long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
The UE Blast and Megablast also offer IP67 water and dust resistance and 360-degree sound. UE touts that the Megablast is 40 percent louder than the Megaboom, its other large portable speaker. When it comes to battery life, UE says that the Blast gets up to 12 hours of battery life on a charge, while the Megablast gets up to 16 hours.
The UE Blast and Megablast are launching in the U.S., U.K., and Germany today, October 19th. Pricing for the Blast is set at $229.99, while the Blast is $299.99. Both speakers are available in Graphite (Black), Blizzard (White), Blue Steel, Merlot (Red), Mojito (Green), and Lemonade (Yellow) color options.
Customers that purchase a Blast or Megablast before January 23rd, 2018 will receive a free three-month subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited.
Also announced today by UE is the Power Up, a charging dock to make recharging your Blast and Megablast easier. This charging dock is available for $39.99. And just so you’re aware, the Power Up isn’t required to recharge the Blast or Megablast, as each speaker comes with a microUSB cable and a port on the bottom of the unit for recharging.
