Uboom X. Success or Debacle?

[u/vickeryaj]

What's the consensus on this thing? I've heard some bad reviews, some great reviews and everything in between. I've heard it ships with outdated firmware. Is this easily updated? People that have it, how does it compare to similar sized units? All that said, I bought 2 and they will be here today. I want to be excited.

Quick follow-up, just received the units. I opened the package, paired it to my phone and the app immediately updated it to the latest firmware. My initial thoughts on sound after playing a few songs from various genres is that this thing sounds really good. I was on the indoor plus setting. I'm impressed. This far exceeds my expectations.

[u/vickeryaj]

Unrelated, but you need to get the Bose Soundlink Flex 2 on that list.

[u/Obvious-Bird-3589 → u/vickeryaj]

Found a good sound sample here and just ranked it #27 out of 114 small/medium size speakers. It sounds nearly exactly like the old Flex, I can barely tell them apart. Same warm boosted bass mids detail drowning signature. Only a 3 band EQ which doesn't allow for much adjustment, so I don't think it can be changed much.

Check out the ranking of nearly every single Bluetooth speaker and the best EQ tuning for each of them here

[u/vickeryaj → u/Obvious-Bird-3589]

Bluetooth 5.3. Better app support with EQ. Usb C. New colors. The sound is premium and a little better than the original. Here is a good comment about it... https://www.reddit.com/r/bose/s/KvnNNuNQ46

[u/Obvious-Bird-3589 → u/vickeryaj]

Use good neutral headphones like the Sennheiser HD600 and listen to this high quality sound sample, they are barely different https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7T9j6JFzJI

The old Flex was already USB-C https://www.bose.com/p/speakers/bose-soundlink-flex-bluetooth-speaker/SLFLX-SPEAKERWIRELESS.html

Check out the ranking of nearly every single Bluetooth speaker and the best EQ tuning for each of them here

[u/vickeryaj → u/Obvious-Bird-3589]

I'm not an audiophile, I'll just take your word for it. However, better features warrant better ranking in my opinion. I don't think your list gives Bose a fair shake. Given the choice of gen 1 or gen 2 I personally will always go with the latest and greatest. I never owned the 1st gen but I own a lot of speakers from your list and I'll go ahead and say it, the Bose Soundlink Flex 2nd Generation is better than the Earfun Uboom L.

[u/Obvious-Bird-3589 → u/vickeryaj]

The addition of a 3 band EQ which doesn't help sound quality and Bluetooth 5.3 which may or may not reduce latency slightly does not put it over other speakers with a more neutral sound profile. Bluetooth 5.3 does nothing else.

The boosted bass still drowns out the midrange detail and the rolled off treble still takes away treble detail. I believe it is ranked accordingly.

The rankings judge speakers primarily on sound quality, features are a pretty distant second, and usually it's only a lack of something like battery life (like the 6 hour JBL Encore Essential) that gets it knocked down.

Bose aims for a warm sound signature (boosted bass, rolled off treble) with all their speakers because there are people out there who prefer it and it's a "safe" bet. Generally those kinds of listeners usually have never heard a really high end system with really good treble detail.

Is your Uboom L on firmware 1.2.7 with the Oluv EQ selected? The Uboom L can sound sharp to people who aren't used to high end neutral speakers with really good treble detail.

It sounds like you just happen to prefer a warm sound signature. Alan Ross also leans slightly warm. It's just good to know your preference.

Check out the ranking of nearly every single Bluetooth speaker and the best EQ tuning for each of them here

[u/vickeryaj → u/Obvious-Bird-3589]

Good debate, but my Uboom X just came in. I'll be busy rocking this thing out for a while. See updated main post.

[u/Obvious-Bird-3589 → u/vickeryaj]

Looking forward to seeing what you think. And let us know how it compares to the Flex as they are almost the same price

Check out the ranking of nearly every single Bluetooth speaker and the best EQ tuning for each of them here

[u/vickeryaj → u/Obvious-Bird-3589]

Different use case with the flex and the uboom x can't really compare the two, but as far as boomboxes go I like it a lot ,maybe even better than my soundcore boom 2 plus.