Voices of the people I talked to came through loud and full, especially in comparison to the same voices on the iPhone's built-in speaker. Like most other Bluetooth speakers currently on the market, the Megaboom includes a speakerphone. Even at 85 decibels, the sound easily fills a large room. However, the sound did begin to distort around 90 decibels. Although the company says the speaker maxes out at 90 decibels, I measured almost 95 decibels. The Megaboom gets plenty loud - an important feature when you're by the pool or shooting the rapids.
Paul McCartney's strummed guitar on Rihanna's "FourFiveSeconds" came across full and realistic against her vocals. Cannonball Adderley's sax on "Autumn Leaves" sounded warm, while the acoustic bass resonated in the background. The Megaboom shines on acoustic music, too. The big speaker also deftly handled the complex mix of Robert Plant's vocals, Jimmy Page's distorted guitar and John Bonham's big drums on Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot" - sounds that smaller speakers can mash together. Although the horns in the song weren't as bright and detailed as they were when we listened to the same song on the Fugoo Tough, they were well balanced against the bass. The kick drum on Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" thumped with a tactile force that many Bluetooth speakers, like the Tough and Ecostone, lack. The Megaboom produces a big, balanced sound that sets it apart from other outdoor portables. Ultimate Ears also pushes firmware updates through the app, which holds the promise of more features and improvements down the road. Unfortunately, this feature works only with another Megaboom, not a Boom or Mini Boom. If you have two Megabooms, the app makes it possible to use both at the same time, either as left-right stereo or both mirroring the sound. Under Settings, you can disable the alert sounds that chime when you turn on the speaker. You can use the app to set an alarm that plays the last song you were listening to or a specific song in your library.