Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review: a top-class rugged compact speaker

For years, now, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom in its various generations has been a mainstay on lists of the best Bluetooth speakers out there, regardless of budget – but particularly if you don't want to break the bank.

The Wonderboom 3 arrived in late 2022 with only one major flaw – it still inexplicably used micro-USB charging, something we almost couldn't believe even then.

Now, though, the Wonderboom 4 is here to take its place, fixing that blip without any price rise to speak of. We've been using it for many weeks for this review to check out how this portable little speaker stacks up.

Wonderboom 4: Price & Availability

The Wonderboom 4 is widely available now, and has basically taken the place of the Wonderboom 3 on many storefronts. This does mean that you'll want to be careful to order the 4, not the 3 – in some cases it can be a little hard to tell the difference between listings.

This is made harder because the Wonderboom 4 hasn't raised the price at all, coming in at £89.99 / $99.99 / AU$149. It might be generous to praise the absence of a price rise, but right now we've seen many others fail to clear that bar, so we'll very much take it.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review: Design & Features

The image above features the Wonderboom 4 in blue and the Wonderboom 3 in pink – and it's a perfect illustration of how little things have changed on the design front this time out. But if it ain't broke, don't fit it, right?

You basically won't find even tiny differences between the two generations, with both still featuring that largely fabric-covered finish in a range of funky colours. The trademark Ultimate Ears giant 'plus and minus' buttons are present and correct – and still just as satisfying to use as ever.

Atop the speaker there's a power button that also initiates pairing, along with an indicator light that will let you know if the battery starts to run low, and when pairing has started or been successful. Underneath it, meanwhile, there's a button to turn on its outdoor mode for an EQ change to make for clearer audio.

This lack of change means that the Wonderboom 4 is still as impressively portable as ever, sized perfectly for chucking in a backpack, and small enough that you could credibly pack it for a holiday without compromising your baggage space too much at all. It's no longer the smallest UE speaker, after the launch of the Mini Roll, but it's still extremely practical.

That practicality extends to its durability, too, which remains class-leading. An IP67 weatherproofing rating means it's safe from both water and dust, to the point where it can take a dunking in up to a metre of water for 30 minutes and still survive (in fact, it floats to make this even more unlikely). This is the sort of peace of mind that you want from a portable speaker of this nature.

Another site of no change is the battery life, which remains at 14 hours, enough to ensure that you don't have to remember to charge it every time you use it. This brings us to the single upgrade that makes the Wonderboom 4 such a winner – USB-C charging. Now that UE has finally added it, you're one device closer to being able to ditch flimsy micro-USB cables forever (if you even still have any knocking about).

A final returning feature is the ability to pair two Wonderbooms (including cross-generational pairs) to offer stereo sound, which is great if two people happen to have one, or if you want to add a Wonderboom 4 without selling on your Wonderboom 3. The perfect upgrade, really!

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review: Sound & Performance

Holding down that power button to actually get the Wonderboom 4 powered up, you'll be greeted by one of the simpler setups you could want from a Bluetooth speaker in 2024. Even that stereo pairing feature can be completed without any app, just by holding buttons with the two speakers near each other.

That's a good thing, to be clear, and it ensures that there are no hoops to jump through to get your music coming out loud and clear. That music will sound really nice, too – we ran the gamut of genres without finding any that showed it up.

Ultimate Paintings mellow guitars and chilled-out vocals sounded natural at all but the highest of volumes, although the Wonderboom 4 was probably more at home with the likes of The Joy Formidable's crashing riffs and banging drums (we've been feeling nostalgic recently).

As mentioned, at higher volumes it can strain slightly in terms of fidelity, with a tiny bit of graininess entering the equation, but we think those are heights that few people will use often, and at normal volumes it's exemplary. It can also get impressively quiet, which we really value – a great speaker can be used in a range of ways, not just to drown out any other noise.

With that sound being 360-degree, you don't have to worry about positioning the speaker carefully, and the aforementioned durability makes that even easier. Whether it's raining or beaming down with sun, the Wonderboom 4 won't be something you need to think about. And 40 metres of Bluetooth range (provided you don't stick multiple walls in that range) means that it can also be left at a distance.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review: Verdict

The Wonderboom 3 has been our pick for the best budget Bluetooth speaker on the market for a couple of years now, but it's easily one-upped by the Wonderboom 4. This is one of the easiest speakers to recommend that we can think of – especially given its attractive asking price.

For the money you get great sound, some welcome features, and extremely impressive durability to make for a speaker you don't have to handle with deep care. That addition of that USB-C charging makes it genuinely practical on every level at last, so there's now no reason to opt for the older version unless you see it steeply discounted.

Also consider

If you like the cut of Ultimate Ears' jib but want an even smaller speaker to stick in a backpack or even pocket, the new Mini Roll might be of interest. It's noticeably less powerful, but also cheaper and impressively tiny.

Alternatively, if you have a bit more budget and want the best sound you can get at a similar scale, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 V2 tops our list of the best Bluetooth speakers for a reason. It's compact but doesn't compromise on sound, so its music sounds incredibly sweet through B&O's impressive drivers.