Ultimate Ears has today announced that their first smart speakers, powered by Amazon Alexa, will be arriving in Australia with the UE BLAST and MEGABLAST heading to stores next month.
The speakers integration with Alexa means you can access the full range of the Amazon smart assistant, including streaming music from Amazon’s music catalogue, or you can choose to stream through Amazon Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio and TuneIn (Spotify is coming later) – or you can have one of the hundreds of ‘Flash Briefings’ available for Alexa read out. Having Alexa at your beck and call also means you can use the BLAST and MEGABLAST to control your smarthome devices like light globes, tell Alexa to stream something to your FireTV or take advantage of the thousands of Alexa skills now available.
Charlotte Johs, general manager of Ultimate Ears said of the inclusion of Alexa in the BLAST and MEGABLAST
With MEGABLAST and BLAST, we wanted to take the mobile music experience to the next level with this new range, adding Wi-Fi and far-field voice recognition with Amazon Alexa.
The BLAST offers 90dBC sound with a 12-hour battery life, while the MEGABLAST offers 93 dBC with a 16-hour battery life. Both BLAST and MEGABLAST are IP67 rated, so they are dustproof and waterproof meaning you can take these speakers almost anywhere and ramp the party up.
Johs said ‘We turned it all the way up with MEGABLAST; we believe it is the best sounding portable smart speaker available today, and with its sleek, waterproof design, it will look at home with any interior, or wherever you take your music, from kitchen to backyard, beach to mountain’.
Ultimate Ears is also working on a new grouping feature that will come later this year which will let you connect up to eight MEGABLAST and BLAST speakers, with stereo mode supported for groups of two speakers on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The BLAST and MEGABLAST come in a range of vibrant colour options including Graphite (Black), Blizzard (White), Blue Steel, Merlot (Red), Mojito (Green) and Lemonade (Yellow) – though Ultimate Ears says the colour options will vary by country.
The speakers are portable, though offer the option to plug in to a charging dock called the POWER UP, an accessory you can add on for an additional $49.95, though you don’t need it to power your BLAST or MEGABLAST speakers, it does make it more convenient.
The BLAST and MEGABLAST speakers – and Power Up adapter – will arrive in stores in Australia on May 8th, with the UE BLAST priced at $279, while the UE MEGABLAST will be priced at $379. You can check out both the BLAST and MEGABLAST on the Ultimate Ears website right now.
