UE Megaboom & Boom 2 Speakers Will Get Alexa Australia Firmware Update

There are currently no smart speakers powered by Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant on-sale here in Australia, but with an impending launch by Amazon looming, that could be about to change.

Logitech Ultimate Ears (UE) currently has two Bluetooth speaker models (UE BOOM 2 and UE MEGABOOM) in Australia which support voice integration with Google and Siri’s smart voice assistants. Note that this functionality is triggered by pressing the Bluetooth button on top of the speakers, it isn’t always on listening.

UE has confirmed to Ausdroid that a firmware update which allows Android phone users to tap BOOM 2 and MEGABOOM to talk to Alexa will be available after Amazon launches Alexa here in Australia. 

Once this occurs you’ll be able to enable Alexa on these speakers by following the instructions at UE Australia Voice Integration support.

Reading the UE USA voice integration support page reveals some interesting caveats to be aware of:

What you need to use Amazon Alexa with your Ultimate Ears speaker once Alexa gets enabled in Australia:

• BOOM 2 and MEGABOOM (it will not work with any other Ultimate Ears speaker or a special edition BOOM 2 or MEGABOOM such as BOOM 2 All Blacks, BOOM 2 Skrillex or MEGABOOM Shockwave)
• Android phones with Android 5.0 or higher (it will not work with Google Pixel or any Bixby enabled Samsung device)
• The latest version of the BOOM 2 or MEGABOOM app that supports Alexa Voice Service
• You must also Opt-in to use the feature and have an Amazon Alexa account

UE also says that only one smart voice assistant can be enabled on their speakers at a time. If you’ve previously used Google Assistant, activating the Alexa Voice Service in the Boom 2 or Megaboom app on your phone will disable this feature, but you can go back to Google Assistant by signing out of Amazon Alexa.

By the way our recent Bluetooth Speaker poll shows that the UE range of Bluetooth speakers are the most popular amongst Ausdroid readers. At time of writing 32.62% of voters prefer the Ultimate Ears (UE) brand, followed by JBL at 16.74% and Bose rounding out the top 3 at 14.16%.