So a few weeks ago we compared the original JBL Boombox to the UE Hyperboom… and the
Hyperboom came out the winner in that match up.
But today we have a rematch cause we’re going to be comparing the UE Hyperboom to
the new JBL Boombox 2.
So lets see how these two large portable bluetooth speakers stack up against one another and
finally crown a definitive winner.
Now as always let's address price first.
The UE hyperboom has a retail price of $400 where as the JBL Boombox 2 has a retail price
of $500.
So obviously there’s a $100 price difference between these two speakers and that can definitely
be a differentiating factor for a lot of people.
So if you want to pick either of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below, and if
you want to learn more about either of these speakers please watch their full reviews cause
we’re only going to be going over the main differences here.
Okay, but now lets address the designs of these speakers.
Both of these speakers are great portable speakers because they both have built in carrying
handles… they’re both relatively light weight cause they both weigh in at 13 pounds.
They both have mostly fabric bodies so they can stand up to constant bumps and scrapes.
And they both aren’t afraid of a little bit of water.
So if either of these speakers get a drink spilled on them or if they get caught out
in the rain, they’ll be perfectly fine.
But personally I do prefer the Hyperboom’s vertical orientation over the Boombox 2’s
horizontal orientation cause ive noticed that its much easier to place the hyperboom around
the house or on a table cause it takes up significantly less surface area.
So the Hyperboom’s vertical orientation just gives you way more freedom when it comes
to placing your speaker around the house.
Now when it comes to tech specs, the Hyperboom is using bluetooth 5.0 where as the boombox
2 is using 5.1.
ultimately this isn’t a big deal cause both of these speakers can be connected to 2 bluetooth
devices at a time so you and a friend can both be DJ and both of these speakers are
strictly using SBC.
Neither one of these speakers have AAC or APTX support unfortunately.
But I do want to point out that the Hyperboom has zero latency across the board when ever
you watch videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or and android device which
is good where as the Boombox 2 does have a noticeable latency across the board whether
you’re using an iPhone or android device.
Now I rarely use large speakers like these to watch videos with but I know some people
do.
Now when it comes to ports both of these speakers have an audio jack and they both have a USB
A out port so that you can charge your own devices.
But personally I still wish both of these speakers had a USB C port cause a lot of phones
these days are starting to come included with USB C cables.
I just feel that if either of these speakers had a USB C port they would have been future
proofed a little better.
But the hyperboom does have something the Boombox 2 doesn’t have and thats an optical
port.
So if you wanted to you can actually hook up your hyperboom to your TV or gaming console
and use it as a sound bar.
Cause you know TV these days have awful built in speakers.
So I really think the optical port on the Hyperboom give it a lot of extra versatility
and it can also help justify this rather large purchase for some people especially if they
don’t already have a sound bar.
Cause you can use it for listening to music and also watching TV.
Now when it comes to battery life both of these speakers have an advertised battery
life of 24 hours.
But those numbers are for when you’re using these speakers at 50% volume.
Real world use with these speakers set at 80% volume the hyperboom is good for around
8 and a half hours of playback time where as the Boombox 2 is good for around 7 hours
of playback time.
So over all both of these speakers are good for a whole day of high volume listening.
But during this quarantine and since ive been working out at home ive noticed that the hyperboom
does outlast the boombox 2 a little bit.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these speakers.
The boombox 2 has the same set up as the original boombox.
You’ve got dual woofers on the front, and dual tweeters and you’ve also got dual passive
radiators shooting out the sides of this speaker.
Where as the Hyperboom also has a dual woofer and dual tweeter set up, but its passive radiators
shoot out the back which does give it an advantage.
Now also keep in mind the Boombox 2 now only has a single EQ setting where as the Hyperboom
as a fully customizable EQ.
But for this sound test im going to be using the Hyperboom’s stock EQ.
And also this sound test is going to be comparing these speakers at their max volumes cause
I know thats what everyone is most curious about.
So first off I want to point out that the Boombox 2 sound signature likes to put an
emphasis on the mids and a little bit on the highs as well so vocals are very pronounced
and it also seems like the Boombox 2 is louder than the Hyperboom.
Where as the Hyperboom’s stock sound signature has a much more neutral sound signature so
the mids and highs aren’t as pronounced but more importantly the Hyperboom sounds
much warmer cause it has significantly more bass then the Boombox 2.
Personally I think the Hyperboom sounds best with its stock EQ.
But if you want to bring the mids and highs out a little bit you can absolutely do that
cause the Hyperboom has a fully customizable EQ.
Where as with the Boombox 2 you’re stuck with what JBL gives you.
Now from a performance standpoint… even though I just said that the Boombox 2 sounds
louder than the hyperboom cause it put an emphasis on the mids and highs, it actually
not cause you can clearly see that the Hyperboom manages to out perform Boombox 2 here.
Now one thing that you can do with the Boombox 2 to get a little bit more out of it is to
plug it in.
And when you have this speaker plugged in it manages to get a little louder and it gets
a little more bass.
But even when its plugged in the Boombox 2 still doesn’t get as loud or put out as
much physical bass as the hyperboom when its running off of its built in battery.
But something that I do have to point out is that the Hyperboom doesn’t get a performance
boost when you have it plugged like the Boombox 2 does.
Personally I don’t think thats a good or a bad thing but over all the hyperboom manages
to get louder and has more physical bass than the Boombox 2 even when its plugged in.
And over all I really do prefer listening to music with the Hyperboom over the Boombox
2.
My biggest problem with the Boombox 2 is that since I does put an emphasis on the mids and
highs it can get ear piercing at time at high volumes and it can sound overly bright.
Where as with the Hyperboom if you use its stock EQ it just sounds way more natural.
But the biggest reason why I love the hyperboom is cause it put out a ton of physical bass…
so you can really feel your music.
Where with the boombox and boombox 2 this speaker really only increase their bass up
until 80% and then from there on out just the mids and highs get increased.
So at higher volumes the Boombox 2 is just blaring out a ton of Mids and highs but sounds
empty cause it doesn’t have the bass to back it up.
So the hyperboom is a straight up bass machine, but you can also amplify its bass by simply
putting it up against a wall so that the bass has something to bounce off of.
Now unfortunately you can’t do this as easily with the Boombox 2 cause its passive radiators
shoot out the sides so you gotta find a corner that works.
Where as since both of the passive radiators on the Hyperboom shoot out the back any wall
or surface will do.
Now one of the really cool things about the Hyperboom is that it has an adaptive EQ kind
of like the HomePod.
Now what it does is that it keeps your music sounding good no matter where you place it.
So like I just said if you were to place the hyperboom up against a wall you can amplify
your bass… but having a ton of bass means nothing if you can’t actually hear the rest
of your music.
So what the adaptive EQ does is that it’ll automatically adjust your EQ so that you still
get a ton of bass but everything else is still balanced and audible.
Now you can really tell when the adaptive EQ is working when you bring your speaker
from outdoors to indoors.
When the Hyperboom detects that its outdoors it’ll boost up its bass so that you’re
still getting a good amount of thump.
But then when you bring the Hyperboom back inside it’ll sound muffled for a few seconds
cause the bass is turned all the way up but once the speaker realizes its indoors it’ll
even everything out again.
So I really like the Hyperboom has an adjustable EQ cause you can make it sound how ever you
want.
And I also really appreciate its adaptive EQ cause it keeps this speaker sounding great
no matter where you place it.
And I really wish the Boombox 2 had at least an adjustable EQ cause like I said it earlier
its highs can get ear piercing at times.
Especially snare drums.
But another feature that I really like about the hyperboom is that you can also remotely
power it on or off straight from its app.
Now its not a huge deal that the boombox 2 doesn’t have this but it does come in handy
from time to time.
Specifically for those time you might forget to turn your speaker off when its in the other
room
So over all…
I think the clear winner here is the Hyperboom.
From a performance standpoint I highly prefer listening to the Hyperboom over the boombox
2 cause the sheer amount of bass this speaker is putting out makes listening to your music
much more physical.
And since the hyperboom doesn’t have the bright sound signature found on the Boombox
2 it doesn’t get ear piercing at higher volumes.
Personally during this whole quarantine since ive been working out at home ive been using
both of these speakers in my home gym… and I couldn’t wait to switch back to the Hyperboom
cause the Boombox 2 just sounds flat by comparison.
But also the Hyperboom also has all of these added benefits over the Boombox 2.
It has an adjustable EQ so you can make is sound however you want, its adaptive EQ keep
this speaker sounding great whether you’re using it indoors or outdoors, it has a slightly
better battery life cause ive notice ive been able to go an extra workout in between charges
with this speaker, you can hook it up to your tv and ive also noticed that its easier to
place around the house cause of its vertical orientation.
And finally there’s the fact that this speaker costs $100 less than the Boombox 2 which is
just the cherry on top.
You can call me a hyperboom fan boy all you want, but you’re going to have to pry my
hyperboom out of my cold dead hands.