For Rs. 8995, the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox is a neat little Bluetooth speaker, but it is as barebones as they come. There is no audio-in port, no playback controls, no ability to control your phone and there is nothing in the box to help you fasten the Boombox to your car’s dash. Yet, this little guy does have some redeeming qualities.
The microphone is placed just behind the Bluetooth Pairing button The front grill covers the two 1 inch full range speakers
Performance:
The Mobile boombox can pair with up to 8 devices over Bluetooth, which is pretty great. While Bluetooth pairing is good, we would have preferred NFC on here to make pairing easier, but it seems like one can’t have it all. Bluetooth pairing can be a little tricky, seeing as how there is no visual indication of the actual pairing, but the boombox does emit a certain sound when a phone successfully pairs.
If you’re looking to get this for casual listening, there are a few things you should absolutely know. For starters, this is NOT the system you want to use if you’re having a party. It’s just not powerful enough. However, if you have a small room and enjoy a little ambient music in your room, something like a little Blues or some Jazz, then you might quite enjoy this little thing. The best part is it can stream music over Bluetooth, so everything is wireless. While the tech specs claim 30 feet of coverage, we found that we could best manage being roughly 20 feet away without experiencing any problems. One feature we missed the most on the Boombox is the ability to control playback. We’d think that being a music speaker and all, Logitech would give more than just volume controls.
We also used the Boombox as our little “hands-free” device while driving around town and made a few important observations. For starters, there is no way to secure the Boombox to the dash of your car. The rubberized finish on this thing is supposed to hold it in place, but with frequent speeding and stopping, the Boombox does tend to move around and can be quiet distracting. Besides, it can be a little dangerous when your first reaction is to try and reach for this thing to prevent it from flying off the dash, while in traffic. It would have been much nicer had Logitech bundled a little cradle or some tool to fasten it to the car’s dash. The Boombox also has no way of controlling calls. Meaning, you can’t accept or decline calls using the speaker. You will end up having to reach for the phone in several situations anyway.
The only buttons on the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox are for volume control and pairing. No Playback controls here people.
As far as using this for making calls is concerned, the voice quality at our end was actually quite good, but sadly, we cannot say the same for the person hearing us at the other end. The microphone on the UE Mobile Boombox wasn’t powerful enough to pick up our voice as we spoke normally. Many a times, a raised voice was needed for the other person to hear us clearly. The problem gets worse if you’re driving with the windows down or the air conditioning turned up way high.
Conclusion:
The Logitech UE Mobile Boombox costs Rs. 8,995 and in return gives you a little speaker than can pair with up to 8 phones over Bluetooth, but no NFC. It has two 1-inch full range speaker along with a top firing mini sub (yes there is one!) The sound isn’t the stuff of concerts, but it’s great for small rooms that beg ambient, soothing sounds. While it may not have been a stellar performer as a hands-free device while driving around, it’s still quite a hassle-free solution for taking calls while driving. The 3.5mm audio out port on the back makes absolutely no sense and could have instead have been swapped out for an audio-in. Lastly, the lack of any kind of information display can make things a little confusing. What would have been great was if Logitech had paired up a small screen along with playback controls onto the Boombox to truly make a versatile little gadget. In its current state, it’s just a little speaker that can do no more than push out sound.
.jpg)