Giving both buttons a squeeze now gives you an audible battery readout. I was quite fond of the Tropical model I reviewed. These have some rather exciting names like ‘Tropical’ (orange and purple) and ‘Greenmachine’ (two different shades of green), but there are less vibrant options such as ‘Yeti’ (white) and ‘Phantom’ (black). The mesh cover means it can be easily wiped down, and there are plenty of colour options available. It should squeeze into the side netting of most backpacks, too, so you’re well covered for outdoor pursuits. The cylindrical design, much like a Pringles can, will still fit happily into a bike’s bottle holder. After a day lounging poolside, all that was required was to towel it, and myself, dry. It didn’t skip a beat when dropping it into the shallow end of the pool. I took one along on holiday and certainly found it lived up to its claims around water resistance. Needless to say, the UE Boom 2 makes for an excellent beach or pool companion. UE has used a tighter wrap on the mesh covering the speaker’s circumference, helping to seal out water. While the original Boom could survive the odd splash as well as being washed when it was grubby, the Boom 2 is now rated at IPX7 – meaning it can take a dip into a metre of water for up to half an hour and yet still remain fully functional. That’s not to say the Boom 2’s party trick of surviving hard drops is losing its appeal, though, and its waterproofing has also been improved over its predecessor.

Waterproof and ruggedized Bluetooth speakers aren’t quite the novelty they were when Ultimate Ears launched the original UE Boom.

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