Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 vs Wonderboom 3: What’s changed?

Ultimate Ears has released the successor to its five-star Wonderboom 3 portable speaker in the aptly named Wonderboom 4.

As we gave the Wonderboom 3 a perfect rating, how does the Wonderboom 4 compare? We’ve noted the key changes and highlighted any similarities below, so you can decide whether to upgrade.

Wonderboom 4 is more expensive

The Wonderboom 4 is more expensive than its predecessor, with an RRP of £89.99 whereas Wonderboom 3 now has an RRP of just £69.99. 

If you order your Wonderboom 3 through the Ultimate Ears website, it is available in two exclusive extra colours: Spruce Green and Digital Lavender. Otherwise, both speakers are available in Active Black, Performance Blue, Hyper Pink and Joyous Bright.

Wonderboom 4 has a new Podcast Mode

The Wonderboom 4 promises to offer crisp and clear vocals to optimise the sound of podcasts and audiobooks. This is done with the new and specially designed EQ mode, which can be activated by pressing the on-device Outdoor Boost button twice. 

The Wonderboom 3 does not support Podcast Mode but does feature Outdoor Boost which reduces the bass and puts “emphasis on the mid-range clarity and high frequencies”. The latter can also be found on the Wonderboom 4. 

The hardware remains unchanged

The two Wonderbooms sport an identical design as both are 104mm tall and weigh just 420g, making them particularly portable. 

In addition, both offer a 360° sound thanks to two active 40mm drivers and two passive radiators. Both also have a maximum sound level of 86 dBC in normal mode and 87 dBC with Outdoor Boost turned on.

The fact the hardware doesn’t changed or hasn’t been updated isn’t necessarily an issue. AV Editor Kob Monney praised the Wonderboom 3’s tone and found it strikes a “better balance” with more detail than the Wonderboom 2. Here’s hoping for a similar outcome with the Wonderboom 4.

Both are IP67-rated

Naturally as outdoor speakers both the Wonderboom 3 and Wonderboom 4 boast an IP67 rating, which means the speakers are dust tight and can survive a dunking in up to one metres of water for up to 30 minutes. 

Not only that but both speakers are drop-proof up to five-foot too. 

Wonderboom 4 has a USB-C port

One of the biggest frustrations with the Wonderboom 3 was that it still used a micro-USB port rather than USB-C. Ultimate Ears listened and has upgraded the Wonderboom 4 to USB-C charging.