Over the past year or so, there's been a strong trend toward voice assistant speakers, with a number of companies jockeying to provide their own takes on Wi-Fi capable speakers that offer support for Alexa, driving the popularity of Amazon's voice assistant up to new heights.…

"If you're looking for Alexa, she's in the bath with me" is not a sentence we ever pictured ourselves uttering but it's actually become surprisingly common since we started reviewing the new Ultimate Ears Megablast.

Waterproof and robust; Portable; Great sound; Convenient Alexa integration; Good updates coming

Still awaiting some key features; Expensive; Charging dock sold separately

If you're on the hunt for a deafeningly loud, nigh-indestructible Bluetooth speaker that's perfect for garden and pool parties you'll struggle to do better than the UE Megablast. The Megablast is the successor to the Megaboom, and it's the largest speaker in UE's current range.

Stupidly loud; Decent sound for the money; Long battery life

Bass can be overpowering; Alexa smart functions are a little hit and miss

We looked/listened at a few on the market and this won hands down. Now we have it in our home it doesn't disappoint, the sound quality (low or high) is next to none. It's handy having Alexa on it and because I already had the app on my phone it seemed to link up by magic. Recommended

The smart speaker market is becoming a highly contentious field, more brands are releasing devices with Google Assistant integration trying to out sell the othe

The product has issues only used a couple of times and it already disconnects and makes odd noises.

Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST is an excellent, one stop, portable Bluetooth smart speaker that will blast your room and ears with no remorse. Combined with a stylishly strong design statement and an IP67 rating (for dustproof & waterproof), the MEGABLAST is a blast to have around for different occasions.

Purchased last week from the friendly staff at JB Frankston. This is a well designed and built speaker. Connected immediately using Bluetooth and a Sony Xperia Z5 Crystal clear audio with tight bass. The vocals on 3AW are like I am in the studio! Music is pure and can go very very LOUD!! Paul

So loud it shakes the ceiling. Great to final have portable sound wherever you go, boat, beach, pool or just while you're in the shed. Another useful Alexa controlled device, so music from Amazon prime or any bluetooth connected device.

From my experience, the Blast and Megablast have two main drawbacks. The first is price. At $230 and $298 for the Blast and Megablast, respectively, they are expensive. You can buy a range of other quality portable Bluetooth speakers, both rugged or elegant, for less.