When you're a gadget blogger, your friends typically have a classic, back-pocket question around the holiday season: What should I get So-and-So as a gift? My most-used answer used to be the Boom, a Bluetooth speaker made by Ultimate Ears. This year is different.

Indestructible and sleek with high quality sound

Can't do everything an Echo can

A Bluetooth speaker with Alexa capabilities

Indestructible and sleek with high quality sound

Indestructible and sleek with high quality sound

Can't do everything an Echo can

Bluetooth speakers may be a commodity at this point, but Ultimate Ears wants to set the new Blast and Megablast apart with Amazon's Alexa. Joining Bluetooth is WiFi, and the ability to speak to Amazon's virtual assistant: whether that be for requesting music, giving your connected home instructions,...

Loud; rugged speakers withstand rough treatment; Alexa without the power cord is great; Megablast lives up to its name in volume; Charging dock is convenient

Services like Spotify over WiFi are missing; Both speakers are expensive; and the dock costs extra; Bluetooth and WiFi don't always coexist well; Many familiar UE features are missing

Another day, another Bluetooth speaker, right? It's easy to look at the sea of portable speaker options and feel like they tend to all blend together. Every manufacturer tries to stand out one way or another, but most really just do the same thing.

We came in expecting to be impressed by the Blast, and that's what happened. Aside from a few Alexa-related hiccups, the speaker performed wonderfully, filling rooms with sound clearly and effortlessly. It's not the best smart speaker we've ever used, but it looks awesome and sounds even better.

Cool design; Gets loud without distortion; Solid battery life; IPX7 life-proof

Can't charge the speaker while it's standing up; Microphone doesn't always pick up commands

"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

Alexa inside; Excellent all-around sound; Waterproof

Can't do everything an Amazon Alexa speaker can; Limited app

All in the family… of awesome sound.

Amazing sound; Waterproof; 16 hours of battery; Integrated Amazon Alexa Cloud Services; Bluetooth too; LOUD!!

Pricey; No 3.5mm Aux-In port; POWER UP base is an additional charge

The Boom 2 and Wonderboom have been some of our favourite rugged speakers for a while now, and the Blast looks set to join that list. It keeps the same life-proof construction and is as easy to lug around as a bottle of water, but gains handy extras like Alexa integration and cable-free charging. The £199 Blast is twice the price of the Boom 2, though, and by the time you add the PowerUp charging base, it’s £145 more than Amazon’s new Echo. Can you put up with being tethered to the mains? Then you don’t have to spend a lot more to get the even better-sounding Sonos One. If a built-in battery, a portable, weatherproof build and wire-free listening are higher on your list of wants than Spotify playback and an accurate microphone, though, the Blast is an easy buy.

Gets seriously loud; Built-in Alexa support is great extra; Water resistant rubber makes it pretty much life-proof;

Can’t charge while standing up - unless you buy the dock; Music Unlimited only at launch; No PartyUp speaker pairing;