Review: UE Roll

Clear haze-free skies this weekend offers opportunity for fun in the sun. Ultimate Ears passed me the UE Roll to try out. The UE Roll is a fun, all-environment portable speaker with an interesting UFO-esque design, and like it’s boomier siblings, has many of the same useful features such as stereo mode (with two UE Roll), IPX7 waterproofing, and quality sound for its size and price point.

A UFO Design

The UE Roll’s has a saucer-like design that’s similar to a UFO, which makes it fairly compact at 340g and easy to bring about. There’s a built-in bungee cord so that you can hang the UE Roll on any nook or crevice that you can find. The speakers are upward facing, so if you leave it flat, sound is output to a 360 degree wide field.

The rear shell is a tough rubber plastic material with a fabric overlay on the front. There are different bright color designs to choose from, and it’s quite attractive.

Decent Audio Performance

Audio wise, it’s louder than most other similarly price units but one issue that’s common at this price point is the general lack of bass. If you prefer a heavier sound that packs more oomph, the UE Boom or Megaboom is probably a better consideration.

Features

Bluetooth range on the UE Roll is also better than other similar speakers. It is capable of up to 65 feet (20m) in range, so you can leave your phone connected to Spotify and bring the speaker with you to the kitchen, toilet – which really turns out to be convenient since the Roll is also IPX7 waterproof.

The Roll doesn’t float on water though, so you would need something to hold it up. In the US, you can get a blow up floatie to take the Roll for a swim but you would need to improvise locally.

At a press event, the Roll was dunked in a pool without any problems and music kept playing.

It comes with a 3.5mm jack so you can plug in your audio playback devices directly.

Verdict

The UE Roll is a powerful, compact, 360 outputting wireless Bluetooth speaker that’s a joy to use. With nine hours of battery life, hardy outer shell that’s waterproof and a built in bungee cord, it is very convenient to bring out and offer you solid entertainment.

It currently retails for S$149.