The hardiest waterproof speaker is here. Ultimate Ear’s UE Roll is a saucer-shaped device that brings you out-of-this-world shock and waterproof features for your next pool party. The $159.00 device brings about pretty decent sound quality and it’s most definitely a device for you to look out for if you are in the market for a compact Bluetooth speaker.
Design
Shaped like a horizontal saucer, the UE Roll has a round body with a sharp edge. It 150cm-diameter 360-degrees speaker has a hip mesh design that gives off a very futuristic and chic look that would appeal to any youngster out there.
There are several covers available and you can pick and choose your design based on your style.
The volume up and down buttons are on the top of the speaker on the speaker side and the power and Bluetooth connectivity button lies on the bottom of the saucer.
In my opinion, the UE Roll’s design is spectacular and I really loved it, considering how different it is from the rest of the speakers in the market.
Waterproof
Now, the UE Roll is not splashproof, it’s waterproof. The UE Roll is IPX7 certified, meaning you can submerge the UE Roll in water and it’ll survive just fine. If you want to jump into cold water like Justin Bieber, the UE Roll is probably your best bet.
Audio Performance
How does the UE Roll fare as a speaker? Pretty well for a $159 speaker. In general, audio fidelity was rather clear, but compared to its bigger brothers the UE Boom and MegaBoom, its maximum volume was lower than those cylindrical beasts. So you would need to link up multiple UE Rolls together to cover sound over a wider space.
Bass
Although no one really wants to be a bass player in the band, everyone seems to be looking for a speaker that packs on some serious bass.
The UE Roll’s bass is fairly good in my opinion. It isn’t heavy and rich like woofers and this is perhaps due to its cylindrical design. Powerful deep basses require a deep cone for the projection of sound, to resonate and echo out that deep bass. However, UE Roll’s flat cylindrical design makes it difficult for it to give off a very echoey deep bass.
The best speakers have a bass that reaches 20Hz, but the UE Roll only manages to hit 108Hz, hence the lower frequencies aren’t hit well.
It’s bass however, is unique in a light and punchy sort of way. There is a nice thump to the bass on the UE Roll, but some might feel that it isn’t as solid as other cylindrical speakers.
Mids
With 2 3/4” tweeters, the UE Roll has very powerful mids. The mids bridge the bass and the trebles in a fantastic manner. The midrange sounds very smooth and sweet, giving male vocals a fidelity and clarity that most mini-speakers are unable to produce.
Trebles
Silky and smooth. The trebles were pretty decent and crisp. It didn’t have any grainy distortions, even at higher volumes. It’s excellence in the higher frequencies makes it ideal for outdoor usage since soundwaves at higher frequencies tend to travel further and much better.
Battery Life
The specifications give an estimate of 9 hours for the UE Roll, which is fairly good. Most speakers nowadays last around 6 hours, which is the industry average. 9 hours is good and it should last you an entire day without issues if you allow it to be on standby mode between songs.
If you intend to bring it out travelling, just remember to charge it at the end of the day or every alternate day.
Connectivity
Bluetooth connectivity is great once you pair the device, you can go up to 20m and still stay connected to the device. This connection is one of the strongest I have ever encountered in the market to be honest.
However, initiating the pairing can be quite an issue as both my laptop and phone took an absurdly long time to find and pair with the device. It took me a total of 8 attempts on my phone and 10 tries on my laptop to get the pairing done.
I’m not sure if it was just the unit of the UE Rolls in general.
Verdict
$159.00 isn’t particularly expensive for a speaker like the UE Roll. It’s most attractive features is perhaps its chic design and waterproof ratings. For an outdoor speaker oriented towards producing strong high frequencies, the UE Roll is an awesome device for listening to songs with a vocal emphasis. However, the limited sound range of the drivers in the bass department leaves room for improvement if you are an heavy EDM listener.
