![]() Playing from one speaker works perfectly well, but putting more than one in the mix clearly needs a bit of work. In addition, there was sometimes a delay in playback, meaning we got a disorienting stereo effect. No matter what we did, we couldn’t fix this. Almost from the start, one of our two speakers was glitching, the Bluetooth signal cutting out. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that well. As long as you’ve updated it with the latest firmware, getting this all connected up is a breeze. We didn’t have another Roll 2 to test this, but what we did have in our possession is UE’s bigger Bluetooth speaker, the Megaboom. There’s also an interesting feature called Double Up, which allows you to connect two speakers together, using the same playback source. It’s easy to connect multiple playback devices to the speaker, meaning that you and your friends can fight over the music selection quite happily. There is also a comprehensive and well laid out How-To section, if you get stuck. Pairing the speaker is a cinch, the work of a few seconds, and you’ve got easy access to things like EQ to adjust the sound, as well as an alarm. The Roll App, freely available from either the App Store or the Google Play store, is beautifully made and easy-to-use. UE really know what they’re about when it comes to designing apps. It’s not a massive problem – we didn’t expect to speak of this size to blow us away with its bass - but it’s worth bearing in mind. Particularly bass-heavy genres like dubstep or house may sound like they are getting the best treatment. That being said, the low end just isn’t going to impress. Anybody turning this one up to max volume will have no complaints. What’s important is that it gets the major details across: it’s crisp, loud, and warm. It’s designed for use outdoors, preferably at very sunny pool parties, where you’d be hard pressed to discern subtleties of the music anyway, and probably already too drunk to care. However, that’s not what this speaker is for. The twin tweeters and single two inch driver aren’t exactly going to knock Bose or Braven out of the top spot. As you’d expect for a speaker in this price range, it’s not exactly audiophile-level. But if you’re new in the market, then just pay the extra $20. We can’t imagine many situations in which having a range of a hundred feet would be better than having a range of forty feet. So the follow-up question: is it worth upgrading? If you own the original already, or a similarly priced Bluetooth speaker, then don’t bother. On Amazon, the original was and is $79, and the Roll 2 is $100. And as you can imagine, it costs more, although not dramatically so. ![]() It's also a hell of a lot louder than the original version – UE claim at least 15%. Given the size of the speaker, that’s a tremendous achievement. We tested this in a large area, and it was only at about ninety feet that things started to glitch. The first version only allowed you to go about forty feet from your playback source, while the new version upgrades that to a hundred feet. The most obvious question here is: what’s changed? The upgraded speaker has an identical battery life to its predecessor (nine hours), and an identical waterproof rating. We can’t understand why more speaker makers haven’t followed suit.) ![]() (And by the way: that bungee cord is more useful than you can imagine. If that colour scheme doesn’t grab you, you can choose from Habanero, Atmosphere, Volcano, Reef and, um, Tropical Anime. Ours, Sugarplum, came in a fetching shades of purple, yellow and turquoise. The UE tradition is to offer them in a variety of eyeball-searing colors with cheeky names. They are both flat, circular speakers a few inches across, with oversized volume buttons and a very handy bungee cord on the back. The UE Roll 2 is, as you’d expect, an upgrade to the UE Roll. Not only that, but it is emblematic of a speaker that has a weird, left-field sense of fun, and that gets the job done in a classy fashion. The bladder, however stupid it may look, is necessary. You pop the tiny circular speaker on top of this, and let it float out on the pool/ocean/lake, accompanying you while you splash about.įor while the speaker is fully waterproof (rated IPX7, which means you can happily submerge it in three feet of water for half an hour), it doesn’t float, bobbing helplessly under the surface. Unlike most audio companies, UE refuse to settle for just shipping with a charging cable and a companion app no, the Logitech-owned company has included an inflatable bladder. The Ultimate Ears Roll 2 comes with the strangest accessory we’ve ever seen.
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