Introduction

When shopping for one cheap bluetooth speakeryou usually have to choose between portability and volume. Pint-sized portables don’t often scream as loud, while larger ones require a lot more towing. Ultimate Ears believes that its new Miniroll sits in the sweet spot. This shrunken successor to the go-anywhere Roll and Roll 2 fits in the palm of your hand, but can stretch out playlists like a much larger speaker.

If it can live up to that hype, the $79/£69 puck looks like a bit of a bargain. A built-in carrying strap and UE’s familiar weather resistance also help it stand out from rivals including the aging Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 and newer JBL Clip 5. But with an otherwise limited feature set, is this more of a one hit wonder?

Design & build: small as a puck

The Ultimate Ears Miniroll wouldn’t look out of place on an ice rink in the palm of your hand and puck-like. It has all the hallmarks of UE’s other speakers, including the sturdy, stain-resistant fabric on top and a grippy rubber base underneath. Familiar oversized volume buttons are also visible.

Soothing pink aside, the Miniroll’s color choices play it pretty safe: Gentle Black, Majestic Blue, and Revive Gray aren’t nearly as jazzy as some of Ultimate Ears’ previous efforts. That’s great if you like your technology to fly under the radar.

There’s serious stretch to the rubber strap on the back: it wrapped easily around my bike’s handlebars, and I had no problem attaching it to a backpack. The strap is held in place by an industrial-looking screw, which uses a standard 1/4-inch thread, so the speaker is easily screwed to a stand or speaker stand.

The mini reel is small enough to slip into a trouser pocket, and at 279g it won’t weigh you down as much as its Tribit and JBL rivals. However, it feels reassuringly tight and is built to survive a 1.2m drop. It was no worse for wear when my cat knocked it off the kitchen counter and onto a tile floor.

It’s IP67 dust and water resistant, of course. Virtually all Ultimate Ears speakers have this level of elemental protection. I like that UE is able to achieve that while using more recycled material than the previous version.

Features and battery: just the basics

Considering the price, I wasn’t surprised that the Miniroll only really offers the essentials. You won’t find a microphone for hands-free calling here, and the USB-C port at the bottom is only for charging. It can’t do anything fancy like let the speaker act as a battery bank for your other gadgets, or play music over a cable – and Ultimate Ears doesn’t have one in the box anyway, in the name of durability. There is no 3.5mm auxiliary input either.

You’ll find just two buttons on the left side of the speaker: play/pause and power/pair. The play button can skip tracks forward or backward with a double or triple press, which is handy when your phone is out of reach.

If you hold down the play button, the mini role’s coolest trick is activated: Party Up mode. It allows you to synchronize an unlimited number of Minirolls together to multiply the sound. It’s a welcome step up from the Wonderboom 4, which can only pair two for wireless stereo sound. Officially, this uses Auracast technology, which is supposed to be device-agnostic, but I could only get it to work with another Miniroll speaker. You can’t pair it with any other UE speakers either.

The only thing you don’t get here is any kind of app-based control or adjustment. That means no EQ presets to choose from, which is a downer if you’re not into the bass-heavy default sound (more on that in the next section).

Battery life is very respectable, managing very close to UE’s claimed twelve hours of music per charge in my tests. It’s comfortable enough for all-day excursions, a soundtrack to your work hours, or house parties that end early in the morning. I like how you hold down both volume buttons at the same time to let you know what battery percentage is left too.

Sound quality: seriously screaming

The Ultimate Ears Miniroll impressed me when I started streaming Spotify to it. This is a bass-heavy beast that gets much taller than it should, given its portable proportions. It doesn’t quite defy physics, but was comfortably loud enough to fill the cubicle I use as a home office. If you’re looking to get the party started properly, you’ll want something bigger, but one of these will happily ring a family dinner or game night.

If anything, the epic volume of the Mini-Roll can counteract that. If you’re not careful, it will vibrate off certain surfaces or resonate against whatever you’ve attached the strap to. The sonic calm definitely stumbles when you crank things up properly, so I pretty much stuck to more sensible levels.

Even then, I was surprised at how much discount is offered. UE has absolutely prioritized bass, making music sound so much fuller when you’re within a few feet of the 46mm full-range driver and passive bass radiator. The squelchy synths on Fox Stevensons Got what I got were present and correct. Move further away (especially when you’re outside) and it doesn’t shake quite as convincingly; there are better outdoor speakersbut none is as compact as the Miniroll.

On the flip side, you don’t get the kind of midrange and treble detail that other, more neutrally tuned speakers do. Billie Eilish’s whispered vocals on Bad Guy gobbled up by the bassline at moderate volume, while the percussion gets crisp and sibilant as you get louder. It’s hardly a bad showing for such a small speaker though – and if volume is a priority, you won’t be disappointed.

Ultimate Ears Miniroll dom

Take-anywhere Bluetooth speakers are more about fun than nuanced sound, and on that front the Miniroll definitely delivers. It’s small yet sturdy, the integrated strap is very useful for travel, and it survives on volume. Rivals may cost slightly less, but they may not be as high.

It’s not like compact, rugged speakers are in short supply. With no companion app or customizable EQ, you may want to look elsewhere if a comprehensive list of features is most important. The UE Wonderboom 4 isn’t significantly more money either, if you want a more well-rounded sound.

But for simplicity, Miniroll still gets my recommendation.

Technical specifications for Ultimate Ears Miniroll