The Roberts Rambler Midi is a brand new radio from one of the UK's best-loved audio brands. While Roberts are perhaps best known for their signature Revival range, the sibling Rambler range has been going since the 1970s. Never ones to rest on their laurels, though, Roberts have recently updated the range with three new models. We were eager to see whether the Midi lives up to the brand name- read on to find out what we thought of it!
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Design
The Rambler range has always had the same basic look, but the Midi shakes that up a bit. While it shares the same core DNA as the rest of the Rambler range, there's one key difference: while the others are landscape, the Midi is portrait. That makes it similar in design to the VQ Monty or Ruark R1. Whether you're a fan or not will come down to personal preference- we personally like them a lot!
The Rambler Midi comes in three colours- duck egg, pastel cream, and navy blue. All come with a very stylish real-wood casing on the side, which is a welcome return to form after the plastic, imitation-wood equivalent on the Rambler Mini. The build quality is a world above its predecessor too. Overall it feels nice and solid, and it comes with a two-year warranty for added peace of mind.
As with the traditionally-shaped Ramblers, all the controls are located on the top. There's a nice big volume wheel which doubles as the power button. There's no separate wheel for flicking through stations, which is something that we like about the other Ramblers. That being said, the volume wheel does give a nice satisfying click as you turn it- it's little touches like that which make a Roberts product stand out from their competitors and hark back to the golden age of radios.
Sound
Generally speaking, we've been seriously impressed with the sound quality of Roberts' radios in the past. However, there have been a couple of models we've tested that haven't quite lived up to the brand's reputation- one of these being the Midi's direct predecessor, the Rambler Mini. That model was a lot lower in price than this one, so it's not quite a like-for-like comparison. However, listening to them side by side, it's clear that the Midi blows its predecessor out of the water when it comes to sound quality.
Thanks to a full-range speaker that's been acoustically tuned by Roberts' expert engineers, the Rambler Midi is a fantastic-sounding radio. The real-wood casing gives it a little extra oomph, and the built-in bass port ensures rich, powerful low-end for a beautifully rounded listening experience.
Features
Right from the very beginning, the key selling point of the Rambler series has been its portability. The Rambler Midi is no exception to that. We liked the fact that it runs off four standard AA batteries, rather than a bespoke power pack that costs extra, or the expensive C-type batteries that some other portable units use. What's more, there's a little switch in the battery compartment that allows you to recharge compatible batteries when the unit is plugged in. That means you get all the benefit of a power pack, but for just the cost of a set of rechargeable batteries. And they're a lot easier to replace if you need to, too!
The Midi allows you to tune in to both DAB and FM radio. You can also set presets for both of these- 10 on each, for a total of 20. With the number of DAB stations available nowadays, this feature certainly comes in handy, as it means you don't have to flick through dozens of different stations to get to the ones you regularly listen to. And while we're on the subject of radio, we found that the Midi's aerial did a great job of picking up a consistent signal while we were listening.
Most listeners would expect a modern portable radio to offer Bluetooth connectivity as well, and the Midi does indeed include this. As you'd expect, it's nice and easy to connect up your smartphone or other Bluetooth devices to start listening. And if you ever find yourself running out of power on your phone while out and about listening, there's even a USB charging port on the Midi too!
Roberts Rambler Midi: The Verdict
All in all, we were seriously impressed with the Roberts Rambler Midi. After being a little underwhelmed by the Rambler Mini, this model is a return to form. It's good to see Roberts trying something a little bit different while still remaining true to their roots. With superb build quality and sound performance, it does the Roberts name proud.