The Roberts Rambler range has been around since the 1970s, but Roberts have decided it's time for a well-earned upgrade. The new Rambler Uno is the entry-level model in this range. Is it any good? We put it to the test!
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Design
The design of Roberts' products is really their key selling point- for almost a century, they've been producing highly desirable pieces of kit. While best-known for their Revival range, the Rambler comes a close second, with fifty years of heritage to draw on.
We've previously reviewed the Roberts Rambler Midi, which does something a little different with the basic Rambler formula. The Uno, though, is much closer to the original design. It's available in three different colours: cream, duck egg, and navy blue.
As the direct replacement for the Roberts Rambler Mini, the Uno represents a serious upgrade in terms of build quality. While the Mini was entirely plastic, the Uno sees a return to the leatherette and wood that Roberts are best known for. The front is taken up by the iconic speaker grille, while all the controls are located on the top. There are separate wheels for volume and selecting stations, which always makes operating a radio that much easier. The screen takes the place of the dial on the original Rambler, and while understandably small, it's still nice and bright so easy to read at-a-glance.
The one main difference between this model and the larger Classic and Max (other than obviously the size) is that the Uno doesn't have a carry handle. Given the size of the Uno, this isn't really a problem, as it's small enough that you don't really need the handle.
Sound performance
While the build quality of the Uno is high, a radio needs to do more than just look good to be worth your hard-earned money. Thankfully, the radio lives up to Roberts' reputation for excellent audio quality. It sounds especially good for a smaller portable speaker, following in the footsteps of the Revival Petite.
Overall the Uno has an impressively balanced sound for a speaker of this size. We've found that plenty of smaller radios end up a little light on bass, but that's not the case here. It can also go surprisingly loud before any audible distortion starts to creep in- ideal for a portable radio where you might be moving around as you listen.
Features
The Roberts Rambler Uno boasts both DAB and FM radio modes, to give you a great choice of stations. It also has two one-touch preset buttons, which save separate stations on each mode. Not all radios have dedicated buttons for recalling preset stations, so we found it a welcome feature. There's also the option of saving up to 10 DAB and 10 FM stations to a separate presets menu. While this isn't quite as useful as having them right at your fingertips,
The Rambler Uno also boasts built-in Bluetooth connectivity. This means that you can connect up your phone to listen to your own choice of music and podcasts. That's ideal with a portable radio, as it means it doubles up as a portable Bluetooth speaker to give you that much more value for money.
Portability has always been the core of the Rambler range since its inception, and the Uno is no exception. Due to their size, the larger Rambler Classic and Rambler Max both require a bespoke power pack. The Rambler Uno, on the other hand, just requires four AA batteries. Generally, we recommend using rechargeable batteries, as they work out more cost-effective than disposables. We were delighted, then, to see that the Rambler Uno has a neat feature where, at the flip of a switch, you can set the radio to recharge those batteries when it's plugged in. That means you get all the functionality of a power pack, but at a fraction of the cost!
Roberts Rambler Uno: The Verdict
The Rambler Uno is a real return to form for Roberts. While admittedly a bit more expensive than most portable radios of its size, its brilliant build quality and impressive sound performance more than make up for this.
