Flags, dodgy toilets and wall-to-wall tunes all weekend: no decent festival is short of any of these things.
But if you’re camping, you may want to bring your own sound system to enjoy in the downtime between acts.
Some may not count a speaker as essential, but scuttling around the tents in dead silence - or worse, being subjected to a tent neighbour’s so-called playlist - is hardly ideal either.
The main reasons people leave them off their checklist? Size and weight are among the biggest issues. If you’re already lugging a tent, chair, air bed, sleeping bag and your clothes to your pitch, can you really be bothered to add any more to your burden?
There are plenty of travel speakers out there, but what you may gain in teeny dimensions, you risk losing in audio heft. No such scenario with this Miniroll design from Ultimate Ears.
I tried it at Glastonbury 2025, and found its battery and design impressive, never needing a recharge through four days of intermittent play and shaking the tent with its power (although, full disclosure: that could have just been our dancing/ thrashing around).
Here’s what makes it one of the best speakers for camping trips.
Ultimate Ears Miniroll key specs
Design
Available in a selection of fun colours, the Miniroll resembles the perfect pebble: round and flat.
The front bears a giant plus and minus in a contrast colour for easy volume adjusting, while on/off and play/pause buttons can be found on the side.
The speaker is USB-C chargeable, and you’ll find the port at the bottom of the gadget (but it doesn’t come with a cover, which could be an oversight if you want to take it along to heavily dusty or sandy environments).
While it’s not self-standing, it comes with a rubber strap on the back, which you can feed through tent straps, camping chair frames, or bag handles. I just left it in a safe corner where it was least likely to get trodden on, and being so low down didn’t diminish the sound a single octave.
Performance
Make no mistake, this baby offers field-filling, tent-shaking sound, which I was only really brave enough to try at top whack on the final day when everyone was packing up, and on Saturday evening when party vibes were universally high. The Miniroll offers immersive, pitch-perfect sound at every level, not just its high of 87dB.
Setting off to Worthy Farm with a full battery, this speaker held up all weekend. Checking it three weeks later - simply long-press the volume buttons on the front to trigger an audio notification - revealed there was still 70 per cent battery left before it needed juicing up again.
It’s pretty light too. I had no problem slinging it into my Glasto day bag, and the next time I go to a picnic, it will be nestled amongst the crisps and reusable cups.
Cost - is it worth the money?
The short answer is yes, the Miniroll is a robust travel speaker that’s totally worth the outlay.
It looks great, barely takes up any room, and has a long-life battery that will last far longer than you - guaranteed. The rubber strap is also a great idea, letting you hang the speaker out of the way or attach it to your bag for music on the move. It also doesn’t need a companion app to work, which, in a world where pretty much all tech demands an app, adds to its attraction.
The only downside? That exposed USB-C port. But if I was really concerned about dust or water finding its way in, a little duck tape or strategically positioned Blu Tack would offer peace of mind.
Verdict
Ultimate Ears Miniroll speaker
For a palm-sized speaker, this gadget makes its presence felt the second you turn it on. Large controls on the front make it easy to tweak the volume, cranking it up or down as the party demands, while simple on/off and play/pause buttons on the side keep things simple.
It’s built for the outdoors, and will survive splashes, drops and dusty environments, making it the perfect portable tent sound system when you’re crashing about between festival sets. The design is sealed apart from the USB-C charging port, which you can seal with Blu Tack if you’re really worried about water or dust working its way in.
It can reach a max of 87dB, which is very loud indeed, reaching a range of 40m. Pick a crowd-pleasing track, and party on.
Buy now £56.97, Amazon
