Uniden is pushing into the world of portable speakers after being recognised for years as one of the leading brands in home phones and radios. The Uniden Looop range is a set of four portable speaker models designed for parties in the great outdoors, each named after the Japanese words for the numbers one through four.
The Uniden Looop Ni is the second smallest in the range, and the smallest to feature an IP67 rating and a floating design that makes it perfect for pool parties. Coming in at 670 grams and with a compact design, it’s easy to stash in a backpack for casual listening at picnics, pools, the beach, and around the house.
The Ni packs decent sound quality from its 30W speaker, and it’s suited towards upbeat, energetic music like pop, rock, and dance. While the soundstage is a little directional rather than enveloping the room, the sound quality holds up well against other speakers in the category.
Check out our review of the larger Uniden Looop Yon speaker here.
Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5
Pros
- IP67 rating and float design make it perfect for waterside listening
- Surprisingly great sound for its price point
- Dead simple design with no app or account needed
Cons
- Sound is noticeably directional rather than 360-degree
- Not well suited for softer sounding music
Price: $99 | For affordable, portable sound around the house, poolside, or at the picnic
Setup & First Impressions
The Uniden Looop Ni is refreshingly simple, and setting it up is as easy as holding the power button to put it in pairing mode, then connecting it to your device. Alternatively, the Ni can take a 3.5mm cable input or an SD card loaded with MP3 files.
The controls are familiar if you’ve used other portable speakers or Bluetooth audio devices, with controls for power, lighting effects, pairing, volume control, and playback.
Design & Aesthetics
The Looop Ni is built with durable materials and a modern industrial design. Its rubberised controls are accompanied by a hard-wearing grille material and a metal loop that makes it easy to attach to a bag or hang from a hook.
The speaker also includes RGB lighting on each end that can be set for multicolour, single colour, and reactive lighting that pulses with the music.
The speaker gives the sense that it’s built to be knocked around rather than looking pretty on a shelf, which matches exactly with its main use case.
Life With the Uniden Looop Ni
I’ve been testing the Uniden Looop Ni around all the rooms in my home and outdoors for testing and impromptu listening sessions. It’s been a great companion when I want a quick listening session to accompany whatever I’m doing.
Positives
Using the Uniden Looop Ni has been a smooth experience. There’s no companion app to fuss over and no account to create and sign in with. It simply works across any platform with Bluetooth connectivity and an audio signal to send.
It’s quick to connect to your device once they’ve been paired, and multiple Looop speakers can be connected to each other for even bigger sound.
Negatives
The controls are fairly small and closely grouped together so for the first few times you take it out you’ll need to look at the speaker rather than adjusting settings by feel.
Vocals come through clear, but the Ni is clearly tuned more for music rather than podcasts or voice calls.
Performance & Reliability
Sound-wise, the Uniden Looop Ni delivers a bass and treble heavy audio character that’s best suited towards rock, pop, and dance more than classical or acoustic tunes. Luckily, that’s likely to be exactly the type of music you would want to play through an RGB-lighting enabled waterproof party speaker.
It’s a bit more directional than some party speakers, meaning it won’t sound the best for all listeners sitting around a picnic table, but it’s good enough for casual listening.
Uniden rates the battery at up to 8 hours, and I found the claim to be roughly accurate. The battery indicator is just a colour coded light rather than a precise readout, so there’s only a vague sense of charge level rather than an exact percentage.
Practical Considerations
Coming in at 670 grams, and 21 x 8 x 8 centimetres, the Ni is easy to slip into a backpack or tote to take with you for adventures.
It’s IP67 rated, meaning splashes and even drops in the water are no problem. Since it floats, it has a great safety net, but Uniden is clear that the Looop series speakers are not designed for underwater use.
Uniden backs the Looop range with a one-year warranty.
Value & Alternatives
At $99, the Uniden Looop Ni is incredibly competitive. Around this price bracket, alternatives include the JBL Go series or Anker Soundcore range, most of which feature waterproofing but no floating capability or RGB lighting.
Would I Buy It With My Own Money?
Yes, the Ni’s combination of features at its price point make it an excellent choice. If you’re after a grab-and-go speaker, this is a great option.
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