Saving the planet usually means sacrificing the aesthetic — solar gadgets tend to look like they escaped a science fair. Roberts has decided you shouldn’t have to choose, dropping a sun-powered battery into one of its most charming retro shapes.
Meet the Roberts Revival Uno Solar, a pint-sized DAB set that keeps the marque’s classic mid-century curves while quietly topping up its own battery from daylight. A built-in solar panel supplements the rechargeable batteries, and if the British weather refuses to cooperate, you can still juice it up the old-fashioned way via mains. It’s a neat bit of engineering wrapped in a package your grandmother would happily display on the kitchen windowsill — which, conveniently, is exactly where the sun does its best work.
Beneath the vintage skin sits a thoroughly modern tuner. The Revival Uno Solar handles DAB, DAB+ and FM, with room for up to 40 presets split evenly between the two bands — 20 DAB and 20 FM. That’s plenty of headroom for hoarding every station worth keeping, and the digital reception means you get the clarity DAB+ was built for rather than the hiss of analogue nostalgia.
Connectivity is where this little box earns its keep. Bluetooth lets you stream from a phone or tablet without fuss, while a 3.5mm auxiliary input covers anything with a headphone jack still clinging to life. Roberts hasn’t stopped there: there’s a 3.5mm headphone output for late-night solo listening and a 3.5mm stereo line-out if you want to feed a larger system.
As a bedside companion it’s well specced, too. You get two independent alarms — each with snooze, because nobody surrenders on the first buzz — plus an adjustable sleep timer for drifting off to the shipping forecast.
Style-wise, Roberts offers two finishes designed to sit somewhere between heritage and Instagram: duck egg and midnight blue. Both lean into the brand’s signature vintage look rather than trying to disguise it, which is rather the point.
- Tuner: DAB, DAB+ and FM
- Presets: up to 40 (20 DAB / 20 FM)
- Wireless: Bluetooth
- Inputs/outputs: 3.5mm aux in, 3.5mm headphone out, 3.5mm stereo line-out
- Power: built-in solar panel plus rechargeable batteries, mains charging
- Extras: two alarms with snooze, adjustable sleep timer
- Finishes: duck egg, midnight blue
The Revival Uno Solar is available now, priced at £199.99. It’s not the cheapest way to catch the radio, but for anyone who wants their green credentials and their retro decor in a single, self-charging package, it makes a compelling case.
