Photos: Sony Rolly

It's an MP3 player. No wait...it's a speaker. Is it a robotic dancing egg? Actually, the Sony Rolly is all of those things. But mostly, it's just a pricey musical toy for gadget heads who have everything--including some cash to burn.

CNET Reviews staff

June 5, 2008 2:55 p.m. PT

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CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze

First and foremost, the Rolly is an MP3 player. It features 2GB of internal flash memory as well as dual dome speakers, which are protected by some truly entertaining flaps. Here, the speaker is exposed.

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The Rolly's no lightweight--it's chunkier than most people expect. Part of it's weight and size is because of the giant removable, rechargeable battery concealed beneath a locked flap on the bottom side of the device.

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The Rolly won't work as a standard portable music player: it's too big and there's no headphone jack. But if you need a conversation starter, this oughta do it.

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CNET Networks

The Sony Rolly is pretty amusing--everyone in the CNET office who saw it in action cracked at least a grin. It's cute. It's fun. It's unique. It's also a glorified MP3 player that'll set you back a startling $399. Clearly, this device is not for everyone.

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CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze

A switch on the front of the player powers the unit on or off as well as puts it in Bluetooth mode. The Rolly can accept incoming streams and act as a wireless speaker, but it cannot stream its own content to a Bluetooth speaker. The button on top controls playback and dancing; a flap on the side conceals a USB port for syncing. The wheels surrounding the egg are used for skipping tracks and controlling volume.

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When the Rolly isn't in the mood for dancing, you can simply playback music, or use it as a mantelpiece. Sony includes a stand for stabilizing the player

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CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze

The Rolly begs to differ. It uses its wheels to roll back and forth as well as spin in a circle. The speaker flaps, which are built on rotating hinges (like shoulders) twist, flutter, and open and close to the beats. Last but not least are the LED rings, which can glow in 700 shades of colors.

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CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze

Nope, that's not a raver with glowsticks. The Rolly is the most entertaining in the dark, since that's when the many, many light permutations are most visible. You get your own private light show to go with the music.