Official ROAM-e Video Link, page-76

No, he's right. The phone is used for the facial recognition.

"You don't need a controller," Ian Duffell, Executive Director at IoT Group explains to Gizmag. "Once you do the facial recognition on the phone you just set the Roam-e to follow you at a given distance. It doesn't need to be tethered, it is tethered to your face."

http://www.gizmag.com/roam-e-drone-selfie-facial-recognition/42600/