Preface:I've been a shortwave enthusiast since the 1970s and have owned many different radios over the years, so this isn't my 1st rodeo. I started buying si4732 chip based shortwave radios a few years ago, starting out with the ATS-20, then moved up to the ATS-25. Recently, I bought the newer ATS-25 Max Decoder and the Radtel RT-860 HT, both of which have the si4732 chip. I'm mentioning this because I'm going to be comparing this radio to those radios with the same si4732 chip. I would consider this mini radio as something to experiment and tinker with by someone who is somewhat familiar with shortwave radios, as apposed to a novice's "first shortwave radio".First impressions:The mini radio is about the size of a Raspberry Pi Zero in a plastic case.The case is 3D printed, but has a good fit & finish. On the top of the case is a SMA female antenna jack and a USB-C charging jack. On the left side of the case is a small power switch. On the right side is a 3.5mm line output jack for use with amplifies speakers. (not a headphone jack)The LCD is well laid out, with the Band, Mode, Step, Bandwidth, AGC & BFO settings on the left side of the screen. In the middle of the screen is the frequency in large digits. On the right side of the screen is the battery indicator, current mode, a dual color signal strength meter and a volume indicator.Along the full length of the bottom of the screen is a ruler style frequency dial.Operation:The mini radio powers up instantly and all of the functions are accomplished with a single small knob.A single push on the knob selects the band menu, and bands are selected by rotating the knob.A double push on the knob selects the function menu for Mode, Step, Bandwidth, AGC, BFO, Mute, Scan direction, Soft Mute and Volume. The menus only stay open for about 5 seconds if the knob is not rotated, so don't wait too long to make your selection. These menus however become more intuitive over time.Update: The functionality changes after the new "ATS Mini v0.30" firmware is installed. All of the menu items are selected with a single push of the volume control knob.Reception:The mini radio's sensitivity is good, and on par with the other si4732 chip based radios in my collection.The supplied "BB Antenna" which is claimed to cover "9.9 KHz to 181 MHz" might be a misprint, but works surprisingly well on all bands. When using the radio in my "ham shack", I attach a SMA to BNC adapter and connect my long wire antenna to it. If I take the radio into other rooms or to work, I use the supplied loop antenna with no problems. To test the selectivity of the mini radio, I tune to AM 770 WABC, which is only 10 KHz away from the "flame thrower" AM 760 WJR located less than 20 miles away. With the bandwidth set to 2 KHz, AM 770 comes in fine with little to no interference from AM 760.Sound Quality:As one would expect from a speaker this small, of course the sound quality will be on the quiet/tinny side. That said, the mini radio is "listenable" with the internal speaker in a quiet setting. Note that the 3.5mm audio jack is a "line output" for use with amplified speakers and not for headphones. The included instruction mention as such.For better sound, run a cord from the line-out jack into any amplified speaker. I connected mine to one of those round speakers that "pop up" and set the radio volume to 3/4. To adjust the volume, I use the volume control on the speaker instead of the radio.Battery life:Since I've only had the radio for a week, I can't comment on the battery life other than the fact that I've been playing with it at least an hour or two a day for the last week and the battery indicator is at the half way mark. Now that I think of it, I was so exited to try it out that I never even fully charged it after I unboxed it!Pro Tip:Since the radio does not have memory presets, you can go through all the different bands and pick a frequency that you would like to "store" in each band. Fortunately, the radio retains the last frequency in each band, even after the power if tuned off. For instance, select one AM broadcast station in the MW1 band and one in the MW2 band. You can continue to select one frequency for 80M, SW1, SW2, 40M, SW3, SW4, SW5, SW6, 20M, SW7, SW8,15M, SW9, CB, 10M, ALL & VHF. Using this method, you can "store" up to 19 different frequencies to scroll though. It's only a "work around" but better than nothing.Update on 3/1/25:An aftermarket firmware update is available! Check YouTube for a couple of videos that go through the process and provide links to the new firmware and the firmware updated utility. The new firmware addresses some of the complaints, such as increasing the menu time from 5 to 10 seconds. Also, the new menu screen only requires one push of the knob, with the volume setting being the default selection. The screen layout was updated as well with a larger signal strength meter. These improvements make the radio much easier and enjoyable to use.Update on 3/3/25:I installed the new "ATS Mini v0.30" firmware today and the process went smoothly. I like the improvements so far and I haven't found any bugs. Make sure you follow the instruction to the T and you shouldn't have any problems.As usual with all my reviews, I will report back from time to time if there's any new information worth reporting.

Interesting little receiver. It does receive all the bands (and modes) it's advertised to do. But, the audio is very low level and lower fidelity. There's no manual and but a single knob to control the device. Some trial and error finally resulted in me figuring out how to change bands, modes and volume but it's very fiddly to do so. Would I buy it again? No. Am I going to send it back? No. It's cute and does work, just not like I had hoped.

CON (Only one):This is a rather unique and feature-packed little item. I would have given 5 stars but for one glaring issue. This radio will not drive a wired headphone or earbuds to sufficient volume even when at Max Vol setting. If you don't like the tinny audio from the tiny speaker, you will have to resort to a powered/amplified external speaker. No radio I've ever owned was unable to drive a wired earbud or headset to an adequate volume from its earphone jack. I suspect that a high-impedance earphone might work, but I don't have anything like that to try (there is no mention of the earphone jack output impedance anywhere). Also, there there is brief "self diagnostics" support provided via Amazon, but there is nothing there that addresses this issue nor any live chat support that I could find.PLUSES:I received the newer loop=style antenna which works far better than any telescoping antenna, particularly on AM broadcast and shortwave. FM is just as good as with a telescoping antenna. All other features of the unit work as advertised.