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- #28,624 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
- #50 in Portable Shortwave Radios
marce
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
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marce
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
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J&J
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
This radio has great sound for the size as well as good reception. I appreciate the buttons that can be set for different stations, AM or FM. The only thing I don't like about it is that the on/off power button is not very responsive. One needs to hold it down a second or so before it turns on the radio. Still I highly recommend this small radio for its sound.
J&J
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
This radio has great sound for the size as well as good reception. I appreciate the buttons that can be set for different stations, AM or FM. The only thing I don't like about it is that the on/off power button is not very responsive. One needs to hold it down a second or so before it turns on the radio. Still I highly recommend this small radio for its sound.
ChurchOfJesusChrist.Net
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2024
This radio is sold under several brand names (I've identified 3), which sometimes individually go on sale. While the hardware is probably from a single source (and the vendors probably therefore have no control over the QC), vendor variations include: firmware version (date), included accessories, and a vendor you may prefer over the others (return policy and expected customer service experience). I try to avoid Radioddity (as a seller) and Raddy (their house brand) due to, above all my other mixed experiences, a terminable-level customer service experience where a rep became abjectly abusive and insulting during email support, while I was acting in good faith. Radioddity goes out of their way to hide all phone numbers, only providing email contact, so lack of accountability due to gatekeeping reinforces such behavior (IOW, there's no way to get a manager's attention without the assistance of the misbehaving email rep). Until I can find time to send a snailmail to their possible black-hole US corporation address, that rep will unacceptably go without consequences, and is still probably there, but I can mention it here. Also, their version of this radio is usually the most-expensive, and has fewer accessories. All variants include a Micro USB cable for charging, as well as a battery.I was unfamiliar with the 'ZHIWHIS' brand (I'll only write that once), but what swayed me was the inclusion of 2 EXTRA ACCESSORIES. Foremost for me: an AUDIO CABLE. Plus: a soft-carry DRAWSTRING BAG (velvet material), which I actually use. Also I thought this brand's description had more positivity, plus was more forthcoming about its flaws (to the point where some flaws may actually be exaggerated). It just seemed like this vendor was trying harder. Also, the price was midway of the 3. So I chose it.-My first unit was MISSING the 1/8" male-to-male "AUDIO CABLE" which swayed my purchase.The replacement had one. Replacing the entire radio to get the promised cable was probably more of a hassle than it was worth, but had an unintended positive consequence, described later. It ended up being a 1-meter cable (this detail doesn't exist so far in any review or item description; I believe the Micro USB cable is also 1M), generic quality. I was hoping it'd be shorter for my own purposes, but it's a good length for most people. You'll probably use it for something else (as was my plan).-My first unit had perceptibly worse RECEPTION than the replacement, caused by a 'SELF-INTERFERENCE' kind of noise that I wasn't sure was normal. It was especially-perceptible on weak stations, both AM and FM (perhaps SW too.. didn't spend a lot of time). Like a flapping/buzzing kind of noise.. a lesser version of what you'd expect when connected to a charger, or if the LED backlight was on--but neither were. This tells me there is QUALITY CONTROL INCONSISTENCY between units. The difference was enough to make one unit 'enjoyable' to use, while the other one wasn't, as I could only get past the noise if I got a strong signal, which (is possible) required often-impractical radio placement, or constantly holding it. Between that and the missing cable, it soured my experience and overall outlook on these units, even though my replacement is good. The second unit didn't require 'as careful' placement, meaning that even if the reception wasn't perfect, while I might get some natural radio static, I still didn't get a subtle but annoying novel, internal noise. This made the replacement 'a joy' to listen to (exaggerated, but 'nice' versus 'hm'). I regret to advise that if you suspect your unit has annoying self-noise, that you exchange it, or just get a refund. So, my 'quieter' unit was able to pull in some distant AM stations at night (depends on nationwide weather), and I was impressed with the number of FM stations as well. I can say this confidently, as there is a weak FM station many of my radios struggle to pick up, or are completely deaf to (including a high-end brand, component "stereo tuner"), which I can pull in okay with this. I found the ability to move it around easily was important for that. I was even able to pick up a few Shortwave stations at night, mostly in the lower frequencies, with the built-in antenna, and I wasn't expecting to be able to (they were mostly preachers). During the Art Bell days, I had an expensive analog Baygen AM/FM/Shortwave crank radio which literally never picked up anything Shortwave, even with the overpriced 20ft reel antenna. So maybe it doesn't take much to impress me? But it did work. Speaking of noise: contrary to the warnings in the item description, I, like others, actually happily encountered ZERO noise (ever) from the LED backlight (the White backlight, though I doubt Green would be different). And the noise from charging on a very 'noisy' charger of mine was less than I thought it'd be, though you should expect this noise--that is not considered a defect, and the manual and item descriptions say this. I set the backlight to 5 seconds: the shortest (short of "always off"). Life hack: you can use handheld AM radios as crude EMF detectors, to detect if unreasonable interference is being emitted from your electronics, if you get it close enough, whether on an empty or broadcasting AM station.-The "KICKSTAND" is too short, or its slot is located too far up.So that instead of keeping the radio tilted near a 45-degree angle, it's 'barely not horizontal'. The purpose is apparently NOT to 'aim it at you', but to keep airflow below the passive radiator. Which is unfortunate, because this radio is so thin (which I like) that it doesn't stand well with the antenna extended. Something closer to 45 degrees would serve dual purposes. It's better than nothing.-Yes, there is actually a PASSIVE RADIATOR speaker diaphragm in the back!It's diminuitive, but it's there. I do think it helps. This is the opposite of a hi-fi device, so just remember that. But yes, there's more bass than, say, a Ham handy-talkie with FM function. This feature also helped sway my purchase, though in retrospect, the speaker's sound is still not this unit's strong suit. Again, better than nothing.-Low audio fidelity speaker, BUT...While experimenting with its Bluetooth [receive-only] function, I was shocked to notice that the 'clarity' of my fairly high-end cellphone speakers, was far more 'rich' and 'detailed', with the following provisos: less bass and lower overall volume (on my cellphone). I don't think this was degredation from Bluetooth, because AM and FM have the same 'lack of richness', which you might not notice except in an A/B comparison. I think it's the radio's built-in speaker itself, and other reviews have mentioned that the line-out sounds good. (UPDATE: the line-out/headphone out does sound good, BUT connecting to the radio's Headphone jack greatly increases susceptibility to FM interference. If you have a strong FM station in your area which interferes with weaker stations, the effect is magnified to such a point that a weak station which 'clear enough' on Speaker is totally overridden by the monster station when the Headphone port is connected.) The speaker is fine for voice, and that's what most of us will use it for. Music? It's comparable to those old-school, alkaline-battery, analog-tuning, handheld radios of the past. It's NOT comparable to the newer, usually-impressive sound of bespoke "Bluetooth speakers" we've become accustomed to. It would be nice otherwise. This is the 'end of the line' for the smallest radios with built-in speakers. I would spend more to get something of the same size (not larger), but with impressive-ish speaker quality. Because of the speaker quality issue, I will note that THE BLUETOOTH FUNCTION WOULD BE MORE USEFUL AS AN OUTPUT, THAN AN INPUT, if this could be done without interfering with radio reception. Some reviewers clearly (and logicly) expected the BT function to be output. But nope. IT'S RECEIVE-ONLY, not transmit. Considering that most bespoke 'Bluetooth speakers' (which usually have impressive sound for their size) don't usually have a built-in AM or FM radio, it'd be more useful to output a radio signal to an actually-good BT speaker, than to use this radio's speaker, to output content from, say, a cellphone, tablet, or PC. If the speaker were better, this wouldn't be an issue. I have heard smaller speakers which sound better, but it would raise the price--yet WOULD be worth it, if you could legitimately use this as a proper, albeit small, Bluetooth speaker (which I hoped I could). Right now, it's more of a gimmick, unless your transmit device is just terrible-sounding.-AFAIK, this is the SMALLEST, RICHLY-FEATURED, DIGITAL-TUNING, HANDHELD/POCKETABLE FM and *AM* RADIO ON THE MARKET, with a full 10-key NUMBER PAD for direct station storage and recall. This is before even considering the shortwave reception, and the lithium rechargable (and replaceable!) battery. There are other small, cheap, digital-tuning radios with a built-in speaker, but they all lack the number pad, and probably have fewer memory slots. Better "sounding" radios with a 10-key are at least twice the price and size. AM is rare in diminuitive radios, due to the size requirements of the internal ferrite antenna. Before internet streaming and downloading was much of a thing (~2005 and before?), I used the heck out of those handheld 'transistor radios' with built-in speakers, but always longed for digital tuning for station-hopping. Maybe this is similar to some old guys buying the minibike they weren't able to have as a kid, when they could buy a proper motorcycle instead. I love lots of techy features, so those hooked me too, though in retrospect the bluetooth, MP3, line-in, and audio recording function probably aren't very useful, as the speaker isn't doesn't rival high-end cellphone speakers (except perhaps in volume), and MP3 playback + Recording functions are going to be crude--but it will be worth it for some (fi: simpler for some to than finding and learning cellphone apps), and I won't complain about having options. Again, better than nothing (this seems to be a recurring theme).-My biggest problem is the DIGITAL VOLUME CONTROL, which actually doesn't get QUIET ENOUGH.First, there's NO immediate access to Volume. The Vol +/- buttons actually cycle through station PRESETS, as soon as you set one. You must HOLD the Vol button, after which the Volume menu will appear. 00 is mute, 01 is 'kind of soft', and it gets louder from there. I haven't found a quick way to manually Esc back to the menu, so I have to let the Volume menu timeout (Update: pressing the "Play/Pause" button works). I miss the analog volume knobs of my old-school 'transistor radios', where I could tweak the volume down so well, it was inaudible unless I held it up to my ear. Or I could put it next to my ear in bed, and not wake a companion. Not with this thing. I prefer "good-quiet" over "good-loud", and that, this is not. At least the lowest volume level isn't fraught with self-noise static. This becomes an even-bigger problem on AM, where stronger stations come in much louder than weak ones, especially at night. At the lowest volume, a strong station might be too much for discreet listening, while a weak station might be near-inaudible, requiring frequent volume changes when station-hopping. If possible, an (ANALOG) knob is always best for volume. Even car manufacturers have figured this out, and gone against the advice of overly-worshipped consultants like Sandy Munro.-USER INTERFACE: be aware, this radio is designed for nerds (not recommended for simps).I see a lot of reviews showing this radio is bought by normies who want this-or-that feature, but then get overwhelmed, apparently unwilling to RTFM. If you're buying this ostensibly for your wife as a gift, you'll "probably" need to set it up for her. She will be able to press "+/-" to navigate through the presets you made for her. I personally didn't need to read the manual, but prior reading of the reviews helped. My replacement came set to Chinese, which was a bit intimidating to switch, but I got it. Some people would fall to pieces. My biggest problem is that SOME OF THE BUTTONS' SECONDARY FUNCTIONS ARE UNMARKED! In this radio, the physical "Play/Pause" button doubles as "OK" or "Set". And "Mute". AND, if you HOLD that button, it will auto-scan the band, and completely erase any existing presets! None of that's marked! Funnily, there are ink markings below , and >>, which excatly DUPLICATE the embossed button markings--instead of indicating their secondary functions! (CCP-ish.. SMH.) The >/|| ink should be replaced with "OK". Because of this, learning how to store stations required a few attempts, but I didn't need to resort to the manual. There is a "MEMO" secondary button function, which always makes me thing "Record Audio [voice memo]", but it's not--it actually it means "MEMOry". They should've just marked it "MEM", "SAVE", OR "STO". You have to hold this button while tuned to the station you want to save, and then key in the 2-digit number of the slot you want (ie "01"), THEN know to hit the "Play" button, after which you'll finally get an confirmation dialog, to which you'll hit "Play" again. Until the confirmation, there's almost no indication that you're storing a station. You just have to have 'confidence'. The main Menu button does nothing unless you hold it. Perhaps that's intentional, but it can also be confusing. "Mode" should be renamed "Bluetooth" or "BT", as I can't discern another function. BT pairing was painless, if you're familiar with this process other devices.-PRESETS: one of the best things about this radio is the number of presets it can store.It's like 50 per band? I think SW is less, but still a lot IMO. I WAS able to briefly remove and replace the battery without losing presets, but I don't know if extended time would erase them. So no worries on swapping batteries. No idea on the self-drain yet. It would be nice if you could backup and restore your presets and radio settings to the MicroSD card slot, but you can't. If you spent a good while culling and sorting your auto-stored presets, you get worried. If you're traveling, you'll resist auto-storing local stations if you can't back up and restore your old list. I mean, there's a MicroSD card reader built-into this device. It should have this function. Having so many presets is useful, as it allows you space to do an auto-scan/store, but then manually create wells of focused duplicates in the upper numbers. For instance: you can program your favorites in the upper numbers, and access them quickly by scrolling backwards using the '-' button. This way, you don't need to click through each saved station progressively to get to your favorites, but can still scroll sequentially through stored stations. (UPDATE: I'VE LOST MY PRESETS MULTIPLE TIMES. For instance, if you change certain settings, like FM 67-108 vs 81-108, it erases all your FM memory. This device is arguably not serious enough to spend significant energy into customizing presets.) One bad thing is I think all old presets will get overridden, if you auto-store again. This is especially a problem for AM, as there'll be different stations available for night vs day. But I'm not sure any radios do that. Also, it's easy to accidentally initiate an auto-store by inadvertently holding the "Play" button. Once it starts, your stations are wiped, even if you manage to stop the scan.-BATTERY TIPSAfter seeing all the complaints about poor batteries and capacities, I was surprised to see how long it went from a full charge, to 'down a bar' (a few hours at 'low' volume, from full). I later found that 'down 1 bar' was actually around 3.8 volts, which in my world is 50% of actual/usable capacity. so I charge when I see it drop at all in the indicator. If it's down 2 bars, you should definitely charge it. Ideally, you wouldn't let it get to full charge, but that's much better than letting it drop far. It CAN charge and play at the same time, but you'll have noise from the USB power source. Unplug it when not charging, tho. Considering my misadventure with bad QC, I wouldn't be surprised that some batteries are just poor quality, but I suspect a lot of complaints are from people unwittingly abusing their batteries by letting them drain too far, or maybe playing at high volumes for extended sessions. If you remember the small cellphone batteries used by the OLD Motorola flip-phones (not the later 'smart' flips), it's those. Smaller than I was expecting, but this is fine: having a REMOVABLE, NON-PROPRIETARY, RECHARGEABLE, LITHIUM battery is something ALL battery-powered electronics should strive for! Seriously. I'd have preferred a standard cylinder cell like an 18650, 18500, or 14500, but that's wishlist territory: the flat cell and low cost work for this form factor. So, I'll say I'm actually pleased with battery life, considering how small this cell is. Maybe that will change if the battery deteriorates. The good news is they're sourceable online from third-party sources, and reportedly 'high capacity' versions exist. You might even have an old one that's still good from a really-old cellphone.-PS: It's not a Spirit Box.An older review says his functioned as one. But the firmware has now been "improved" so stations are irretreivably muted during seeks and auto-preset scans :( . (My firmware is v1.6, visible on the first line if you hold "Menu")-Wish List:BACKLIT KEYS, better speaker, larger (still-standard) lithium battery, Bluetooth TRANSMIT, backup/restore function, USB-C charging, FM tuning increments of .2 vs .1 MHz when set to USA/"FM2" (88.1-108), ~45-degree kickstand, SpiritBox option (hear stations while scanning/storing), and a headphone jack which doesn't increase reception of spurious signals.
ChurchOfJesusChrist.Net
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2024
This radio is sold under several brand names (I've identified 3), which sometimes individually go on sale. While the hardware is probably from a single source (and the vendors probably therefore have no control over the QC), vendor variations include: firmware version (date), included accessories, and a vendor you may prefer over the others (return policy and expected customer service experience). I try to avoid Radioddity (as a seller) and Raddy (their house brand) due to, above all my other mixed experiences, a terminable-level customer service experience where a rep became abjectly abusive and insulting during email support, while I was acting in good faith. Radioddity goes out of their way to hide all phone numbers, only providing email contact, so lack of accountability due to gatekeeping reinforces such behavior (IOW, there's no way to get a manager's attention without the assistance of the misbehaving email rep). Until I can find time to send a snailmail to their possible black-hole US corporation address, that rep will unacceptably go without consequences, and is still probably there, but I can mention it here. Also, their version of this radio is usually the most-expensive, and has fewer accessories. All variants include a Micro USB cable for charging, as well as a battery.I was unfamiliar with the 'ZHIWHIS' brand (I'll only write that once), but what swayed me was the inclusion of 2 EXTRA ACCESSORIES. Foremost for me: an AUDIO CABLE. Plus: a soft-carry DRAWSTRING BAG (velvet material), which I actually use. Also I thought this brand's description had more positivity, plus was more forthcoming about its flaws (to the point where some flaws may actually be exaggerated). It just seemed like this vendor was trying harder. Also, the price was midway of the 3. So I chose it.-My first unit was MISSING the 1/8" male-to-male "AUDIO CABLE" which swayed my purchase.The replacement had one. Replacing the entire radio to get the promised cable was probably more of a hassle than it was worth, but had an unintended positive consequence, described later. It ended up being a 1-meter cable (this detail doesn't exist so far in any review or item description; I believe the Micro USB cable is also 1M), generic quality. I was hoping it'd be shorter for my own purposes, but it's a good length for most people. You'll probably use it for something else (as was my plan).-My first unit had perceptibly worse RECEPTION than the replacement, caused by a 'SELF-INTERFERENCE' kind of noise that I wasn't sure was normal. It was especially-perceptible on weak stations, both AM and FM (perhaps SW too.. didn't spend a lot of time). Like a flapping/buzzing kind of noise.. a lesser version of what you'd expect when connected to a charger, or if the LED backlight was on--but neither were. This tells me there is QUALITY CONTROL INCONSISTENCY between units. The difference was enough to make one unit 'enjoyable' to use, while the other one wasn't, as I could only get past the noise if I got a strong signal, which (is possible) required often-impractical radio placement, or constantly holding it. Between that and the missing cable, it soured my experience and overall outlook on these units, even though my replacement is good. The second unit didn't require 'as careful' placement, meaning that even if the reception wasn't perfect, while I might get some natural radio static, I still didn't get a subtle but annoying novel, internal noise. This made the replacement 'a joy' to listen to (exaggerated, but 'nice' versus 'hm'). I regret to advise that if you suspect your unit has annoying self-noise, that you exchange it, or just get a refund. So, my 'quieter' unit was able to pull in some distant AM stations at night (depends on nationwide weather), and I was impressed with the number of FM stations as well. I can say this confidently, as there is a weak FM station many of my radios struggle to pick up, or are completely deaf to (including a high-end brand, component "stereo tuner"), which I can pull in okay with this. I found the ability to move it around easily was important for that. I was even able to pick up a few Shortwave stations at night, mostly in the lower frequencies, with the built-in antenna, and I wasn't expecting to be able to (they were mostly preachers). During the Art Bell days, I had an expensive analog Baygen AM/FM/Shortwave crank radio which literally never picked up anything Shortwave, even with the overpriced 20ft reel antenna. So maybe it doesn't take much to impress me? But it did work. Speaking of noise: contrary to the warnings in the item description, I, like others, actually happily encountered ZERO noise (ever) from the LED backlight (the White backlight, though I doubt Green would be different). And the noise from charging on a very 'noisy' charger of mine was less than I thought it'd be, though you should expect this noise--that is not considered a defect, and the manual and item descriptions say this. I set the backlight to 5 seconds: the shortest (short of "always off"). Life hack: you can use handheld AM radios as crude EMF detectors, to detect if unreasonable interference is being emitted from your electronics, if you get it close enough, whether on an empty or broadcasting AM station.-The "KICKSTAND" is too short, or its slot is located too far up.So that instead of keeping the radio tilted near a 45-degree angle, it's 'barely not horizontal'. The purpose is apparently NOT to 'aim it at you', but to keep airflow below the passive radiator. Which is unfortunate, because this radio is so thin (which I like) that it doesn't stand well with the antenna extended. Something closer to 45 degrees would serve dual purposes. It's better than nothing.-Yes, there is actually a PASSIVE RADIATOR speaker diaphragm in the back!It's diminuitive, but it's there. I do think it helps. This is the opposite of a hi-fi device, so just remember that. But yes, there's more bass than, say, a Ham handy-talkie with FM function. This feature also helped sway my purchase, though in retrospect, the speaker's sound is still not this unit's strong suit. Again, better than nothing.-Low audio fidelity speaker, BUT...While experimenting with its Bluetooth [receive-only] function, I was shocked to notice that the 'clarity' of my fairly high-end cellphone speakers, was far more 'rich' and 'detailed', with the following provisos: less bass and lower overall volume (on my cellphone). I don't think this was degredation from Bluetooth, because AM and FM have the same 'lack of richness', which you might not notice except in an A/B comparison. I think it's the radio's built-in speaker itself, and other reviews have mentioned that the line-out sounds good. (UPDATE: the line-out/headphone out does sound good, BUT connecting to the radio's Headphone jack greatly increases susceptibility to FM interference. If you have a strong FM station in your area which interferes with weaker stations, the effect is magnified to such a point that a weak station which 'clear enough' on Speaker is totally overridden by the monster station when the Headphone port is connected.) The speaker is fine for voice, and that's what most of us will use it for. Music? It's comparable to those old-school, alkaline-battery, analog-tuning, handheld radios of the past. It's NOT comparable to the newer, usually-impressive sound of bespoke "Bluetooth speakers" we've become accustomed to. It would be nice otherwise. This is the 'end of the line' for the smallest radios with built-in speakers. I would spend more to get something of the same size (not larger), but with impressive-ish speaker quality. Because of the speaker quality issue, I will note that THE BLUETOOTH FUNCTION WOULD BE MORE USEFUL AS AN OUTPUT, THAN AN INPUT, if this could be done without interfering with radio reception. Some reviewers clearly (and logicly) expected the BT function to be output. But nope. IT'S RECEIVE-ONLY, not transmit. Considering that most bespoke 'Bluetooth speakers' (which usually have impressive sound for their size) don't usually have a built-in AM or FM radio, it'd be more useful to output a radio signal to an actually-good BT speaker, than to use this radio's speaker, to output content from, say, a cellphone, tablet, or PC. If the speaker were better, this wouldn't be an issue. I have heard smaller speakers which sound better, but it would raise the price--yet WOULD be worth it, if you could legitimately use this as a proper, albeit small, Bluetooth speaker (which I hoped I could). Right now, it's more of a gimmick, unless your transmit device is just terrible-sounding.-AFAIK, this is the SMALLEST, RICHLY-FEATURED, DIGITAL-TUNING, HANDHELD/POCKETABLE FM and *AM* RADIO ON THE MARKET, with a full 10-key NUMBER PAD for direct station storage and recall. This is before even considering the shortwave reception, and the lithium rechargable (and replaceable!) battery. There are other small, cheap, digital-tuning radios with a built-in speaker, but they all lack the number pad, and probably have fewer memory slots. Better "sounding" radios with a 10-key are at least twice the price and size. AM is rare in diminuitive radios, due to the size requirements of the internal ferrite antenna. Before internet streaming and downloading was much of a thing (~2005 and before?), I used the heck out of those handheld 'transistor radios' with built-in speakers, but always longed for digital tuning for station-hopping. Maybe this is similar to some old guys buying the minibike they weren't able to have as a kid, when they could buy a proper motorcycle instead. I love lots of techy features, so those hooked me too, though in retrospect the bluetooth, MP3, line-in, and audio recording function probably aren't very useful, as the speaker isn't doesn't rival high-end cellphone speakers (except perhaps in volume), and MP3 playback + Recording functions are going to be crude--but it will be worth it for some (fi: simpler for some to than finding and learning cellphone apps), and I won't complain about having options. Again, better than nothing (this seems to be a recurring theme).-My biggest problem is the DIGITAL VOLUME CONTROL, which actually doesn't get QUIET ENOUGH.First, there's NO immediate access to Volume. The Vol +/- buttons actually cycle through station PRESETS, as soon as you set one. You must HOLD the Vol button, after which the Volume menu will appear. 00 is mute, 01 is 'kind of soft', and it gets louder from there. I haven't found a quick way to manually Esc back to the menu, so I have to let the Volume menu timeout (Update: pressing the "Play/Pause" button works). I miss the analog volume knobs of my old-school 'transistor radios', where I could tweak the volume down so well, it was inaudible unless I held it up to my ear. Or I could put it next to my ear in bed, and not wake a companion. Not with this thing. I prefer "good-quiet" over "good-loud", and that, this is not. At least the lowest volume level isn't fraught with self-noise static. This becomes an even-bigger problem on AM, where stronger stations come in much louder than weak ones, especially at night. At the lowest volume, a strong station might be too much for discreet listening, while a weak station might be near-inaudible, requiring frequent volume changes when station-hopping. If possible, an (ANALOG) knob is always best for volume. Even car manufacturers have figured this out, and gone against the advice of overly-worshipped consultants like Sandy Munro.-USER INTERFACE: be aware, this radio is designed for nerds (not recommended for simps).I see a lot of reviews showing this radio is bought by normies who want this-or-that feature, but then get overwhelmed, apparently unwilling to RTFM. If you're buying this ostensibly for your wife as a gift, you'll "probably" need to set it up for her. She will be able to press "+/-" to navigate through the presets you made for her. I personally didn't need to read the manual, but prior reading of the reviews helped. My replacement came set to Chinese, which was a bit intimidating to switch, but I got it. Some people would fall to pieces. My biggest problem is that SOME OF THE BUTTONS' SECONDARY FUNCTIONS ARE UNMARKED! In this radio, the physical "Play/Pause" button doubles as "OK" or "Set". And "Mute". AND, if you HOLD that button, it will auto-scan the band, and completely erase any existing presets! None of that's marked! Funnily, there are ink markings below , and >>, which excatly DUPLICATE the embossed button markings--instead of indicating their secondary functions! (CCP-ish.. SMH.) The >/|| ink should be replaced with "OK". Because of this, learning how to store stations required a few attempts, but I didn't need to resort to the manual. There is a "MEMO" secondary button function, which always makes me thing "Record Audio [voice memo]", but it's not--it actually it means "MEMOry". They should've just marked it "MEM", "SAVE", OR "STO". You have to hold this button while tuned to the station you want to save, and then key in the 2-digit number of the slot you want (ie "01"), THEN know to hit the "Play" button, after which you'll finally get an confirmation dialog, to which you'll hit "Play" again. Until the confirmation, there's almost no indication that you're storing a station. You just have to have 'confidence'. The main Menu button does nothing unless you hold it. Perhaps that's intentional, but it can also be confusing. "Mode" should be renamed "Bluetooth" or "BT", as I can't discern another function. BT pairing was painless, if you're familiar with this process other devices.-PRESETS: one of the best things about this radio is the number of presets it can store.It's like 50 per band? I think SW is less, but still a lot IMO. I WAS able to briefly remove and replace the battery without losing presets, but I don't know if extended time would erase them. So no worries on swapping batteries. No idea on the self-drain yet. It would be nice if you could backup and restore your presets and radio settings to the MicroSD card slot, but you can't. If you spent a good while culling and sorting your auto-stored presets, you get worried. If you're traveling, you'll resist auto-storing local stations if you can't back up and restore your old list. I mean, there's a MicroSD card reader built-into this device. It should have this function. Having so many presets is useful, as it allows you space to do an auto-scan/store, but then manually create wells of focused duplicates in the upper numbers. For instance: you can program your favorites in the upper numbers, and access them quickly by scrolling backwards using the '-' button. This way, you don't need to click through each saved station progressively to get to your favorites, but can still scroll sequentially through stored stations. (UPDATE: I'VE LOST MY PRESETS MULTIPLE TIMES. For instance, if you change certain settings, like FM 67-108 vs 81-108, it erases all your FM memory. This device is arguably not serious enough to spend significant energy into customizing presets.) One bad thing is I think all old presets will get overridden, if you auto-store again. This is especially a problem for AM, as there'll be different stations available for night vs day. But I'm not sure any radios do that. Also, it's easy to accidentally initiate an auto-store by inadvertently holding the "Play" button. Once it starts, your stations are wiped, even if you manage to stop the scan.-BATTERY TIPSAfter seeing all the complaints about poor batteries and capacities, I was surprised to see how long it went from a full charge, to 'down a bar' (a few hours at 'low' volume, from full). I later found that 'down 1 bar' was actually around 3.8 volts, which in my world is 50% of actual/usable capacity. so I charge when I see it drop at all in the indicator. If it's down 2 bars, you should definitely charge it. Ideally, you wouldn't let it get to full charge, but that's much better than letting it drop far. It CAN charge and play at the same time, but you'll have noise from the USB power source. Unplug it when not charging, tho. Considering my misadventure with bad QC, I wouldn't be surprised that some batteries are just poor quality, but I suspect a lot of complaints are from people unwittingly abusing their batteries by letting them drain too far, or maybe playing at high volumes for extended sessions. If you remember the small cellphone batteries used by the OLD Motorola flip-phones (not the later 'smart' flips), it's those. Smaller than I was expecting, but this is fine: having a REMOVABLE, NON-PROPRIETARY, RECHARGEABLE, LITHIUM battery is something ALL battery-powered electronics should strive for! Seriously. I'd have preferred a standard cylinder cell like an 18650, 18500, or 14500, but that's wishlist territory: the flat cell and low cost work for this form factor. So, I'll say I'm actually pleased with battery life, considering how small this cell is. Maybe that will change if the battery deteriorates. The good news is they're sourceable online from third-party sources, and reportedly 'high capacity' versions exist. You might even have an old one that's still good from a really-old cellphone.-PS: It's not a Spirit Box.An older review says his functioned as one. But the firmware has now been "improved" so stations are irretreivably muted during seeks and auto-preset scans :( . (My firmware is v1.6, visible on the first line if you hold "Menu")-Wish List:BACKLIT KEYS, better speaker, larger (still-standard) lithium battery, Bluetooth TRANSMIT, backup/restore function, USB-C charging, FM tuning increments of .2 vs .1 MHz when set to USA/"FM2" (88.1-108), ~45-degree kickstand, SpiritBox option (hear stations while scanning/storing), and a headphone jack which doesn't increase reception of spurious signals.
Kyle
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
First of all, I purchased an older version of this radio nearly a year and a half ago and liked it a lot even then. It could record from any source, mic, radio, line-in, even bluetooth, and could play mp3 files on a TF/MicroSD chip. But the automatic gain control built into the mic recording mode didn't really work as expected; many times the recorded sound would be too loud and would fluctuate rather wildly, while other times just clearing my throat close to the mic would allow the automatic gain control to work more as expected, though this was not guaranteed to work for every mic recording. Also, recordings were stored in folders called MRECORD, BRECORD, LRECORD, etc, and inserting a new TF card then reinserting the old one would cause recordings to be mixed in with the music in shuffle mode. Now fast forward to this new version, and wow have they outdone themselves with this one! First, the recording quality defaults to mp3 160Kb/s/channel, so stereo recordings via line or bluetooth are now 320Kb/s and mono recordings such as via the mic are recorded at 160Kb/s, a major improvement over the max 128Kb/s of the previous version. Also, the automatic gain control seems to be off by default, though I haven't checked the menu system to see whether or not it can be turned on. It's enough that it is off and that in most situations, the mic is not too sensitive and the recording will not be distorted unless I speak directly into the mic or blow into it or something as clipworthy as that. Playing back my recordings made with this new version sounds amazing now. I even got an excellent recording from FM radio, though I only tested for about half a minute. Other tests using the mic, both recording on the unit itself and connected to a computer using the unit as the recording source sounded quite good played back on the computer. Even better, recordings are now stored in folders named as AUX, BLUETOOTH, MIC and RADIO under the RECORD folder, which is only played when the unit is switched to recordings mode by holding the 0 key down. Doing the same to switch back to music playback mode will leave the RECORD folder out of the music being played, even in shuffle mode. Radio reception on all bands is very good, especially considering the price. I initially purchased the earlier version of this radio for casual shortwave listening, but found all the rest of its impressive feature set to be too compelling to ignore. Still, shortwave reception is not bad either, making this a great all-around value for the price. It won't win any battery life contests with the included battery, but the common BL5-C battery is rather inexpensive and after-market batteries will range in capacity from about the same as what ships with this radio up to more than 1 1/2 times the 1000MaH that ships with it, and that will considerably increase the life per charge. Sound quality is not bad through the internal speaker, especially as small as the radio is, and the maximum volume will certainly fill a small to medium room. Headphones though are another matter. I get more bass from the speaker than I hear through headphones, and something I find even worse is that the left and right channels on both the older and newer version of this radio as well as another similar radio by another brand are reversed, so I have to wear my headphones backwards to hear the sound as it was intended to be heard. As this seems to be a wide-spread flaw among many inexpensive radios, although I find it to be very annoying, I didn't feel the need to take off a star for this one, as the rest of the features and the newest implementation far outweigh the annoyance of the reversed headphone channels. I just note it here in case something can be done by the manufacturer at some point, as many improvements have certainly been made just in the past year and a half, all while keeping the price low. Overall, this little radio packs a ton of features in a very small, very inexpensive package, everything from AM/FM/SW reception to mp3 music playback to mp3 recording from every supported sound source to card reader to USB audio device. I can't recommend this one enough, and if it withstands the punishment the last one took, I'll be back in a year and a half to get another one.
Kyle
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
First of all, I purchased an older version of this radio nearly a year and a half ago and liked it a lot even then. It could record from any source, mic, radio, line-in, even bluetooth, and could play mp3 files on a TF/MicroSD chip. But the automatic gain control built into the mic recording mode didn't really work as expected; many times the recorded sound would be too loud and would fluctuate rather wildly, while other times just clearing my throat close to the mic would allow the automatic gain control to work more as expected, though this was not guaranteed to work for every mic recording. Also, recordings were stored in folders called MRECORD, BRECORD, LRECORD, etc, and inserting a new TF card then reinserting the old one would cause recordings to be mixed in with the music in shuffle mode. Now fast forward to this new version, and wow have they outdone themselves with this one! First, the recording quality defaults to mp3 160Kb/s/channel, so stereo recordings via line or bluetooth are now 320Kb/s and mono recordings such as via the mic are recorded at 160Kb/s, a major improvement over the max 128Kb/s of the previous version. Also, the automatic gain control seems to be off by default, though I haven't checked the menu system to see whether or not it can be turned on. It's enough that it is off and that in most situations, the mic is not too sensitive and the recording will not be distorted unless I speak directly into the mic or blow into it or something as clipworthy as that. Playing back my recordings made with this new version sounds amazing now. I even got an excellent recording from FM radio, though I only tested for about half a minute. Other tests using the mic, both recording on the unit itself and connected to a computer using the unit as the recording source sounded quite good played back on the computer. Even better, recordings are now stored in folders named as AUX, BLUETOOTH, MIC and RADIO under the RECORD folder, which is only played when the unit is switched to recordings mode by holding the 0 key down. Doing the same to switch back to music playback mode will leave the RECORD folder out of the music being played, even in shuffle mode. Radio reception on all bands is very good, especially considering the price. I initially purchased the earlier version of this radio for casual shortwave listening, but found all the rest of its impressive feature set to be too compelling to ignore. Still, shortwave reception is not bad either, making this a great all-around value for the price. It won't win any battery life contests with the included battery, but the common BL5-C battery is rather inexpensive and after-market batteries will range in capacity from about the same as what ships with this radio up to more than 1 1/2 times the 1000MaH that ships with it, and that will considerably increase the life per charge. Sound quality is not bad through the internal speaker, especially as small as the radio is, and the maximum volume will certainly fill a small to medium room. Headphones though are another matter. I get more bass from the speaker than I hear through headphones, and something I find even worse is that the left and right channels on both the older and newer version of this radio as well as another similar radio by another brand are reversed, so I have to wear my headphones backwards to hear the sound as it was intended to be heard. As this seems to be a wide-spread flaw among many inexpensive radios, although I find it to be very annoying, I didn't feel the need to take off a star for this one, as the rest of the features and the newest implementation far outweigh the annoyance of the reversed headphone channels. I just note it here in case something can be done by the manufacturer at some point, as many improvements have certainly been made just in the past year and a half, all while keeping the price low. Overall, this little radio packs a ton of features in a very small, very inexpensive package, everything from AM/FM/SW reception to mp3 music playback to mp3 recording from every supported sound source to card reader to USB audio device. I can't recommend this one enough, and if it withstands the punishment the last one took, I'll be back in a year and a half to get another one.
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