D220 Portable Radio AM FM SW Shortwave Receiver Pocket Radios, 2AA Battery Operated Transistor Radio with Excellent Reception for Gift, Family, Elder (Orange)

XHDATA has quite a few excellent radios, and here's another good one with a retro "transistor radio" vibe that performs a lot better than the ones did back when these types of radios were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Still, there are a few operational details that might make it less suitable for some listeners than some other radios.Reception: FM and shortwave are exceptionally sensitive. In fact, I compared the shortwave reception of this radio to a couple of digital receivers I have. I was able to get everything on the D-220 that the bigger radios would get. And on a few of the stations, this little D-220 actually delivered cleaner reception than the larger, more expensive radios. Quite a surprise. But here's the problem: The entire shortwave band, which runs on this radio from 5.6 MHz to 22 MHz, is packed into one band. Finding a particular frequency can be a challenge. But with patience and a steady hand you can eventually get there. If there is ever a revision of this radio, I would hope they would consider dividing shortwave into two bands to make it easier to find specific frequencies. FM works really well also, especially given the relatively short antenna. I am able to receive an FM station about 70 mi away that's right between two local stations on the dial. Again, though, you need to really tune slowly to do that because not much movement of the tuning thumbwheel can sweep you right past the station you're looking for. AM (Medium Wave) reception is predictably not as good as FM and shortwave because the radio's small size means the internal AM antenna isn't very big. It works fine for local and stronger regional stations, though, and it will pull in some distant ones at night.Sound Quality: The biggest strength here is that the radio gets pretty loud without audio distortion, making it suitable to use outdoors or in noisy environments. Overall, I would rate the sound as good for a radio this size. You don't have a lot of bass, but the audio is clear and crisp for news/talk and casual music listening.Operation: Because of this radio's overall simplicity it might seem suitable for an elderly person who prefers a radio without a lot of extra buttons, knobs and controls. However, because tuning it requires fairly precise movements of the tuning wheel, a person with limited hand dexterity might find it frustrating to use. On the plus side, though, once you do find the station you want, the radio's digital signal processing chip homes in on the center of the signal, so there isn't much need to do any fine tuning.Battery Life: Phenomenal. To test this, I took a couple of previously-used AA batteries out of a different radio and checked their voltage, finding that each battery was between 1.2 and 1.3 volts - significantly less than the 1.5 volts of a new one. I then put them in the D-220 and turned it on at a moderate normal listening volume on an FM station. So far the D-220 has been playing for over 48 hours continuously on those previously-used batteries.Overall: The XHDATA D-220 is a high-quality radio at an attractive price. For those who intend to do a lot of shortwave listening, I suggest also looking at XHDATA's D-219, which costs about the same and divides the shortwave spectrum into several bands, making it easier to find the exact frequency you want. But if you prefer the slightly smaller size and vertical orientation of the D-220, the shortwave performance is excellent on this radio as well, albeit requiring a little more time to tune.

Pocket radio am/fm/sw with analog dial. The radio make for a small travel radio for a very good price. Reception of am/fm bands is good with a nice sounding speaker for its size. The orange color also is easier to see, more visible. Nothing fancy but works well.

I would have given this 5 stars but personally I trust the four star ratings more than 5 star.This radio is very well built, pulls in stations as well or better than most of my radios (I have a lot of them), works with common AA batteries. The amplifier circuit is very good, very loud without distortion. Minimal controls make it easy to use. The stand on the back is designed to snap into place and won't flop around like some I've seen.

So the biggest differenc e is that this does not have smooth tuning . I have not opened this but suspect it has no tuning capacitor but instead uses a chip to tune in stations in steps, becoming quiet between frequency changes. Shortwave appears mostly dead aside from the wwv time signal and that bible thumping station even with about a 10 ft peice of wire. It does pick up local fm stations well and i intend to leave it at a remote geocache location powered by a solar panel, im not worried i wasted my money. It works and the price is reasonable. Ive bought a Vondior brand which did have a capacitor and doesnt silence the radio between channels.

Great little backup radio for when the power goes out. Easy to use, gets a good signal, it's small and portable. What more could you want?

Going right to four stars as product images and customer reviews show a strap which enhances the areas where I put my radios. I often hang them.Initial impressions: Good FM reception. I don't listen to AM much. Good volume. Speaker distorts at max setting. I can easily tune in my favorite public radio stations. Important as there are lots of garbage religious stations in those bandwidth ranges. Controls are fairly intuitive. Not had this long so no comment yet on battery life. Will update in six months if it still works, then. Using it as my primary radio to test it.The main issue I find with these cheap Chinese radios is that the electrical components are of poor quality so the precision of them changes over a few weeks or months and eventually drift enough that their values changes enough that the radios stop working. I have a pile of Chinese radios that stopped working in under a years. I have old Sonys that are 30 years old and work like new. Could also be that the components are of such poor quality that they just fail.ONE WEEK.UPDATE: Same issue as other users. After only four days the radio stopped working. Only hear static. New batteries fixed this. My old Sony lasts for weeks under similar use. Not a reliable radio for emergency use. Recommend switching to rechargeable batteries if you buy this radio.

Very good radio. Good sound and it's able to get clear reception from 'close' AM stations. I usually listen to News or Talk radio. Sound is clear. The station holds well as I move around with it. It's pretty sturdy and not flimsy.There is an earphone jack, but it did not come with an earphone. That was not a problem. It's good for an emergency as well as routine use.

This is a great little radio. The reception is pretty darn good and the sound is perfectly fine for something of this size. No regrets at all.