Help me buy a digital radio as a gift.
January 14, 2015 3:38 AM Subscribe
My partner has a birthday coming up and I'm looking for a gift. She is in the habit of listening to the radio on her phone while she does chores around the house or works from home, so I want to get her something a bit nicer to listen on. Specifics inside.
We already have laptops, a TV which can pick up digital radio and a Chromecast, but I'm looking for something less fiddly and more portable.
Specifics:
1. Available in the UK. Preferably online.
2. Less than £100 but there's some flexibility there.
3. Must be a DAB digital radio, not just FM
4. I want something which can be carried room to room, but don't want to spend a ton on batteries, so something with both battery and mains power would be great. Rechargeable even better, if that's even a thing.
5. Decent sound quality. Not looking for miracles from a small portable and she's hardly an audiophile but something which at least sounds decent would be nice.
Hard mode:
She does sometimes listen to timeshifted stuff using BBC iPlayer Radio, so if there's something which accomplishes the above but would also let her listen to iPlayer then that would be amazing. Not even sure how that would work. A radio with a 3.5mm input so she could plug her phone into it? A cheapish tablet with non-terrible speakers? Some other way of doing that which I haven't even considered? Not essential, but I'm more flexible on price if someone can come up with something.
We already have laptops, a TV which can pick up digital radio and a Chromecast, but I'm looking for something less fiddly and more portable.
Specifics:
1. Available in the UK. Preferably online.
2. Less than £100 but there's some flexibility there.
3. Must be a DAB digital radio, not just FM
4. I want something which can be carried room to room, but don't want to spend a ton on batteries, so something with both battery and mains power would be great. Rechargeable even better, if that's even a thing.
5. Decent sound quality. Not looking for miracles from a small portable and she's hardly an audiophile but something which at least sounds decent would be nice.
Hard mode:
She does sometimes listen to timeshifted stuff using BBC iPlayer Radio, so if there's something which accomplishes the above but would also let her listen to iPlayer then that would be amazing. Not even sure how that would work. A radio with a 3.5mm input so she could plug her phone into it? A cheapish tablet with non-terrible speakers? Some other way of doing that which I haven't even considered? Not essential, but I'm more flexible on price if someone can come up with something.
Response by poster: An antiquated HTC android phone. She listens through the speaker. I don't know how she can stand it but, there you go.
posted by Dext at 3:48 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by Dext at 3:48 AM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: If she's happy using her phone, have you thought about a Bluetooth speaker. I have several in various places about my home, but the handiest is this Sony one. Setting it up to work with the phone is a trivial one-off job, it comes with a mains adapter and space for 4 AA batteries, sounds good and looks fine.
posted by ambrosen at 4:31 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by ambrosen at 4:31 AM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: Have a gander at this list in What Hi-Fi.
I've got an oldish Roberts DAB/Internet radio which is super nice but was a bit pricey... and is no longer available. Here's a newer version of more or less the same thing FWIW.
posted by ZipRibbons at 4:34 AM on January 14, 2015
I've got an oldish Roberts DAB/Internet radio which is super nice but was a bit pricey... and is no longer available. Here's a newer version of more or less the same thing FWIW.
posted by ZipRibbons at 4:34 AM on January 14, 2015
I've got one of these. Not cheap (though I'm sure you could find a good deal somewhere), but it's beautiful to look at with fantastic sound quality. It comes in a range of colours.
I've had mine for over three years and use it for an average of 2 hours each day. It's held up really well and the batteries last a long time, months usually, but it also has mains power.
I believe you can also plug a cable into it to allow you to play your iPhone etc. through the speakers but I personally haven't tried that.
posted by RubyScarlet at 4:47 AM on January 14, 2015
I've had mine for over three years and use it for an average of 2 hours each day. It's held up really well and the batteries last a long time, months usually, but it also has mains power.
I believe you can also plug a cable into it to allow you to play your iPhone etc. through the speakers but I personally haven't tried that.
posted by RubyScarlet at 4:47 AM on January 14, 2015
Response by poster: A Bluetooth speaker is such an obvious idea I can't believe I didn't think of it, thanks!
Few concerns:
1. Her phone doesn't have NFC, will the Sony one mentioned work without NFC?
2. Are there different/older Bluetooth standards which may lead to incompatibility/reduced quality issues? Her phone is an HTC One S.
3. Once it's paired for the first time how simple is it to play music through the speaker? Just a case of pushing a button on the speaker? If it requires fiddling with the phone every time she probably won't use it.
posted by Dext at 5:04 AM on January 14, 2015
Few concerns:
1. Her phone doesn't have NFC, will the Sony one mentioned work without NFC?
2. Are there different/older Bluetooth standards which may lead to incompatibility/reduced quality issues? Her phone is an HTC One S.
3. Once it's paired for the first time how simple is it to play music through the speaker? Just a case of pushing a button on the speaker? If it requires fiddling with the phone every time she probably won't use it.
posted by Dext at 5:04 AM on January 14, 2015
I saw a Bluetooth speaker the other day in the form of a carabiner that you clip onto a belt loop/backpack etc. And only $20ish (£15ish) I guess the Google term would be clip-on speaker. Almost all of the BT speakers are rechargeable, and the tiny ones often have the benefit of being stereo if you have two
posted by sexyrobot at 5:24 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by sexyrobot at 5:24 AM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: I have the Sony speaker linked upthread and use it to listen to music from my iphone. It rocks.
1. I didnt use NFC to set it up, just bluetooth.
2. No expert on this but I've used an iphone3 to play music to the Sony speaker and its sounded fine.
3. So long as youre not swopping between the phone and another device as the music player (in which case you need to re-pair, it'll remember the last one) its as simple as turn speaker on, press play on music app.
posted by Ness at 5:26 AM on January 14, 2015
1. I didnt use NFC to set it up, just bluetooth.
2. No expert on this but I've used an iphone3 to play music to the Sony speaker and its sounded fine.
3. So long as youre not swopping between the phone and another device as the music player (in which case you need to re-pair, it'll remember the last one) its as simple as turn speaker on, press play on music app.
posted by Ness at 5:26 AM on January 14, 2015
And if not a bluetooth speaker, then bluetooth headphones. I got a pair to wear around the office and it's fabulous.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 5:38 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 5:38 AM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: To be clear, you can only control volume and off/on with the Sony speaker. The phone remains the controller for playing music.
I can leave my phone docked and playing music on shuffle in my living room and take the speaker into the adjoining kitchen with no issues which impresses me since my walls are concrete.
posted by Ness at 5:40 AM on January 14, 2015
I can leave my phone docked and playing music on shuffle in my living room and take the speaker into the adjoining kitchen with no issues which impresses me since my walls are concrete.
posted by Ness at 5:40 AM on January 14, 2015
Response by poster: ZipRibbons, that Roberts radio looks amazing, exactly what I was looking for.
Do you know if you can still get BBC Listen Again streams on it? Some things on the web suggest you can, but they are all quite old articles and I know the BBC recently turned off some streams/changed format.
posted by Dext at 5:47 AM on January 14, 2015
Do you know if you can still get BBC Listen Again streams on it? Some things on the web suggest you can, but they are all quite old articles and I know the BBC recently turned off some streams/changed format.
posted by Dext at 5:47 AM on January 14, 2015
be aware that a good chunk of the bluetooth speakers out there are portable, which means chargeable battery. It's been my experience that many of them will not play while they are charging.
If you don't need to move the speaker around the house, then search for a radio or clock radio with bluetooth. Such as this one.
posted by royalsong at 5:49 AM on January 14, 2015
If you don't need to move the speaker around the house, then search for a radio or clock radio with bluetooth. Such as this one.
posted by royalsong at 5:49 AM on January 14, 2015
I am pretty much your wife, and my husband bought me this one. I love it. Good sound and the batteries last well.
posted by tracicle at 7:30 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by tracicle at 7:30 AM on January 14, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I think I'm probably going to go down the portable bluetooth speaker route, as it will work with what she already has and she's more likely to use it. Thanks for all your answers, though
posted by Dext at 12:14 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by Dext at 12:14 PM on January 14, 2015
Hey Dext, just saw your follow up to me. I'm afraid I don't know about BBC Listen Again streams. I looked through my radio's menus last night but couldn't find anything that looked likely, but then again I live abroad so all my BBC comes over the internet, not DAB — maybe that makes a difference.
What I can tell you is that my radio is stuffed full of podcasts, including dozens and dozens of BBC shows.
Anyway...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:33 AM on January 15, 2015
What I can tell you is that my radio is stuffed full of podcasts, including dozens and dozens of BBC shows.
Anyway...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:33 AM on January 15, 2015
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posted by jon1270 at 3:47 AM on January 14, 2015