RF75A APP Control Shortwave Radio, Portable Shortwave Radios AM/FM/VHF/SW/WB Weather Radio, Pocket Radio Rechargeable w/ 9.85 Ft Wire Antenna (Army Green)

Although I own a couple of other digital radios, its more of a hobby thing than collecting, and I wasn't looking for another radio when I first ran across this thing. But its cuteness and features kind of sucked me in because the price is pretty low under 50 USDs. I was afraid it might be just a toy but in testing it out I found this tiny thing means business! I can listen to 2 meter Ham radio just great without pulling out the antenna, weather comes in more clear than most weather radios. Only the AM broadcast band is a little weak in getting really far stations and the antenna does not seem to help. This little thing will accept a micro SD card big enough to hold my entire collection of MP3s easily, and some headphones sound great with it. That feature alone blows away the the old music player I used to carry which was just as big but only held 8G max. And this is only one feature... The names of tracks being played is only available on the phone app Run time is about 6 to 12 hours depending on volume level. It has a number of pro's going for it: - It can be a BT speaker that sounds way better than most phones or even laptops. - It can be a u-SD card player up to 256G (plays in stereo to headphones) - It can be a USB speaker for a PC (I think) - Receives AM, FM, SW, VHF, and weather bands - Doing a scan on any band will automatically store all found stations in preset memory locations for you, this seems to work well for most of the bands - I think you can record audio from the radio onto your phone but have not tried this yet - You can set timed power on or power off, and alarms - Has emergency flashlight and/or siren - It has a written Guide that comes with it and a separate guide for the phone app - nice touch! - It has a clock display - Its little - like only half a shirt pocket - Has 1AH lithium battery and modern USB-C charge port conveniently located on top where any USBC connector will work. - Has a lock key which at first seems WTF, but after having it turn On in my pocket, it is a nice touch to be able to lock out the power button! But see Cons. - Being so small, the accompanying phone app lets you access the features a little easier and use some you might never have known were even there for example it has an equalizer with built-in presets for the audio output - The speaker is surprisingly powerful for the size of the unit. Having said that, I don't mean to say it sounds like a JBL or something, yet it sounds so much better than it looks like it should, that it just seems acceptable. - Comes with a nice little kit of goodies like charge cable, Ext antenna cable, etc. CONS: - FM is Not Stereo to headphones - The portion of the VHF FM band that corresponds to Air cannot demodulate the AM air band properly - AM broadcast band is a little weak compared to bigger radios with bigger ferrite loops in them - No file navigation tools to deal with the possibly huge TF cards of up to a quarter terabyte - The lockout button does not lock out the flashlight/siren button (so it can go off in your pocket). looks like a bug to me. - Oh yeah, in the display the word "Level" is spelled "Lever". That's a real dumb one. Okay it may have a bug or two, but is a lot of fun for the price! I would buy another one if they fix the bugs...

There is a lot to like about this radio: • It has surprising good sensitivity. If it has a weakness, it is MW, which is to be expected for a small radio. Other bands are highly competitive (as good or better) when compared to other pocket radios that cost considerably more (I have Sangean, C Crane, and Eton pocket radios). Additionally, the RF75A has broad band coverage. • Full rich sound from the speaker with more than adequate volume. It's hard to believe the quality of sound that comes out of this small device. • Solid build quality. • LOADED with features with nice touches, like the backlight that changes colors for the different bands. • High quality accessories. • Uses a USB C port. Too many radios are still using mini/micro ports. • Good user manual. Thinks I don’t like: • The antenna is very thin. My first thought was: “this is definitely going to break”. After using it, I found that it is very flexible and I suspect it will be fine, but it is something to be careful with none the less. • Given its size, it makes sense that it uses an internal battery, but it’s nice being able to swap out batteries in a pocket radio. It’s a tradeoff for sure and the battery life is certainly good enough for a day of usage, but if this will be your only pocket radio, it’s something to consider. I purchased this out of curiosity and didn’t expect to be so impressed with it. This is a very serious and fun little radio that is an easy 5 star product.

This certainly is an interesting radio, primarily because of the very nice app that works with it. The app not only lets you control the radio as if you were pressing its buttons, but it also provides features (like recording and direct frequency entry) and displays information (like song file name and signal strength) not available on the radio itself. You can even set the radio's clock from the phone's clock with just one tap! Note: one cannot listen to the radio over the phone with the app. The app is RADIO-C on Android and RADIO-CT on the iPhone. You can install the app without the radio if you're curious. The RF75A is amazingly small -- a true shirt pocket radio -- but it's packed with a long list of features. It's the Swiss army knife of portable radios with weather alerts, music playing from a micro SD card, a flashlight, a really loud emergency siren, Bluetooth speaker and an alarm clock. The radio adds VHF reception to the usual MW/FM/SW and weather bands. It has an earphone jack, and the earphone cord can act as an antenna for FM (note: FM is not stereo on this radio although the MP3 player is). All it lacks is a bottle opener (yes, there really are radios with bottle openers). I'm an avid shortwave listener who's owned over 100 radios over the past 60 years and I've thought a good deal about how this radio fits in. It's not a "starter radio" for someone curious about shortwave, nor one a serious listener would want as their only radio; reception is just not that good, particularly with the tiny 13" built-in whip antenna, but I live in Virginia in the US and I was able to receive Radio New Zealand with a listenable signal on the RF75A whip antenna; that was under very good conditions at 2:30 AM. The radio does get stations, but something else in the same price range would get more (something like an XHDATA D-109 comes to mind as a better starter radio). It's difficult to control noise from the electronics in a radio this small and that is a limiting factor on sensitivity, but noise is only an issue for weak signals. On the other extreme, the radio can overload on strong local FM stations that might bleed over a couple of channels on either side (one might try shortening the antenna in this situation). An experienced radio user like me finds navigating the controls (9 buttons) intuitive; however, some buttons have as many as 4 different functions depending on mode and whether you press, double press or long press them. Advanced functions like setting the alarm or setting VHF bandwidth may require reference to the manual. I give the manual a B- grade. It's certainly way above some radio manuals, but the English is still sometimes awkward and occasionally a sentence doesn't quite make sense. It is convenient that you can get the manual in PDF format from the Raddy website. The current user manual has an error related to retrieving stored station presets. Press the "SET" key, not the "MODE" key as stated in the manual to allow selection of the preset. It also refers to the [MODE] button, but it's actually [MOD] -- perhaps the typo is on the radio, not the manual. The app has a separate manual, but the app's operation is so intuitive that I have not needed to consult it. If you wanted a camping radio, this might fit the bill. Just add a solar panel with USB-C output to keep it charged on a long trip. The flashlight is small but bright, enough to keep you from tripping over a tree root, if not enough to light up the trees. The SOS siren is extremely loud. The radio is easily loud enough for group listening. It comes with a carry bag to keep it from getting scratched up when stowed with gear and it comes with an external wire antenna you could loop over a tree branch to get more stations. I tend to keep the radio in my shirt pocket for listening on the spur of the moment. That's the source of the attached video of the radio receiving Spanish National Radio on shortwave at my home in Virginia. I think I am going to keep this radio in my car in the glove box to use on the spur of the moment when I find myself with some extra time and want to listen to shortwave or check the weather. For the more serious purchaser, it's helpful that the manual is available online and the app can be downloaded before making a buying decision. One negative point is that the 1000mAh 3.7V lithium polymer battery is not user replaceable or upgraded.

Battery life is the worst of any radio I have ever owned, not even 9 hours, probably due to bluetooth and you can't replace the battery. Audio is great and outstanding on FM and NOAA weather radio, and with the external clip on antenna, not bad on shortwave although a wide filter you can't adjust. AM reception, like I said is poor, this is no DX machine, but will pick up the locals. It will pick up police-fire coms on VHF but no squelch. The app is neat to use although does have a learning period to it. The fact you can record directly from the radio to an SD is an outstanding plus. It does come with a 3 meter clip antenna, headphones (cheap), and a carry case which is nice. For what it does, amazing technology that I hope other radio makers will adopt.

I like this radio. It will take a while for most buyers to learn how it works. I don't know if the manual is helpful. I almost never look at them for devices like this because so many user manuals are often worthless, these days. If you don't refer to it, just spend a little time and it you will learn it. Watch out for the LOUD panic button, though. IF, the designers are interested, I would like the buttons to be backlit, so I could operate it properly in the dark. You can recharge the internal battery with USB-C cable. But, I would like to retain the charging capability but with replaceable batteries. The WX feature works very well and better than some that I've had. Works inside the home, where some radios have not done well. I get a lot of FM stations without extending the antenna which is kind of unusual for my area. The antenna seems flimsy, but I am getting used to it because the radio seems worthy in all other aspects.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I have bought this radio less than one year ago and absolutely love the great sound this tiny radio has ! ! ! Great reception of the AM stations that I mostly listen to. Unfortunately one week ago the screen went out, kind of, it briefly comes on when the radio is turned on and then fades away into a purple hue of nothing. It also no longer takes a charge. Yet I liked that radio enough that I just ordered a replacement in the hopes that the second one will last longer than number one. It is a fantastic little radio - while it lasts . I would have given that radio five stars , but since it died on me in less than one year it gets only three stars.

I don't write a lot of reviews but this impressed me enough to share what I think. What makes this so impressive? It is the only radio I know of at this size and weight that can not only receive broadcast am, fm and shortwave, but also weather band and most uniquely, the 2m amateur band and public service service narrow fm all in the form factor the size of 10 credit cards stacked one on the other. I've seen some reviews questioning the durability, for example the telescoping antenna is very thin, however there is no way to put a longer thicker antenna on this radio and preserve one of its best features, size and weight. Given its small size the on board speaker is surprisingly good and the lcd screen is readable and gives a lot of information. Raddiooddity includes a wire antenna with a nifty 4 inch loop and coil on the end of the approximately 10 foot wire greatly increasing the electrical length. At mid-day on shortwave I could pull in about a dozen stations clearly enough to listen comfortably through the speaker (maybe a few more stations with the included ear phones and some concentration) with the telescoping antenna alone. But when applying the alligator clip antenna I pulled in over 30 stations. The antenna folds to about 1/2 the size of a fountain pen and can easily fit along side the radio in a shirt pocket with room to spare. Other features of this radio include a nice bright led flashlight, micro sd card slot to listen to saved music. Blue-tooth connection to control the radio through an app on your phone among other features like automatic on and off, scanning, and several others. While I would not recommend as your primary radio at "base camp", to carry with you especially when on foot where size and weight are crucial, it can't be beat. Serious ham operators would probably prefer the Belka DX that does SSB very well in the HF bands but also lacks all the other features and is 3 times the price. For Ham enthusiasts I also recommend the Tecsun 680 but be aware although compact it is still twice the size of this diminutive radio. If you live in an area where public service like police fire and ambulance are still on fm analog, this radio is worth it for that feature alone, unfortunately many areas are swithing to uhf and digital modes that this little guy can't demodulate, but if you are in one of the "lucky" areas, consider this feature. If this radio were twice the price I might through a few criticisms in for completeness, but at this price point, can't really think of any.

Hit-and-miss or happenstance, I can't say, but I honestly think these little radios are just slightly hyped up. The manuals notes on water resistance clarify this one's no swimmer and no showers either, not even on Saturday nights! The red LED in the flashing S.O.S. beacon is nonexistent, but it does make a racket and flashes the white LEDs in the appropriate ...---...--- signal. Stereo FM, well, nope, this I knew going in, although there is stereophonic sound through the SD card MP3 player which there must have been a firmware update for. The back of this radio states it's APE and FLAC file capable, which the manual doesn't mention, the back of the radio was correct about the FLAC files, APE I'd guess is Apple and I don't have an Apple anything so you're on your own with those. There are tonal adjustments while playing music from the SD card that seem to be effected by volume levels more so with the earbuds than the speaker which had me dialing back and forth with volume adjustments. The AM flavored frequencies aren't so crispy fresh, kind of mushy and squished togetherish with some sleet like sound on the garden roof, sort of. Shortwave could be taken into a literal context around here, you just can't surf any short waves unless you're on a longboard antenna flavored rig which this radio didn't include, the "long line" alligator clip to the skimpy telescoping antenna was engaged with few transmissions coming through very clearly at all. The whole group of the VHF bands were real similar, only a few legible frequencies after a long scan for signals. Ghost signals trick this little radio too, even on AM. I guess I live in a good area for radio reception signal testing, as it's rare I manage to get more than a few FM stations that aren't heavily rice filled maraca influenced, this radio does better than most including weather band radio clearer than most I've tried, including an SDR dongle with a near 6-foot-long dipole antenna. It seemed a little more than creepy that a Bluetooth connection from a radio to a phone would need the phones location given as a privledge for the radio so that didn't happen and it didn't happen well with some Bluetooth headphones either, I couldn't get them connected. Radio to PC picked right up with the files showing right up on a Linux based computer, that's as far as that went though. The included ear buds aren't the worst I've experienced although not the best, they're decent. Being all this foolery was done inside the house with no external antennas, this radio isn't bad, but it isn't really good either. I'm keeping it for it's very compact size, weather band capabilities and tiny little speaker that hits way above its weight class. It's already found its home in a watertight cell phone box with it's cables for camping, fishing and my EDC bag. There was some debate, but it's staying. I shouldn't have kept it! Most of the year I've had this it stayed in a water tight box with only a few uses mainly for testing. Tonight I took it out, pressed the SOS light button, the lights lit briefly and everything completely went dead. No button combinations I've tried has revived this little radio, it seems to be dead after efforts to make connections with a PC. The display just blink and it hasn't regained any functions at all.