Surprising Quality for Cheap Little Radio

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good shortwave reception, small size, super cheap

Cons: poor selectivity

The Bottom Line: 
Great cheap little radio that brings the world to your ears. Get for $7-15 what Sony charges $50+!

Author's Review
Like the last reviewer, I picked up this radio for $8 at Big Lots, kind of surprised to find a shortwave radio there for such a price. I'd been looking for a small, cheap portable radio for traveling and carrying around with me outdoors. Most portable radios I've used only pick up the strongest stations, and are typically very poor for FM.

This little radio surprised me, and having shortwave is a major bonus. For serious shortwave listening I have a decent digital Sangean/Radio Shack model that pulls in stations well. I was surprised how well this little Coby compares. Now, don't think you'll be listening to shortwave pirates on a 40 watt rig in the hills of Kentucky, but you'll have no problems listening in to most major stations, from the BBC to DW, Asia to South America.

AM and FM quality is good, but local high-power stations will splatter all over the dial. This indicates high sensitivity but with low selectivity/rejection. Which does mean that you'll get in some distant stations well if they don't get blotted out by a blowtorch station nearby. Like another reviewer noted, the AM performance at night is pretty good (though I don't know that I'd compare it to a CCRAdio).

This radio is at least as good as Sony and Sangean analog shortwave radios retailing for $50. And given the dynamics of the global electronics market, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't all roll off the same assembly line somewhere deep in China.

You won't mistake it for a finely crafted piece of electronics, but the overall fit and finish is surprising for a bottom-dollar radio. I'm used to having the buttons and dials on $7 radios all-but fall off after taking them out of the package. It's surprisingly hefty and substantial feeling, but not too heavy. But it is a bit too big to really be a pocket radio.

Based on this radio I'll look more seriously at Coby electronics the next time I need a cheap CD player or boombox.