D109WB Portable AM/FM/SW/LW/WB Weather Radio Shortwave Radio Receiver with NOAA Alert, Battery Operated Great Sound Wireless BT Mp3 Speaker, SOS Alert Alarm Clock Sleep Function

Product arrived on time and well packaged. For the record, I am NOT a short wave expert. I am a casual user who likes to surf the bands at times, so this radio and others like it are used for fun as well as for emergency preparedness.I also have a Sangean 909X, which easily cost 4+ times as much as this radio when I bought it back in 2011. That radio is my comparison source.First things first however. This radio has a solid build feel to it. The switches have a nice tactile feel to them. I love the use of the 18650 battery for power (The radio cannot be powered with the battery removed....It MUST be present) because I use that same battery type in many of my high powered flashlights. Now my understanding is that the battery provided in unprotected, meaning that it lacks safety circuitry to prevent overcharge, short circuits, and other issues that could lead to a battery fire. I would highly recommend purchasing a protected 18650 to use in this radio and yes, they DO FIT. I cannot guarantee that every brand will fit, but I was able to install two protected name brand 18650 batteries in this radio with no difficulty. Do not charge the battery unattended. Now all of THAT said, even the lower capacity 18650 battery provided with this radio should power it for a LONG time versus any AAA / AA batteries and likely even better than those that might use C or D cells. Since I can solar charge my 18650 batteries this makes it a great tool for emergency preparedness as well.Now those buttons.....Some are a bit confusing so I do find myself referring back to the operating manual at times, but that should improve with usage and familiarity.The sound quality from the speaker is quite good at this price point. It is mono of course and do not expect Bose quality, but again at this price point...I am very happy.Reception on both FM and shortwave seems to rival every other quality (And much more expensive) radio that I own. I have mixed feelings about AM. It does not seem as good as my other radios but to be fair... I really need to try to outside. It it as good as my CC Radio Plus DX? No, but it is darn close. FM reception was outstanding. On shortwave this radio easily outclassed my Sangean 909X during an indoor test. Yes, it actually did pick up more channels when in scan mode. Now some of that COULD be in how each radio's software is set up...What it selects to stop at versus what it skips. But again...at $45 after the coupon discount?!Obviously at this point I cannot speak to durability, but I can say that I am VERY pleased with my initial impressions. At this point in time I feel that this radio is a bargain at this price due to the speaker's good sound quality and surprisingly good FM and shortwave reception. I will close by saying that I thought about this radio for quite some time before I decided to make the purchase, primarily because I could not believe it would be this good at this price point.....$41 after a $15 coupon.

This is a decent radio for the price, and size, if you are buying a new radio made today. It has the functions of several devices in one, which enhances that value. I do have some nitpicks about it, though.FM reception out of the box during the day is not perfect. I get better FM reception in my car. This is made up by the fact that it comes with shortwave, and it can pick up quite a few shortwave stations at night and early morning (even far away ones like Voice of Korea) even with the built in antenna. Plugging in an external antenna could probably improve this radio, but I haven't tried.Unfortunately as expected, this radio uses digital tuning, so it gets a little jumpy as you change frequencies; there's just not much fine control. The frequency step size also changes depending on how often you move the dial in a short period of time (to "simulate" moving across the band faster), which makes it a struggle to precisely and predictably navigate the band using muscle memory, like you can with linear mechanical/analog radio dials. If you thought about using presets to get around this acceleration algorithm, the programming/scanning interface is not very intuitive either. I just input the station frequency manually most of the time.On a lighter note, the battery life lasts quite a while, and is upgradeable/user serviceable. I got a few days of continuous use on a single charge (with the backlight off) with the provided battery. I like that there's timer functions so you can use it like a radio alarm clock and/or sleep aid (which saves battery by automatically powering it off after up to 2 hours).It does function as a Bluetooth speaker and MP3 player. However, in my case I could only get around 4 to 5ft of reception with it before encountering dropouts. Keep in mind this depends on the signal strength between both transmitter and receiver, including any 2.4Ghz interference, so I'm not really sure if this is the radio's fault or not.

I purchased this item to relieve the wear and tear on the venerable Sony ICF-SW7600GR. Equidistant Post Sunset and Pre Sunrise reception on AM band station1130 NYC (US); and reception SW station 6070 Mississauga, ON (CA) are comparable to the Sony receiver. It should be noted that are many more new "alien" forms of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from digital chargers, automobile infotainment tablets, door openers, transmision towers, over and underground electrical cables, ubiquitous "decorative" chain lights --- making their presence known since the era of the previous decades. Many of these "modern marvels" are not properly shielded, interfering with more distant broadcasts on AM and SW bands on the XHDATA D-109WB. However in fairness, neither the Sony ICF-SW7600GR portable with a directional tuanable external loop antenna, or the more venerable Kenwood R 5000 equipped with internal accessory filters and also with an attached sloper multicoiled outdoor tunable antenna are able to eliminate the more stubborn RFI. I like the XHDATA 109WB because of its solid CAD design, the well seated ear and antenna plugs, use of a rechargeable 18650 battery, and especially the very nice bass sound of piano and viola classical concertos on FM band station 91.3, using earplugs. This latter feature rivals the entries in my entire collection of portable radios and nearly equals the performance of my tabletop Yamaha R-S201 receiver, using similar head phones.To properly enjoy listening to distant AM and SW broadcasts (FOR SW: use a reel line antenna spliced with balun insulators/clothesline with 2 trees as the suspension towers); and second plan to bring this sturdy portable to a distant shoreline or park, minus the structures emitting "modern marvel" RFI.