Sangean WFR-27 C

The remote control is done by your smartphone an is excellent. Great radio to take in garden,fm,dab,internet radio.Great sangean product,quality build,great sound.

Using the radio for over two weeks now, time for a review (purchased at Amazon, not in the UK though).My decision fell for the Sangean WFR-27C because:1. The portability along with the use of rechargeable batteries, not too heavy.2. The form factor similar to an external 3.5” HDD, easy to store and carry.3. The design in black with grey components, the colour display, the layout and the number of the buttons.4. Stereo channels provided through the headphone jack, with an adapter 3.5 mm plug to Cinch also able to feed the line-in of a stereo.5. DAB, DAB+ with good reception, an alternative source to internet.6. FM for the rescue, reception seems also quite sensitive, featuring RDS.7. The new 5 GHz Wifi channel besides standard 2.4 GHz.8. The brand Sangean stands for general above average radio quality.9. The portal Frontier Silicon seems serious and reliable and allows to add stations.Why listening to radio stations from the internet?First of all an internet radio is actually not a radio but a network audio stream player, but I will continue to call it radio. It consists of the radio itself (the frontend) and an associated internet portal (the backend). An internet radio would be completely useless without a portal. For that reason I will be looking at the radio itself and then have a brief look on portal topics since this is so important for the radio to work properly. In fact, quite some of the negative radio reviews of different brands and models we can read on Amazon are actually complaining about problems of portal services, the backend.Shortwave is not dead, however, it takes time and as a hobby it’s fine, but the internet today and the lack of time and space offers other opportunities to listen to the world than shortwave where it’s rather a matter of luck if the conditions are suitable, or there is no chance due to electric fog or sun spots or whatever difficulties. On the Sangean I just press a button and there I am, what a leap!Internet radio by using a computer also is fine (without a portal though, using the computer’s internet browser), however, just a limited number of stations can be managed manually, and the computer must be turned on, listening while working is not always possible. This makes it a bit of a pain sometimes to keep playing. On the other hand, some stations are not available thru a portal. Unless the station can be added the computer is the only way in such a case. By using an internet radio with an associated portal, thousands of stations are available in huge lists to choose from by pressing a few buttons, that’s quite a convenience.The Sangean WFR-27C is one of Sangean’s new generation radios, offering the latest Wifi standards, besides the colour display. New features over previous models:- Dual band Wifi module 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz- Colour display- Display of graphical information of DAB (slideshow) and internet stationsThough one improvement of future radio versions I could imagine would be the ability to play audio wirelessly to a Bluetooth speaker like smartphones do today.Usability:From my long term experiences with radios of all sorts I find the selection and layout of the buttons of the Sangean just the right balance between too simple and overkill. Since there is no remote control the buttons must serve as the only user control available. A smartphone App to me does not count as standard user control since only a limited number of users can take advantage of that, and there seem to be certain problems involved with that method.What can especially be annoying in using a radio is the multiple assignment of buttons. Sangean did a great job here in that the only alternative assignment of buttons takes place on the lower row (the presets) when local network streaming is in use (UPnP), and the radio station presets are useless anyway during that mode. Sorry, can’t comment on UPnP since I do not use it.The buttons are providing the expected mechanical quality, with normal pressure. Also the arrangement of the volume + - along with the mute button are just logical and I find them easy to reach and use. The jog dial at the side fits nicely into the whole ensemble of sort of a haptic harmony, I’m tempted to put it this way.“Only” 5 preset buttons? I read some complaints about this “issue”. The human brain actually is not good at keeping the memory of more that around seven things at the same time. Thus the five preset buttons actually conform with scientific findings. More recent stations listened to can be retrieved from the higher menu “Last listened” (10 items), other stations can be picked from one of the lower menu topics in “Station list”.Sub menus of “Station list” provided by the portal Frontier Silicon:- “My Favourites” list of categories (user created naming) and stations the user picks in the portal.- “Local <country>” list of categories and stations of the local country.- “Stations” world wide stations, sorted after “Location, Genre, Search, Popular, New”.- “Podcasts” world wide podcasts, sorted after “Location, Genre, Search”.- “My Added Stations” will only contain stations actively added by the user in the portal.Sound quality:Since most internet stations are streaming with 128 kBits or less such sources are not the best help to judge on the sound quality of the audio parts of a streaming device. For that purpose we may use a station streaming with 320 kBit e.g. Linn Radio, a station streaming fine art quality music without presenter, based in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Enter linn radio in the station search of your internet radio.I got impressed by the sound, first by the clearness of Sangean’s builtin speaker, and even more when feeding my stereo system with music in CD quality from the internet! (of course, 320 kBit actually is MD quality, a compression level without audible loss of quality though). Outstanding, incredible the sound I can now listen to from a high bit stream through the Sangean, I didn’t expect this.In terms of digital sound quality, to me the sound of such internet stations is of a pleasant Hifi experience, rather than listening to DAB no matter how I set the EQ. DAB just always sounds somewhat plump or bulky to me, also on other DAB radios I tried during the last years, perhaps due to the sort of compression they are using along with low bit rates. In that respect nothing negative about the Sangean, just DAB in general.Equaliser:There are fixed profiles to cover nearly all situations, the adjustable user profile “My EQ” provides all flexibility.The fixed profiles are “Flat, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classic, News, Movie”.The user profile “My EQ” allows to set:Bass -10 .. 0 .. +10Treble -10 .. 0 .. +10Loudness On/OffEven when listening to speech I prefer “My EQ” with e.g. Bass=2, Treble=8, Loudness=OffMore about the Wifi module:Dual band with 5 GHz means preventing interferences between channels which are usually chosen like:- 2.4 GHz = computers and smartphones, standard internet usage- 5 GHz = streaming devices (e.g. internet radio)The Wifi router I am using is a TP-Link Archer C2 AC750 [Dual Band 2.4, 5 GHz channels + Gigabit] (the Gigabit model is featuring the NAT in hardware), I couldn’t notice any interfering effects while using the Sangean and the internet with my computers including SW downloads. (unlike listening to internet radio on my computer while working where things were interfering each other, besides the hassle of having to use a computer in order to listen to music or news from the internet).Any Wifi router also supporting 5 GHz will do, a router with just a 2.4 GHz channel as well for sure, but without the advantage of separated channels.Besides, I tried to stream with the Sangean thru my MacBook Pro turned into a Wifi hotspot while connected to LAN. Although always fairly enough signal for my smartphones and tablets, it was not sufficient for the Sangean, it really needs a router!Batteries, power supply:The charger is lightweight and small enough to travel with. For portability and to reach a more healthy weight of the radio I inserted six charged nearly new high power rechargeable batteries: Sanyo Eneloop HR-3UWXB-4BP AA (2450mAh), the switch in the battery compartment must be set accordingly.Since I wanted to know how far I could get with one charge, here the result: With that sort of Eneloop batteries the radio would operate for around 10 hours (around 10:30 with interruptions over several days).Playing conditions: Volume around level 12-14, display backlight low level after 30 sec.Day 1 - 3:20 Internet 320 kbps, one interruption.Day 2 - 5:40 DAB 72 kbps, non stop.(so far eight hours in service and no sign of low batt yet)Day 3 - 10:40 Internet 128 kbps, non stop (at 10:40 the radio shuts off, I did a new start, red LED on, 10:50 again shutting off, that’s it).Note: The radio does NOT charge the batteries when turned on.Since the batteries were completely discharged I removed them from the radio in order to recharge with a quality electronic charger. I do not trust any radio to be as intelligent as a dedicated charger where each cell is treated precisely in a computer controlled manner. I have no problem though, to keep the batteries in the radio for SOME recharging, after having used the radio for say 30 mins disconnected from power, but not for a complete recharge. An additional advantage to do so is to be able to continue to use the radio on power while the batteries are getting recharged (taking many hours).Less positive things: (just minor)- No stand provided (well, there is not really space for a stand since the battery compartment is large, I am thinking about trying a portable tablet stand in order to be able to operate the radio in a more convenient slanted position)- No handle (same issue as above, no space for a handle really, but I sticked some transparent rubber feet at the back side (now I can grab the radio with one hand safely) and underneath, the rubber feet prevent scratches and along with the weight of the batteries the radio now doesn’t slide too easily away when pressing the buttons or jogging the dial, see pictures).- No function provided to assign the currently playing station to “My Favourites”, this can only be done in the portal. Some other radio/portal combinations are providing this feature which is of course more convenient.Quality of the portal:Running and maintaining a portal is difficult and resource heavy, no matter if it’s telecommunications or radio streaming management. Further, the sources of radio streams are often down - simply offline. In that case the portal must be able to recognise that state and when trying to receive an offline station I often hear a message like “This station is currently not online, please try again later” which is definitely better than listening into a black hole. Therefore the quality and the reliability and the responsiveness of the portal service is vital to the overall experience of an internet radio.In case of the Sangean with the Frontier Silicon portal the quality and the reliability seems to be very good. Sangean, a Taiwanese company, producing radios for decades, founded in 1974, Frontier Silicon is a British company specialised in radio technology, founded in 2001.Backend responsiveness with the Sangean:Playing the audio after selecting a station from a list is very fast in comparison, it usually takes about one second, sometimes two, in some cases it can take around 5 seconds, however, in overall these are excellent values! Nothing can be more frustrating than having to wait long after the selection of another station.Number of entries:I got interested in the number of entries of certain genres or locations in comparison with another (open) portal. Frontier Silicon in contrast is a so called closed portal, it’s only possible to sign up with an existing radio code, means you must own an associated radio.Thus I created an account at mediaU und compared the number of entries of certain categories and locations (as of 01/01/2015): (FS=Frontier Silicon, mU=mediaU)Genre Classical: FS=650, mU=545.Internet Only: FS=11199. mU=8.Rest by Location.USA Washington: FS=316. mU=215.UK: FS=1367, mU=1108.Germany: FS=1728, mU=1589.China: FS=82, mU=689.Japan: FS=128, mU=259.UAEmirates: FS=44, mU=46.Argentina: FS=353, mU=1096.Chile: FS=120. mU=234.Mexico: FS=690. mU=873.Mali: FS=3. mU=26.Dom.Republic: FS=54. mU=105.Portal FS seems stronger on Western stations (Europe, USA).Portal mU looks stronger on the rest of the world.Adding a station:On Frontier Silicon adding a station requires to be able to feed a form with all the data including the streaming URL. This can be very difficult, topic of many related blogs and discussions. On mediaU a station can additionally be suggested by just providing the name and the web page URL, they may take care about the rest, that’s looking a bit more convenient. I read comments about such services at the portal Reciva, new stations got added just hours or a day after users sent an email asking for.Well, no matter the content, the reliability of a portal is essential, and in this respect the portal Frontier Silicon seems to perform very well, I have no practical listening experience with other portals though.Portals and internet radios assigned to: (list incomplete, just examples)Frontier Silicon: Sangean (WFR-27, WFR-28, WFR-29), TechniSat (DigitRadio), Dual (IR 5.1), Hama, Roberts (83i, 93i), …Reciva: Sangean WFR-20, Roberts (WM201), DNT (IPdio Tune), IPdio mini, Avox, iOS Apps, …mediaU: Albrecht (470, 460-C), …vTuner: MEDION LIFE (thru Medion proxy though), …Some radio brands are maintaining their own portal: Pure, Auna, Philips (also listed on vTuner), …Final verdict:About the portal, as the user of an internet radio I depend on the quality of the associated portal and with Frontier Silicon I feel to be on the save side. However, choosing a radio after the associated portal in terms of number of desired stations and usability might make sense as well. The short lists and comparisons above compiled by me though, are in no way complete and just a superficial snapshot on a few numbers which can change over the time.About the reviewed radio device, based on the specs and my own experiences I can highly recommend the Sangean WFR-27C if portability with mono speaker and listening in stereo thru external speakers is on your feature list. For a larger version of this radio featuring a pair of stereo speakers you may have a look at the Sangean WFR-29C.

This is a "traditional" radio in looks and small enough to be a superb travel set. It fulfils all the techie requirements, including some that are not made really clear in the spec.Will pick up Internet stations (of course) plus DAB / DAB+ and FM. If you know the streaming address of a station not listed, then it can be added using your Sangean sign in account.Can also stream music from PC using UNDOK app. or direct from a mobile phone using UPnPlay app.Used mainly for streaming from mobile phone and for internet radio and so batteries last about 5 to 6 hours total before needing a re-charge (but I do a lot of station hopping and music changing!)Music quality acceptable - it is relatively small portable (hence 4 stars overall, rather than 5).Price is a bit high, but I am used to Sangean brand and preferred the black finish. (The Roberts version is considerably lower price, but only available in white).When used on travel trips - If a discrete sign in screen is required for WiFi (as common on mobiles and laptops) the same sign in cannot be completed on internet radios and so Internet radio stations cannot be accessed (although music streaming from mobile is sometimes available!)

The product is fine but the power adapter is fitted with a continental Europe plug and not with a UK plug as it should. Very frustrating lack of consideration for the buyer.

This review is based on my experience with the Sangean WFR-28D (White and Black models) and the new model WFR-29C (received only few days ago) and after reviewing the specs.I will go straight to the bottom line of which model is the best choice for me and why.The WFR-28C would be my choice today and this is why:- The WFR-27C doesn't have the capability to play files from a USB flash disk- WFR-27C has a small 2-1/4" loudspeaker while WFR-28C which has a 3" speaker.Assuming that Sangean uses the same loudspeaker for both WFR-28D and WFR-28C, then I can honestly say that the sound quality of the larger speaker would be much enjoyable and has more depth than a smaller speaker.Even the slightly larger loudspeakers of 2-1/2" on the WFR-29C are no match to the loudspeaker on the WFR-28C. The sound even in stereo lacks the depth.- There are no Line-In or Line-Out sockets. Which means that if you want to hear the sound from an audio system, you would have to use the earphones jack, which is not going to be of the same quality as a dedicated Line-Out connection.The difference in price between the WFR-27C and WFR-28C is well worth the extra functionalities that you would get.