XHDATAD-328 Shortwave AM FM DSP Portable Small Multi Band Radio Stereo MP3 Player with Rechargeable Battery Earphone Jack Portable Multimedia Speaker with USB Micro SD Card Jack (Black)

The executive summary: Excellent shortwave, very good FM, good AM (medium wave). Worth many times its price.I bought this radio because I wanted a good-performing, conventionally-tuned pocket shortwave receiver with comprehensive frequency coverage. I didn't expect perfection for this price, but this receiver pretty much delivers it. Pocket shortwaves like this were more common 20 or so years ago, with entries from Sony, Panasonic, etc. I have a few of those older ones and this equals or exceeds their performance on every signal I listened to. Plus, this radio has much better shortwave band coverage than any other conventionally-tuned pocket radio I've ever been able to find. This includes currently-sold units as well as the vintage ones. If you like the older ones just because you're into radios, you might want one of those, but if you're looking for a radio to listen to, this little XHDATA performs better.As mentioned, shortwave coverage is exceptional, and well-chosen. You get 4.75 to 22 MHz in 9 bands with very few gaps. And then there's the reception. One radio I compared this to is a Sony ICF-SW11 (a larger analog shortwave portable) and this little XHDATA beat it on some frequencies and equaled it on others. I couldn't find any signal the Sony could pull in better. Once a signal is tuned the radio holds it very well, too. Unreal performance for this size and price. All tests were made with the radios' internal pull-out antennas only - no external long wires. To me it's important that a portable radio is something you can take with you and listen to anywhere without having to haul along extra paraphernalia.This is a DSP radio so you do have to tune slowly to hear everything that's out there. That's a pleasure to do, in fact, because the tuning thumb wheel moves very smoothly and is nicely weighted. The dial is also legibly marked and reasonably accurate.Shortwave listening is also enhanced by the speaker/audio quality of this radio. You get a warm, mellow sound not unlike that of a larger radio. There is none of that scratchy "transistor radio" sound at all. This makes shortwave sound very good, as the warmth of the sound gives the impression of a clearer signal with less background noise and static.FM has very good sensitivity and selectivity. As on shortwave, it holds a station well once you've got it tuned in. Sound quality is pleasant owing to that mellow quality, as described earlier. This gets more FM stations than most other small radios I own, owing to good selectivity. It can lock in on a weaker station right between two strong ones, which most radios cannot do.AM (medium wave) is not bad, but performance on this band isn't quite at the same level as FM and shortwave. Weak signals do come in but they're very quiet - in a few cases not loud enough to be listenable with the volume all the way up. If AM is your main priority, you already know that a bigger radio (with a larger internal ferrite AM antenna) is going to work better for you than a pocket radio of any kind. This one is fine for local/regional AMs during the day, and of course the dial comes alive at night with far off stations, as on all AM radios.MP3 player works great and has the useful feature that you can advance 10 tracks at a time. Saves having to push the forward or back button dozens of times to navigate through the audio files on your micro SD.The rechargeable battery is user-replaceable, as it sits behind a regular battery door. The capacity is 1020 milliamp-hours, giving very long playing times before needing to recharge. (For comparison, an iPhone SE 2020 has an 1,821 milliamp-hour battery - and look at the exponentially higher power consumption of a smartphone compared to a radio.)Tuner and all other controls work smoothly. The volume control is especially nice in that it increases the sound level very progressively across its whole range of adjustment. (On many other inexpensive radios, the first third or so of the volume control's range does little, and then the volume increases rapidly after that, so it's harder to get exactly the volume you want.) Feels well built overall. The glossy finish makes the radio look sharp, but it does show fingerprints.You can beat this XHDATA D-328 if you're looking for a pocket shortwave receiver. Performs as well as or better than much larger ones, for a very low price, and shortwave band coverage is better than that of any other conventionally-tuned pocket shortwave radio I've ever seen.

I bought this radio on a whim-- how could you go wrong for under $14? You really can't.For less than the cost of a nacho platter and a couple of beers at your local brewpub, you can have this little pocket-sized AM/FM/SW radio-MP3 player that you can take anywhere.Pros: Small; great audio for its size; rechargeable battery that uses a standard USB port; complete frequency coverage across the radio bands (for those of us in the USA); uses a standard Micro-SD card to store and play MP3 audio files.Cons: Only plays MP3 audio files (not AAC); the tuning circuitry is digital (despite the analog display), and you can hear it "click" as the radio steps up and down the dial; headphone jack plays in mono, not stereo.Here in the suburbs of Chicago, the radio gets all the local AM and FM stations perfectly (even WRME-LP, which is technically a low-powered TV station that brands itself as "MeTV FM" on 87.75 MHz). On shortwave, I've been able to pick up most of the powerhouse stations despite a lot of electrical noise in my environment. The radio also receives FM frequencies 64-87 MHz, which are unused in the USA. And unlike the photo on the product page, there are no Chinese markings on the radio-- it's all in English.Keep this one in mind when you're looking for holiday stocking stuffer ideas!

Sound is good considering the 1.75 inch speaker. Volume is a little quiet, but it never distorts. This unit offers a good listening experience in a quiet room. It sounds a little better tilted back on its fold-out stand. It is small and will fit in a shirt pocket.The MP3 player function is what I bought it for. Tracks can be skipped one or ten at a time, and you can FF and REV through a track. On power cycle, MP3 play resumes where you left off -- great for audio books. TF card slot (micro SD card). There is no Shuffle or Random function.FM is very good. AM reception is Fair with a somewhat narrow bandwidth. Low power AM stations may sound quiet, probably because the AM antenna is pitifully small. This radio is able to pick up time signals on Shortwave at 10 and 15 MHz but not much else. This should not be your primary Shortwave radio.Headphone output is MONO, and in both ears.Estimated battery life is 9 to 12 hours with included 1000mAH BL-5C Li-Ion battery. Good value at $17.This is a DSP (digital sound processing) radio. DSP radios are common because they are very cheap to make, and of course versatile. But, if you are used to an analog radio, you may not like how DSP radios are different..Analog radio tuning is intuitive -- we all know how to do it -- you stop turning the dial when it sounds best. BUT, some DSP radios can be frustrating because a station can appear in two or three places on the dial. This is that kind of radio. Once you get used to "picking the one in the middle", you're OK. I usually second guess myself and tune it again twice.Generally DSP FM radios are great performers. But searching for a weak AM station is easier with an analog radio. This is why I have both types.Good luck..