Kevin Spence writes portable radio reviews at Radio Portable
Features
With the recent technological advances in portable media, it's no surprise that portable radios have also seen a lot of change in recent years.
While you can still find the old analog tuning radios if you look for them, most new portable radios feature digital displays and digital tuning. However, not all radios handle this new technology in the same way.
For instance, some radios will have a digital clock. Some will have a backlight that's always on, and some will have a backlight that only stays on for a few seconds after you interact with the radio. Many radios feature auto-shutoff features, whereby you can program the radio to turn off after a certain amount of time.
Unlike analog radios, digital radios allow you to define presets. While the number of presets varies by radio, most will allow between 10-25 presets across both AM and FM bands.
Size
Do you want a radio for a table in your house? To take on the bus? Or to strap to your arm while you work out at the gym? Different sizes of radios come with different feature sets. Identifying where you want to use the radio (and what size will work for that purpose) is almost as important as deciding which radio to buy.
Style
As with all electronics, portable radios come in a wide variety of styles, from the smooth and tiny to the ugly and bulky. As always, style comes with a price, and that price doesn't always guarantee a functional device.
Sound
Some radios get better reception than others, but there are a couple things to keep in mind: 1. No matter how good your radio, if you're working in the basement of Fort Knox, you aren't going to get a signal. 2. The quality of the sound depends largely on your headphones. Most portable radios will come with a set of earbuds, but they are generally low-quality and should be replaced with a nice set of headphones. It's also worth noting that many portable radios use the headphones as the antenna. Power
Source
Most portable radios use alkaline batteries, but the type and quantity will depend on the size of the radio. Generally speaking, portable radios are simple electronics, and tend to get exceptional battery life. Some even come with AC adapters and rechargable batteries like you would expect to see in a cell phone.
Convergence
As more and more mobile devices hit the market, we're starting to see FM receivers built into other devices, such as MP3 players and cell phones. Nobody wants to carry around more electronics than they need to, so if FM radio is your thing, it might be worth checking out a converged device.
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