Roberts Vintage DAB/FM RDS Portable Radio with Built in Battery Charger

This radio appears to have much the same functions as the current range of retro-styled Roberts radios, except for lack of USB port, but at almost half the price. Whilst of a more restrained style than the retro range, it still has an attractive old-fashioned look about it. It is small and feels very solid. The sound quality is superb and much, much better than you would expect for a radio of this size in terms of both volume and clarity. It self-tunes to find all the available DAB radio channels without any fuss. Analogue tuning is almost as simple but with such good DAB, you don't need to worry unless your favourite station doesn't broadcast in digital. All the controls feel solid and positive, the display is clear and the way it works is so intuitive that you can work most functions out for yourself without needing to read the instruction manual (which is, of course, clear and written in proper English, not a mashed up mis-translation).Even with a discount, we thought it was expensive for a radio but we knew Roberts have a good reputation and we are very happy with our purchase.

Superb radio. Well made and extremely portable. Set up easy - did it intuitively and checked with the comprehensive instruction book included in the box to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Packs quite punch from the small speaker but don't expect a room filling sound; this is a portable radio not a 'kitchen' radio. Great to have the station information on the display for not only DAB stations but also FM with its RDS. This radio in this version does have DAB+ (have seen some some queries about this) It is stated on the box and is in the online instruction book on Roberts web site (look for the Union flag and 'V3'!) though not marked as such on the radio itself. I assume there has been a software update to facilitate this as the radio did not have access to DAB+ on its first appearance in 2011 (I think)Only had the radio a day or so but am pleased with the performance and the ability to run on batteries or mains AND to recharge rechargeable batteries when switched off.From my short experience with this radio I have no hesitation in thoroughly recommend it

As you may see from my title that despite trumpeting that it has a built in battery charger it has no batteries. It requires 4 C cell sized NiMH batteries which I have found are unobtainable on my high street so you are strongly advised to purchase them when you buy the radio. Its a nice looking radio with a warm mellow sound though the more mature person who might like the retro look might struggle with the technicalities of the push buttons and various functions. Quite why you need to know which multiplex and what band you DAB station is on I dont know. So for me its too complicated. That and the lack of included batteries means it only merits three stars from me

I got a bit of a surprise when I opened the box, the radio was a lot smaller than I expected, it's about the size of a house brick :-(I've had Roberts table top radio's for over 40 years and they were all decent sizes, maybe that was how it was "in the day" but size used to indicate the audio quality, bigger speakers and bigger "box" sort of helped the tone, so I didn't know what to expect when I plugged it in, one thing on that too, what is it these days that the transformer is "outside the box" surely that's an untidy backward step, who needs something other than the radio on a shelf or table top, looks hellish to me, so why have most if not all manufacturers gone down this path, anyway...The build of the radio looks good, as good as you'd expect from a Roberts radio, scanning stations in is a breeze, I like the feature where you can store as many Favourite stations as you like rather than be limited to the number of "buttons" that the designers think you might need/want, so it's a thumbs up on that feature.As for the sound quality, well, it matches the older Roberts radio's that I ever had, maybe the technology that's gone into the smaller speakers compensates for their smaller size. The sound is good at normal sound levels and it doesn't distort when the volume is turned all the up.All in all although it's small, it's a good looking / well built radio, the sound is good, but... looking at it I'm wondering why it's priced at around £100 {or more}, even with a decent quality speaker inside.Would I buy it again, Hmmm, if it as £60 yes, at £100 I'd spend more time looking around, probably for a radio that doesn't drag a transformer around at the back of it :-( odd how they never show the transformer hanging off the back in their promotional Ad's.If the battery charger is "built in" {and they make a point of telling us that} why isn't the transformer "built in", like they used to be 70 years ago !!!