Review on 📻 Sony ICF-8: High Sensitivity 2BAND FM/AM Radio with LED Tuning Indicator, Earphone Jack, and Volume Control by Robert Buenconsejo

This was the cheapest radio I bought from the group under $50 to try. Others included Sangean SR-35, Kaito KA210, Sony ICFP26 and Sony's only digital ICF-M260. I'm mostly interested in AM through the speaker. Eneloop batteries were fitted to all radios and all radios were allowed to break in for about 6 hours before I started testing and listening. The break-in period is important as performance has changed somewhat during this time. This radio and the Kaito KA210 were the least pleasant to hear through the speaker, this one sounded boxy and a bit creaky. The tuning indicator was of little help as the light stayed the full length of the FM band and only visually correctly indicated a few AM bands. However, the tuning of the radio was much better than some others, requiring much more turning of the analog tuning knob to move the pointer to the desired station. This allowed finer tuning and eliminated the dreaded awkwardness of rocking the tuning knob back and forth to find the center of the station. Plugging in fairly neutral-sounding Sony 7506 headphones resulted in only left-channel audio, but overall quality was very good. AM, the sound is quite broadband with good noise in the voices. FM was also very good. This radio can get quite loud compared to some others, indicating a strong amplifier section and/or an efficient speaker. Be careful with the antenna on these radios. Pocket radios are prone to antenna damage, and Sony is among the worst. Sony has to learn from Sangean Radio in this regard. Too bad the speaker doesn't sound as good as the tuner and amp parts. Of the radios I tested, this and the Kaito were the easiest analogue tuners to set up, but in my opinion they sounded the worst, but for entirely different reasons. All of these sub-$50 pocket radios seem to have serious performance flaws. You have to choose all the cons you can live with.