Review on 📻 XHDATA D-328 Portable Multi Band Radio Stereo MP3 Player, with Rechargeable Battery, Earphone Jack, USB Micro SD Card Jack - Black by Allison Garcia

Short description: excellent shortwave radio, very good FM, good AM (medium wave). Worth many times its price. I bought this radio because I needed a well working shortwave bodypack with traditional tuning and full frequency coverage. I wasn't expecting perfection at this price point, but this receiver delivers quite a bit. These pocket HFs were more common about 20 years ago, with recordings from Sony, Panasonic etc. I have several of these old ones and they meet or exceed their performance on every signal I've listened to. Also, this radio has far better shortwave coverage than any other conventionally tuned pocket radio I've found. This includes both currently sold and vintage equipment. If you like the older ones just because you're into radio then you might need one of these, but if you're looking for a radio to listen to then this little XHDATA works better. As mentioned, the shortwave coverage is excellent and well chosen. You get from 4.75 to 22MHz in 9 bands with very small gaps. And then there's the reception. One radio I've compared against is the Sony ICF-SW11 (a larger portable analog shortwave) and this little XHDATA outperformed it on some frequencies and matched it on others. I couldn't find a signal that Sony could pull any better. Once the signal is set, the radio keeps it very well too. Unrealistic performance for this size and price. All tests were conducted using only the radio's internal retractable antennas, with no external long wires. It's important to me that you can take a portable radio with you and listen to it anywhere without having to lug around extra stuff. It's a DSP radio, so you have to tune in slowly to hear everything there. It's even fun, because the setting wheel runs very smoothly and is well weighted. The dial is also clearly marked and fairly accurate. Shortwave listening is also enhanced by the speaker/sound quality of this radio. You get a warm, smooth sound, not unlike the sound of a large radio. There's no squeaky "transistor radio" sound at all. This really brings out the shortwave sound as the warmth of the sound gives the impression of a clearer signal with less background hiss and noise. FM has very good sensitivity and selectivity. As with shortwave, it holds the station well once you've tuned it in. The sound quality pleases due to that smooth quality as previously described. It picks up more FM stations than most other small radios I own due to its good selectivity. It can pick up a weaker station right between two strong ones, which most radio stations can't do. AM (medium wave) isn't bad, but the performance on this band isn't quite on the same level as FM and shortwave. Weak signals are received, but they are very quiet - in some cases not loud enough to be heard at maximum volume. If AM is your top priority, you already know that a larger radio (with a larger internal ferrite AM antenna) will work better for you than any pocket radio. This is good for local/regional AM during the day, and of course the dial comes alive with distant stations at night, as is the case with all AM radio stations. The MP3 player works great and has a useful feature that lets you skip 10 tracks at a time. Eliminates the need to press the forward or back button dozens of times to navigate through audio files on the micro SD card. The battery is user replaceable as it is located behind the regular battery cover. The capacity is 1020 mAh, which allows for a very long playback time without recharging. (By comparison, the iPhone SE 2020 has a 1,821 mAh battery - and look at the exponentially higher power consumption of a smartphone compared to a radio.) The tuner and all other controls work smoothly. The volume control, which gradually increases the sound level over the entire control range, is particularly convenient. (On many other low-end radios, the first third or so of the volume control range does little to nothing, and after that the volume ramps up quickly, making it harder to get exactly the volume you want.) Looks well constructed overall. Thanks to the glossy finish, the radio looks crisp but shows fingerprints. You can beat this XHDATA D-328 if you're looking for a pocket-sized shortwave receiver. Works as well or better than the much larger ones at a very low price and the HF coverage is better than any other regular tuned HF pocket radio I have seen.