Review on 📻 Sangean HDR-14: The Ultimate Portable HD Radio/FM Stereo/AM in Standart Black by Monica Alvarez

This radio has to be one of the best radios I have ever owned apart from an old multi band short wave radio I had as a kid. Reception on the AM and FM bands is excellent and I was pleasantly surprised to find incredible reception on the AM band. Most other radios I've had in the last 10 years or so have had terrible AM reception. The old school tuning wheel with open air string and variable capacitors and a tuned front end were the only radios I've found worthy so far. Good luck finding one of these now - except flea markets! This is the first digitally tuned radio I have ever owned that has had such good reception. The sound quality from the built-in speaker is satisfactory - quite good for a small portable device. The radio really shines when you plug in stereo headphones. Great sound - both analogue and digital. The controls are simple and the instructions are clear. There's a certain weight to the radio, which I think is good because it shows it's more than just a simple design. I couldn't resist the temptation to look inside. Well done and the double helical AM antenna was visible. Don't make the mistake I made and loosen the screw for the antenna. I measured the current draw of the radio to get an idea of what battery life to expect with 3 AA batteries: Standby with clock displayed: 0.2mA (non HD) with volume all the way down: 46mAAM HD - might not measure as there were no AM HD.FM (non-HD) stations in my area with full reduced volume: 47maFM HD with full reduced volume: 51maSo I will round it up to 50mA when using the radio. If you increase the volume, the power consumption increases. I measured 75 mAh at moderate volume, and around 110 mAh at higher volume. Every time the LCD backlight was turned on, another 15 mAh was consumed. Assuming an average AA alkaline battery is good for 2500mAh or more, I've calculated around 30 hours or more of continuous playback at moderate volume. I have a little wish list that I hope the manufacturer can implement in the next version/model of this type of radio: 1. Add a parameter to better control the backlight of the LCD. Currently it only lights up for a few seconds after pressing one of the buttons. There is no way to set the delay time before it goes off. Maybe add an extra menu item to allow the user to set the delay time, or set it to stay on all the time. Maybe an AUTO setting that keeps the LCD backlit when connected to AC power? If you want to use the radio as an alarm clock/clock radio, an always-on display would be great.2. Ability to turn off HD radio and only accept analog audio. (not that important) 3. Some basic tone control or EQ.4. USB port for firmware updates. I'd be willing to pay another $20 if they released a newer version with the wishlist above. Overall I am very happy with my purchase. I use it at night to fall asleep and sometimes during the day by connecting the headphone output to my living room audio system. I would recommend this radio to anyone interested in HD radio.