Review on 📻 Sangean DT-160: Discover the Efficient AM/FM Stereo Pocket Radio with Extended 100-Hour Battery Life! by Troy Robinson

I'm a fan of Sangean radios in general, I bought a DT-160 for travel use. I also have a DT-120 that I use for hiking, biking and sports. In this review we will compare the two models. I listen to 90% AM, so I tend to focus on AM rather than FM. The DT-160 has features that are great for travel. The rotary tuning knob is handy and an improvement over previous radios. The clock (which is also displayed when the radio is switched off) is practical. The biggest improvement, however, is the backlit display. It lights up for a few seconds after you flick a control and is very welcome when you're listening in bed with the lights off. The penalties you incur for these features are height and weight. DT-160 is 101 x 63 x 19 mm versus 93 x 50 x 14 for DT-120. 86% more volume. It's also more than twice the weight at 121.4g versus 58.3g (with batteries). This is of course due to the design decision to use 2 AA batteries for the DT-160 versus 1 AAA battery for the DT-120. This gives the DT-160 a lot more power to play with (4.8Ah versus 1.0Ah for the new batteries). The choice of battery has undoubtedly been made to ensure long battery life when using the backlit display, which is the largest drain for this product. There are things I don't like about it. There are only 5 AM presets. There is no option for 200kHz FM tuning steps. 200kHz transmitter spacing has been the standard here in the US for years, but Sangean uses (in its other radios as well) 100kHz, which doubles the number of control inputs required when tuning across the full range. But what disappointed me the most was its sensitivity to AM. I took both radios to places where I normally listen to AM stations in extreme reception conditions and compared them. Essentially they were identical. Not bad, mind you, but the same. I was hoping Sangean would take advantage of the DT-160's larger internal space to install a larger ferrite antenna to improve AM sensitivity. Not this case. My understanding is that both models use the same antennas and circuitry. I understand that most of my "complaints" are because I like AM reception over long distances. Probably 80% of their customer base only listens to FM and local AM stations. These people would no doubt be perfectly happy. I'm glad I bought it. I like to use it when traveling. Just as I love the small and light DT-120 when I'm training outside. Two different building blocks that perform well in their intended markets.