As more and more digital radio models are introduced into Australia, the variety of price points and listening options for consumers is growing. Today Steve Ahern reviews two new portable digital radio models that have just come into the market, the Bush Walker and the Roam hand held digital radio models.

Roam

Reception, reception, reception. Excellent reception is the top highlight of the Grundig Roam.  

The receiver can pull in a robust signal in buildings, in your pocket and, significantly, in the car. I use hand held digital radios in my car, plugged in to my audio system’s Aux input. Most of them drop out as I drive down hills, and the antenna must always be extended fully to ensure a good signal. This is not the case with the Roam. I was able to leave the antenna down and conveniently sit it in the car’s cup holder without losing signal in all the places where other radios drop out.

The dreaded shopping centre car park reception test did force the reception to splutter, but after extending the antenna the signal came in strongly, better than most other models I have tested in the car park concrete jungle. Excellent reception is the most significant feature of this radio. FM reception is also strong, with the antenna doing its job well again.

The hand held radio has a small 0.5 watt speaker so that it can  be used without headphones if needed. Of course the sound is soft and thin, as you would expect of a tiny speaker, but the well designed semi-hollow case adds a touch of resonance that makes the sound better than other radios, such as the iRiver, which have the same kind of small speaker installed.

The case design is not sleek like the iRiver. It looks and feels like an older style mobile phone, but its shape is easy to hold and still fits easily in the pocket. The front joy-stick is functional and practical. Mode select buttons around the joy stick are big enough for one handed operation using your thumb. There’s nothing fancy about the looks of this radio, but it works very well.

The Roam receives FM and DAB+, and has the ability to memorise a total of 30 presents (15 FM and 15 digital). It is powered by a rechargeable USB input and a plug-in charger comes supplied. Charging is very quick and can be done while the unit is switched on. There is no option to use external batteries for this radio, when it runs out it must be recharged from a powerpoint or a USB port. 

A 3.5 mm headphone jack sits at the top of the unit, next to an easy-to-activate function lock switch so that you don’t knock the controls and change stations while it is in your pocket. Good quality headphones are supplied and the scrolling text display is bright and easy to read.

The Grundig Roam has a recommended retail price of $179. It is available online at www.grundig.net.au and is currently being sold in Harvey Norman.

 Bush Walker

The Walker, by Bush is small enough to take, well… bush walking. It is the size of a match box and just as light.

The radio is good, but it’s the ear buds that come with it I have a problem with. I think I must have non-standard ears. Does anyone have a standard specification for ears that I should be adhering to?

The protruding type of ear buds supplied with this radio (and so many other new devices these days) just kept falling out of my ears. It wasn’t as though I was vigorously jogging or jumping high jumps, just a spot of gardening on a sunny afternoon and a walk, not too much to ask for them to stay in under those circumstances. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good quality, and if your ears are the right shape, unlike mine, then you will probably like them. In my case I changed to a pair of tried-and-true boring ones for people with non-standard, obviously old-fashioned ear canals and all was well.

 It is interesting to compare the reception in this radio with that of the Roam above. Radios of this sort, where the objective is to make them as small and light as possible, often use the headphone cords as part of the antenna system to minimize size and space requirements. This seems to be the case with the Walker, so when the headphone cord is twisted or moving about, reception, especially on FM, gets a little difficult. Most people who want the tiny size will put up with occasional reception dips to achieve size efficiency.

The Walker takes two external AAA size batteries and has admirable battery life. I ran it continuously for two days and couldn’t exhaust the Duracell batteries I installed.

The front circular selector ring works well to easily select station and change volume and the push-in button in the centre of the ring is easy for one touch activation. The scrolling text display has backlighting and is easy to read. Both models display station name and scrolling text on the same screen.

With a pocket sized unit like this, you would expect the keys to lock easily so you don’t accidentally operate the controls while it is in your pocket. They don’t. It is a two step process to lock and unlock the keys which is a little clumsy, but all the other functions in the unit are easy to use and intuitive, even to those who do not read manuals.

The four EQ settings are an unexpected bonus on a unit this small and are very useful for adjusting tone to suit the type of program being listened to.

All in all a good little unit. Now, where in the garden did I fling those ear buds in a moment of frustration? I have to send it back today.

The Bush Walker has a recommended retail price of $129. It is currently available at Big W, Dick Smith and Harvey Norman. See www.bushaustralia.com.au