A small, portable radio

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › A small, portable radio

quickymart

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#322765 21-Sep-2025 07:38

I've determined that most of the new mobile phones (well, the ones I would be interested in) no longer come with an FM radio bundled into the device. This is hugely annoying for me, as I use the radio every day.

So, I'm on the lookout for a little portable radio that I can carry around to use (FM and AM would be nice).

Something like this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005543196598.html

One thing I can't seem to find out is if devices like this support RDS. I would have thought they do given they have a screen, but the information on this is sparse.

As an aside: I also have an old, unused 5th generation iPod Nano here which needs a new screen. I've been quoted around $90 to replace it but would like to see if I can pick up a cheaper radio first - and if it has AM as well that would be an added bonus 🙂

Any suggestions welcome.

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#3416872 21-Sep-2025 07:55

What’s RDS going to provide you with other than station name and song data?

Are you looking exclusively for just an am/fm radio or do you also want it to be an MP3 player?

obviously iHeart radio, Rova and RNZ apps would get you the same result but use data.

both Sony and Philips do small portable radios….

i rock a Philips shower radio (discontinued), works very well…good reception and sound.

quickymart

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#3416874 21-Sep-2025 08:12

Goosey:

What’s RDS going to provide you with other than station name and song data?

Are you looking exclusively for just an am/fm radio or do you also want it to be an MP3 player?

obviously iHeart radio, Rova and RNZ apps would get you the same result but use data.

both Sony and Philips do small portable radios….

i rock a Philips shower radio (discontinued), works very well…good reception and sound.

RDS is useful if I'm travelling - when I was overseas sometime ago I was listening to some station I quite liked but didn't catch the name of it. RDS was able to tell me who it was.

Not too fussed about the MP3 part, primary function would be radio. If no AM, it's not the end of the world 🙂

As I can't have it on my phone, the compactability(?) factor is key, hence my suggestion asking for a clip-on radio. Something I can just tuck into my pocket.

Just to be clear, I'm not interested in streaming - I can do that already. This query is purely about an FM receiver.

Behodar

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#3416878 21-Sep-2025 08:30

For what it's worth, someone at work uses an old Nokia phone without a SIM. Just something to think about if you still have one hanging around.

quickymart

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#3416879 21-Sep-2025 08:32

I do somewhere but would prefer not to have to carry two phones around 😀

psychrn

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#3416880 21-Sep-2025 08:51

what about the various streaming apps for radio as Iheart Radio, My Tuner,Radio,Tunein Radio are just 3 examples. plus you can stream from various web portals from the radio stations.

So you still dont really need to buy another radio unless you want to of course.

Sorry just saw your post about about not being interested in streaming begs the question as to "Why not"

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Qazzy03

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#3416881 21-Sep-2025 09:01

psychrn:

"Why not"

I could be wrong but I think from other theards OP has indicated they sometimes work in areas that have low/limited/no cell signal.
I get around this sort of issue with offline, audiobooks and downloaded music, however a lot of people just like to have a radio station to keep them company.

Apologies if I am getting the usecase wrong OP.

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quickymart

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#3416882 21-Sep-2025 09:06

Qazzy03:

psychrn:

"Why not"

I could be wrong but I think from other theards OP has indicated they sometimes work in areas that have low/limited/no cell signal.
I get around this sort of issue with offline, audiobooks and downloaded music, however a lot of people just like to have a radio station to keep them company.

Apologies if I am getting the usecase wrong OP.

No need to apologise, you're right, often I visit places with next-to-no mobile signal, but good FM signal and that's what I want to utilise.

Yes, I can stream (and sometimes I do) - but what about if I'm somewhere with no mobile coverage? Streaming doesn't work then, but if I have the right device at least I can listen to the radio on FM.

Downloaded music is a good suggestion, but sometimes I like to listen to the news on the go as well 🙂

If push comes to shove I guess I'll just go ahead and get one of the clip radios like I linked to above, I was just wanting to see if anyone was using something else that might be suitable.

DjShadow

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#3416884 21-Sep-2025 09:27

This? https://www.jbhifi.co.nz/products/xcd-portable-handheld-am-fm-radio

shk292

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#3416896 21-Sep-2025 10:34

How about something like this from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com.au/V-112-Portable-Digital-Earphone-Rechargeable/dp/B019BYBR48/ref=pd_bxgy_d_sccl_1/355-9263952-1606124?pd_rd_w=eKzn4&content-id=amzn1.sym.baffdddf-c4e8-46d0-bc71-9407783129a9&pf_rd_p=baffdddf-c4e8-46d0-bc71-9407783129a9&pf_rd_r=SZFV40TYJR5W1GFBH7BZ&pd_rd_wg=SUxn0&pd_rd_r=86493a6f-dcfe-4649-9dbd-e62b3dc19959&pd_rd_i=B019BYBR48&psc=1

gzt

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#3416897 21-Sep-2025 10:46

The radio in your phone gave you

- stereo
- rechargeable
- worldwide
- autosearch and similar
- rds
- good quality sound

Imo you're going to want all of those features.

Any new device without one or more is going to be annoying in some way.

eracode

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#3416901 21-Sep-2025 12:00

You haven’t said whether you want to use device’s/radio’s speakers - or headphones?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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quickymart

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#3416952 21-Sep-2025 12:48

Head/earphones; speakers are a "nice to have", but not required.

quickymart

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#3417260 21-Sep-2025 21:21

gzt: The radio in your phone gave you

- stereo
- rechargeable
- worldwide
- autosearch and similar
- rds
- good quality sound

Imo you're going to want all of those features.

Any new device without one or more is going to be annoying in some way.

Exactly, if it came to it I could live without RDS - hell, a portable analogue Sony radio I used to have didn't have RDS, but wow it got a good signal and worked everywhere.

It was this one: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_mega_bass_fm_stereo_srf_s83.html

If I could find an updated version of one of these that would be awesome!

MadEngineer

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#3417554 22-Sep-2025 22:16

Behodar:

For what it's worth, someone at work uses an old Nokia phone without a SIM. Just something to think about if you still have one hanging around.

Haha I used an old N95 for exactly this while WFH during the lockdowns, wired into an amp from Banggood.com with wishful claims in turn wired into two old drivers from a broken dual speaker sub and a couple of rear drivers from an old 5.1 system.

Worked a treat.

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paul151

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#3418603 24-Sep-2025 21:52

quickymart:

No need to apologise, you're right, often I visit places with next-to-no mobile signal, but good FM signal and that's what I want to utilise.

Yes, I can stream (and sometimes I do) - but what about if I'm somewhere with no mobile coverage? Streaming doesn't work then, but if I have the right device at least I can listen to the radio on FM.

For what it's worth good on you for taking this route... I think we're all way to overly dependent on IP traffic to service all of our content and some older tech such as AM or FM to obtain content is definitely the way to go / have as a redundancy plan A or B :)

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