Retekess V112 AM FM Radio Portable, Mini Radio,Digital Tuning Rechargeable Battery LCD Display for Walking Jogging(Gold)

Probably the best little pocket radio I've had. This is the second one of these that I've purchased since my first one died after 4-5 years of great service. Great AM reception and sturdy. You may need to change the AM dial setup to match our US frequencies, but it is a simple process outlined in the instructions. FM sound is great as well—best value on the market.

PROs: It has surprisingly good sound for such a little unit. The interface is easy to use (once programmed) so you can operate it by touch only, useful at night. Any smartphone with an FM tuner-app can play radio, but you can't operate an app by feel only. The radio has a sleep mode that shuts off after 90, 60, or other programmable number of minutes. Has a lock button so keys don't get accidentally pushed in a pocket or in bed. Stores up to 29 stations as presets. Rechargable Li battery is a good choice for an emergency radio, since you can keep it running from your car, computer, or pocket chargers, etc. That seems better than betting that you'll have the right size alkaline battery around when you need it. It's a small and good-looking radio besides (I got the gold-tone model). CONS: These are not deal-breakers, just annoyances. The biggest problem is that the instructions are wrong. To store preset stations, you must press Memo once; it flashes memo, then press that same key again. That's it. the M+ and M- keys are only for moving through the preset list. They have nothing to do with storing presets. You can figure that out with experimentation, as I did, but it is puzzling why they would print wrong instructions. Another con is that the lowest volume is still pretty loud for nighttime. You can loosen the earbuds to lower the volume further. Earbuds that come with it are uncomfortable, but high quality earbuds are not hard to come by these days. Overall, I wanted a small radio to do two things: 1. be operable by feel for nighttime insomnia, and 2. Use Li rechargable battery for my emergency kit. This radio meets the need at a very good price.

This is my third try at getting a radio I can use to listen to post-game shows and while commuting on local light rail system. It's the best so far. It charges easily with USB-C, and the charge last way more than I need. Once you figure it out (don't throw away the instructions too fast) it's easy to use. The down sides: - I don't think I think the way Chinese designers do. You really need to spend 15 minutes figuring things out. That said, it's more obvious than the previous two I've had, and the instructions are, well, ok. - Chinese FM must use different standards than North America. In the US and Canada, FM operates between 88 and 108 mega hertz, and only at odd multiples of 0.1 MHz (like 93.1, 93.3, but not 93.2). This thing can operate between 64 and 108 MHz, and at any multiple of 0.1 MHz; setting things up is tedious. Other than that, I'm very happy.

I bought this because I go to 20 MLB games a year and thought I wanted to have the radio broadcast in my year. I tried streaming it from my phone to a bluetooth earphone, but that was 25 seconds behind live. I also found a portable radio that transmitted to bluetooth headphones. But this was the cheapest, simplest, and best solution. Turns out that I don't like having the broadcast in my ear the whole time because it takes me out of the live experience. But it's great to have it available when needed, e.g., "is he hurt", "what is the manager arguing about with the umpire", etc. It's tiny, has a delay vs live of 3-4 seconds, and comes on immediately when needed. A bluetooth portable radio is bigger, has to be re-linked to the headphones when you turn it on, and bluetooth introduces an additional second of delay. Special application, but for me, this was the best fit.

People always say “You get what you pay for” and in many instances that is the case. Not in this one! I often times think about how advanced technology has become and this one day I remembered the Walkman’s! I’m gen x and I like the old ways of just popping in my headphones and listening to whatever song was being played on the radio! So I ordered this am/fm portable pocket radio and have been truly pleasantly surprised at the quality and how well they work. The sound quality is exceptional and fits perfectly into my pocket!

There are a bunch of Pros to this radio. The lightweight, small size is fantastic. Nice, big, easy to read display. Easy to use buttons with digital preset. I've paid much more for a Sangean pocket radio that didn't have all these features. And the fact it's rechargeable and doesn't need batteries is a big plus. However, the batter life of the Retekiss is much shorter than swappable rechargeable batteries. Maybe six hours tops before needing to be recharged. Although it does recharge quickly. A reasonable tradeoff if you listen in relatively short spurts. There is a notable Con, and that's the reception. Stations that used to come in crystal clear on the same Sangean (which was not durable) have been staticky when I'm on the move. Sitting in one spot it's fine, but when moving it doesn't keep the station cleanly locked in. If I was listening to music it would be totally intolerable. However, on talk oriented stations it's just a little annoying to hear sporadic static chirps. I noticed a bunch of different brands that all look identical to this one. And one of the brands mentions it is an upgraded version with better reception. That's exactly what this radio needs. If I"m shopping for one like it again, I'll be looking for that fix.

WHAT I LIKE: * Light weight, small size * Digital tuning is simple and reliable; picks up stations quite well * Large number of presets (20); it scans selected band and loads strong stations into presets automatically * Buttons are somewhat prominent and easy to feel in the back of my bike jersey; button presses also are easy to feel * Buttons can be locked so nothing gets pressed inadvertently in my pocket * Has a nice mute feature * Volume goes up good and loud WHAT I DON'T LIKE: * Headphone plug does not insert smoothly, port feels low quality (but on the plus side friction positively retains the plug in the jack). It might actually be fine. * "Chinglish" directions - Why not hire an articulate native speaker like myself to PROPERLY translate product literature into American English?? I selected this product for listening to talk radio on my bicycle commute. I was reluctant to buy what seemed like a cheap Chinese made product, since I have had several bad experiences with such things in the past. Realistically nothing of this sort is domestically made anymore in any case. I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with the quality and features. I'm very happy with the product and would strongly recommend to anyone looking for a similar application. The digital tuner does such a great job keeping stations in tune compared to the analog tuner I had previously. I have to give to the designer: this is an elegantly simple yet functional and feature rich pocket radio. We'll see whether the quality stands the test of time. Note: I did not use the earbuds that came with the unit. I have my own pair that fit in the standard 1/8" headphone jack.

Updated review: The product no longer works after just 4 months. There must be manipulation of the star rating algorithm happening on Amazon. This thing was JUNK! This is one of those Amazon purchases that on hindsight I didn't really need and if I saw this in person /at a store would not have purchased based on the look/feel of the product.. Yes I need a small handheld portable radio and this does work. It's just not amazing. It''s very light, plastic. There is a PRONOUNCED hiss when the radio is playing, even on the stations that comes in cleanly on other devices. My Apple iPod with radio has a MUCH better reception for the stations, no hiss whatsoever. A bit tricky setting the stations but once I figured it out (included directions are not very instructive) it's fine. I truly miss the days of the classic Sony Walkman. Now that was something to write sonnets about! The Retekess pocket radio...it's fine. After a week of use I have downgraded this to 2 stars. UPDATE: One of the earbuds has stopped working after 1 month. I really don't understand all the 5 star reviews. I think there are some manipulation/ bots on these 5 star reviews. 1 star after 1 month of use. FINAL UPDATE 12/12/2024: 4 months after purchase it no longer works!!