Digital radios

Reports from Which?
Expert advice from an independent source

WHICH? REVIEWS: Digital radios

Digital radios are becoming more popular as more stations become available. You can find the best model for your budget with the Which? Online digital radio reviews.

While the best-sounding portable radios we've tested are digital, some models actually have worse sound quality than the best analogue radios.

The main advantage DAB has over FM is that being digital it doesn't suffer atmospheric or electrical interference. This means DAB sounds crystal clear most of the time.

However, where FM radio is working well it can actually offer better sound quality than DAB. This is because in order for DAB to fit in more channels, the data travelling to your radio is tightly compressed by removing parts of the signal the broadcaster feels you won't be able to hear. This can reduce the sound quality on your radio.

All stations are compressed on DAB radio to some extent. It's less noticeable on spoken word channels such as Oneword and Radio Five Live because the sound they transmit is less demanding than music channels such as Radio One and therefore require less space.

You can find out our Best Buy recommendations by taking out a £1 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk. Below, we explain more about the features of digital radios.

Tabletop radios

FM

Most digital radios can also tune in to FM radio. But not all do: something to consider if you take your radio to a remote holiday spot where there's no digital signal.

If you already have an FM radio, and you're buying another radio for a different room, be aware there's a small time difference between analogue and digital broadcasts.

It's not a huge problem, just a minor irritation if you have both radios on at the same time in different rooms.

Electronic Programme Guide

An Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) allows you to select a radio station and scroll through to see future programmes.

You can get it to set reminders - for example, to set your radio to switch to Woman's Hour at 10am, or even record an upcoming show. It works in a similar way to the EPG you get on your Freeview or Sky digibox.

The technology is still in its earliest stages and only the BBC provides the data needed to update the EPG - so you can only look up BBC programmes. We expect EPGs to improve as manufacturers get to grips with this new technology.

Pausing and rewinding live broadcasts

Many of the latest tabletops let you 'pause and rewind' live broadcasts. This is a great feature if you want to restart a song, say, or the doorbell rings during a crucial scene in The Archers.

Be aware that radios with this ability tend to run the batteries down faster as radio data is continually stored in the internal buffer.

Recording

Some tabletop radios can record to the radio's internal memory or a memory card. It's worth checking how many programmes can be saved. Some radios can preserve more than one, but others wipe over any previously recorded material.

When recording DAB programmes to a memory card or to internal memory a good rule of thumb is that 1MB can store 1 minute of DAB radio for stations broadcasting at 128kbps, which most do.

Stereo sound

If you want stereo sound, choose a tabletop with two speakers. Obviously, the stereo effect on portable radios is limited because the speakers are close together.

Some mono models will allow you to connect your digital radio to your hi-fi to listen in full stereo glory.

Presets