Best Internet Radios Review 2016

Today I’d like to talk about what I think is an essential gadget, internet radio players. Why do I feel I need one when internet radios are available online, on your PC/Mac? Broadly for two reasons; (a) I get bored of the same songs played on daytime UK radio programmes and (b) I don’t really want to play music on my Mac while I’m working on it. I’d like a separate player.

Major British daytime radio programmes are all playlist-driven, the same songs over & over again. It didn’t start to happen yesterday, it’s been like that for as long as I can remember. I switch between 4-5 different stations and I still feel that’s not enough.

Of course when you’re on your own you can listen to whatever you want. Play your iTunes or tune in to any radio stations on internet, connected to your bluetooth speakers, turn it louder when watching a YouTube video, switch it back to iTunes/radio… But when you share a space with others, typically in the office with your colleagues, the music tends to have to be something universal. Not too current, not too old, not too “Heart & Magic“, not too R&B hip-pop, not too heavy rock, rotate the stations to please everyone, with the volume level that everyone can tolerate too.

When I’m working from home over the weekend, I don’t want to disturb my husband with my favourite rock, jazz and anything that sounds “obscure” to his ears. I don’t want to plug myself in with headphones to shut out communications with him either. We choose to have a radio on the shelf at the back, rotate the stations every hour or two, so that we don’t get bored. The problem is we’re both bored with most of the contemporary stations on DAB.

DAB Radio Stations

DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) network is a little wider, we can receive about 50 radio stations digitally in London. But as far as a genre of music is concerned, there aren’t many. For example Jazz FM is the only station that plays jazz exclusively 24/7. I love Jazz FM but their DJs play the same tunes over & over again too. There’s no station specialised in say, country music, no station for opera. No world music. No South American/ Brazilian.

Still better than conventional FM, I enjoy Jazz FM as well as BBC 6 Music, Gaydio, Absolute 80’s I think is quite good, the first station I’ve heard Culture Club’s other hits rather than “Do you really” and “Karma”.

What’s The Difference Between DAB and DAB+?

I’ve been wondering the difference for a while, and thanks to James Cridland of media.info, who has recently explained it to us so clearly ;

https://media.info/radio/opinion/dab-and-dab-the-differences-and-its-use-in-the-uk

According to James, the difference is the encoding method in the signal. DAB is in MP2, the ancestor to today’s MP3 format. Whereas DAB+ signal is in aacPlus, a more efficient version of AAC that’s used by iPod.

DAB+ is an advanced version of DAB and you’ll receive slightly better reception, that’s the only difference. Already used in a lot of European countries and Australia, but it’s not quite taken off in the UK yet. Many DAB radios on sale today are DAB+ enabled and it is in line for the future, but not just yet in this country.

How Does An Internet Radio Work?

This sounds obvious but an internet radio needs to be connected to the internet. Either with an ethernet cable (LAN) to your router or with wireless wifi. Typically you can search stations by genre, by country or by station name. Or a combination of these. While you’re using the internet radio mode, radio signals are irrelevant so you don’t have to have the telescopic arial on.

One thing you should bear in mind is you cannot listen to BBC Radio‘s Catchup / “Listen Again” / On-Demand services because of the way it encodes. Live streaming only, which is a shame as all my favourite DJ’s programmes are on outside the working hours, Gilles Peterson, Craig Charles, Gary Crowley, Benji B… And talking about world music and all, for example DJ Edu provides a great pick of the best African mixes on 1Xtra, which you can’t listen to on the radio during the day, so I’d just search and listen to African music stations directly on the internet radio.

Best Internet Radios Review 2016

Roberts Radio Stream93i with Three-Way Speaker System

Roberts does a lot of internet radios and this one I think is one of the best. 24cm (w) x 20.5cm (h) x 13cm (d), 1.9kg.

• DAB/DAB+/FM plus internet streaming from all over the world, 16,000+ stations and podcasts.
• 120 station presets!
• Spotify Connect allows your Spotify selections to be played and remotely controlled from your smartphone or tablet.
• 3 Way speaker with bass woofer, 6 position equaliser as well as separate bass and treble.
• By using a USB stick you can listen to your own music.
• It does not have Bluetooth.
• Wired or wireless
• Mains only, not battery operated.
• Sleep timer as well as alarm functions.
• With remote control.
• 12-watt output (Tweeters 2 x 3.8w, Subwoofer 4.4w)

For the price, usability and slick look I’d give 9.5/10.

Revo SuperConnect Multi-Format Deluxe Table Radio

It may be difficult to see from these photos but this model is very sturdy, with a solid wood cabinet and a good metal front. 27cm (w) x 18cm (h) x 12cm (d), 2.8kg. The choice between six colour combinations;

• Matt Black /Silver facia
• Matt White / Silver facia
• Piano Black (shiny) / Silver facia
• Piano White / Silver facia
• Walnut / Black facia
• Walnut / Silver facia

• DAB/DAB+/FM plus internet streaming from all over the world, 16,000+ stations and podcasts.
• Spotify connected, accessing 20 million tracks
• Bluetooth wireless streaming from your smartphone, tablet, PC/Mac or any other Bluetooth-enabled device.
• 20-watt output
• Remote Control

With 20w output, if you go for sound quality, this is definitely better. I’d give 8.5/10.

Soundmaster IR3000DAB

This one is in lighter weight (998g), 33.6cm (w) x 12.4cm (h) x 13cm (d).

• Ethernet as well as Wifi
• DAB, DAB+ and FM and internet radio
• 2 x 5-watt output stereo
• 10 presets. Though station can be searched by name, location or genre, as well as the last-listened station.
• Alarm as well as sleep timer
• No Bluetooth
• Remote Control

Only 10 presets is a bit of a letdown but great shape and design. For a similar price, I think Roberts Stream 93i is better. 7/10. 

Ocean Digital WiFi Internet Radios

Ocean Digital’s internet radios are slightly more compact in size, and they are a chapter option. Quite a few very similar models available and, I’ve picked three of them to see which one’s the best.

They are all single speaker output, but can be connected to external speakers or headphones to listen in stereo, by standard 3.5mm line-out jack.

Ocean Digital WR-200

• £65.
• 17cm (w) x 10cm (h) x 10cm (d), 980g.
• 99 presets, covering 15,000+ stations.
• No Ethernet – Wifi only.
• Clock, 5 alarm settings and sleep timer.
• UPnP server enabled – to listen to your own music from mobile devices.
• Mains only.
• 1 x 2-watt output.
• No FM or DAB, internet only.

It’s compact and the price is handy, now it depends if you feel you need an FM radio or not. I’d say no. (I don’t need FM) I could live without it. When was the last time my internet connection was temporarily down? About 5 years ago. It’s good enough for the bedside table. 5/10.

 Ocean Digital WR-220

• £70.
• 16cm (w) x 12cm (h) x 10cm (d), 839g.
• 99 presets, covering 13,000+ stations.
• No Ethernet – Wifi only.
• Clock, 2 alarm settings and sleep timer.
• UPnP server enabled – to listen to your own music from mobile devices.
• Mains only.
• 1 x 2 watt output.
• No FM or DAB, internet only.

This is an even lighter version of the above (WR-200), almost the same spec but £5 dearer. Again no FM or DAB and it’s up to you whether it bothers you or not. 5/10.

Ocean Digital WR-282

• 22cm (w) x 12cm (h) x 12cm (d), 1.9kg.
• 99 presets, covering 17,000+ stations.
• No Ethernet – wifi only.
• Clock, 2 alarm settings and sleep timer.
• UPnP server enabled – to listen to your own music from mobile devices.
• Mains only.
• 1 x 5 watt output.
• No DAB, but FM enabled with telescopic ariel.

I like this one better than the other two because of the slightly larger sound output. A bit pricier, but with FM just in case your internet is ever down and you’re desperate for a radio. I’d give 6/10.

Roberts Radio Stream 107 Portable Internet Radio

Let’s have a look at Roberts again, compact in size 21.3cm (w) x 11.6cm (h) x 4cm (d), 504g. Works on main as well as battery. So you can take it to the garden or bathroom (don’t ever place it near the water!) as long as it’s within your wireless internet zone.

• 14 station presets.
• Spotify Connect compatible.
• DAB, DAB+ and FM enabled.
• Mains as well as battery (6 x AA batteries, not included)
• It has a built-in battery charger, meaning if you use chargeable AA NiMH batteries, they will be charged while you use it on mains.
• Play your own music from PC/Mac or mobile devices
• 6 position equalizer and separate bass and treble
• Two-alarm timers (DAB/FM/Internet or buzzer) as well as a snooze function
• 1-watt output

I think this is a great handy alternative. With the speaker output of only 1 watt, not for those who are after sound quality but it’s got all the functionality. 7.5/10.

Hama DIR3100 Wi-Fi LAN Internet DAB Radio

Hama is a German company that originally specialised in photo accessories before the war, now it also manufactures audio and visual equipment as well as multimedia and photo accessories.

The above model features 2.8″ colour display, 29.3cm (w) x 12.3cm (h) x 14.5cm (d), 1.9kg.

• FM, DAB and DAB+ as well as the internet.
• Connection by Ethernet cable as well as Wifi.
• 2 x 5w output stereo.
• Can transfer music from PC/Mac, tablet or smartphone devices.
• Spotify enabled.
• No Bluetooth.
• 20,000+ radio stations and 10,000 podcasts.
• 2 alarm (radio or alarm mode) and snooze functions.

Although the 2.8″ colour screen looks great, depending on the UPnP/DLNA server, it my only display the titles. 10w output sound quality is great and the build quality is sturdy. £149.99 from Amazon (as of 31 March 2016). 7/10.

Overall Verdict

I think the winner among these internet radios is the top one, Roberts Radio Stream93i with Three-Way Speaker System, for its sound quality, functionality, handiness, price and design. It has the most positive reviews on Amazon as well as several other shopping review sites, and it certainly is my personal favourite.

I hope you like the internet radios review and enjoy searching for your favourite stations from all over the world.

We love watching horror movies on TV at weekend nights – our clubbing days are over long ago and that’s what we normally do. Unfortunately one Friday our TV signal broke and we put the radio on instead. But the choice of the radio station made a little bit too peaceful. Oleta Adams’ version of “Get Here” followed by “Saving-all-my-love-for you” sent us all to sleep at 7:30pm. All of us – me, my husband, the dog & the cat on the same bed.

Brenda Russell’s original version – what’s the reason that Magic never plays it…?