This one caught my attention because he rates it highly and it's currently only $9 on Amazon w free shipping. Although didn't really need one I ordered one a few moments ago, just couldn't pass on a $9 deal for a radio Radio Jay says is good on AM!. He doesn't give it a full review, or at least not on this particular page anyway, all he says is...
Goodes NOAA or Crusader (Speaker) 11.99- – 15.99
Has very good AM/FM reception and adds the NOAA Weather band. One of the best sounding models in this collection and one of the best overall values…one of the larger models.
Forgot to mention, you'll notice above it shows two radios brands but they are identical. Radio Jay Allen explains earlier on the page before even beginning with the reviews..:
Above: Some say Cruader, other’s don’t. Same as the AM/FM only GES-FM-012/ RD/W-908
Another big change is the way these radios are marketed with many manufacturers rather vague in their model names…some of these radios are available under multiple names and some models lack model designations altogether which makes identifying some of them confusing. I received one radio whose box carried two different model numbers (I’ll show you that one further down in this report) and some radios seem to have no model designation at all…I will show a few examples of this as we go along. Also, many models change frequently such that one model I bought for this review was discontinued while I was still working on this report, yet I found it still exists under a different name. I have included prices and my personalized Amazon links which are valid as of this writing in late 2024 but during the several weeks during which I worked on this report many of the prices varied on Amazon so if you see a range of prices that means those are prices I actually saw during that time. Also, some models have different prices for different colors. Everything is somewhat fluid these days. .. ...
Also of note:
General Notes:
As a group, DSP chips have eliminated many of the big differences among models and unit-to-unit consistency seems to be improving as well but not all DSP chips are created equal so some models perform much better than others. All are limited to strong to medium strength AM signals because their small size means they have tiny internal AM antennas…they are fine for typical reception conditions. .... ...
Well, I had ordered the red one (it's actually more orange) because it was cheaper at $9.99, if you get it in black or in white it's $12.99, shipping was free. It does have great sound for a handheld and it's not a really tiny little thing like some of those $5 and $6 radios you see. I threw a pair of AA batteries in it and am delighted with it. It has no bells and whistles, no digital display, no bluetooth. It just a basic manually tuned AM/FM and NOAA weather radio. If you'd like a cheap handheld that sounds great, I'd recommend it.
I'm going to guess it'll have decent battery life. I bought one of those handheld emergency Midland AM/FM/WB radios about a year ago for at least twice the price and was not happy with it. i seldom use anymore because that thing drinks batteries like crazy, I mean like drains them really way too fast! Seems contradictory to market them as "emergency radios" when it's batteries are bound to die before the emergency does.
I don't know how many actually make common use of pocket AM/FM radios, but I use them all the time. I have nearly a dozen of them so the last thing I needed was another, so this was very much an impulse buy, but it's now become my favorite one. Primarily because of the sound quality, on all three bands, clear loud and rock solid, in fact the weather band particularly sounds a lot better than the Midland NOAA radio.
There was a reason I came back to this thread, something specific I was going to say,..
I forget what it was! I keep staring at the screen thinking what did I come back here for? What the hell.
Anyway, if any of you actually do frequently use a pocket AM radio too, then you might appreciate one of these, especially considering the price.
The contemporary use of a "pocket radio" would only be for portability in an emergency. I use one of those portable Voyager radio's to check my signal at the moment, hear NOAA and occasionally short wave.
I really don't see a Gen Z user buying much if anything like this. It's useless (or so they think) to own such a thing when they have a cell phone.
Of course, as they age and realize such wisdom is limiting to them so they'll change their minds a bit.
I use mine while kayaking. A cellphone battery will go dead in about an hour or so of playing an online radio station but a pocket radio can literally play constantly for days nonstop. There great for camping, hiking, biking, jogging, whatever and you don't need to recharge it every hour or so. Any active Gen Z still would prefer a pocket radio over a cellphone for music or whatever any day.
But your partly correct, most will also be also carrying a 20,000mw usb battery power brick to recharge and a Bluetooth speaker too.. but without those additional accessories a pocket radio is far better a choice and sounds a lot better too.
