Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a radio guy. A HAM radio operator and Tech. I was looking for a small AM/FM radio. There are thousands of them out there. The reviews both written and on youtube of this radio were great. So for $28.00 I took a chance. I was surprised how clear the sound is from this four inch speaker! It does not sound what I expected for a low cost radio. I have owned many radios in my life. Both big and small. This is the best small radio I have ever had. I like that the tuning dial has large easy to read numbers. The volume control is smooth and adequate. I usually run these on batteries as you get less interference and I like the portability. The tuning was smooth and picked up the station I wanted easily. But lets talk about reception as it is mentioned in most of the one star reviews. Although the radios circuits play a part in reception, ultimately your reception depends on signal strength or how far away from the station you are. AM radio transmission has a further range than FM as it is a lower frequency and at night you may pick up distant stations. So do not blame the radio if you are out of range of your station. One other thing to know about reception. The antenna on top is for FM only. The AM antenna is a coil of wire inside so for better AM reception move the radio around and it will help. I also like it has a tuning light. I have not seen one of these in a long time. When you have a good signal the light comes on. These first came out way back in the old radios of the 1930's as a tuning aid. When you tune around the band there is not a lot of noise and also during volume control which is a good sign of quality circuits. I have always had good luck with Panasonic.