Home > Consumer Reviews > Roberts RD15 Personal Radio

I have been looking for some time for a well priced DAB radio, having not been conned into buying the first ugly wooden one that came along. The Roberts DAB has a nice feel to it, and its white smooth front, rear and side panels are a break away from the bland looking machines that have been on offer up to this point. Only the top is grey, not the face and rear, so don't be confused by the sales image which looks a boring grey all over. The sound quality out of the single speaker is crisp and the tuning is simplicity itself. The 5 preset (CHROMED)buttons work the same as any car radio i.e. hold the button and save the station. The display is green and there is a backlight.
In conclusion this machine has a modern feel, at a good price and easy to use. Please note also that where I live there is supposed to be low reception, but not according to this machine as it detects all major stations without garble or breakage of signal.

I bought this radio especially for the World Cup 2006 and is without doubt the greatest radio i have ever bought. i know it's only a radio but the reception from DAB is CRYSTAL CLEAR on this radio and the design is absolutely terrific as you can use it anywhere especially if your going on the beach or having a nice beer sitting on the common. i like the fact that it scans the stations instantly and even though it has one speaker the sound is terrific , if you want stereo , use headphones ,the sound is amazing. i take this radio to work with me and even my workmates love it as we can listen to PLANET ROCK,ARROW ROCK and other stations you would never recieve on a normal radio.
i recommend this as the best DAB radio to buy for it's sleekness and performance FANTASTIC!!!!!

Having tried many DAB's and hated them, I can recommend this one. It's small and light to pick up, has reasonable sound quality, and is quick to operate. It also has good battery life as DAB's go(they tend to use a lot of power - this one only takes 260mA at 6V). Scanning for stations is fast, and stations and presets appear to be saved in flash memory - some DAB's take ages to scan and forget everything if you take the mains or batteries away. It's also more sensitive than most - full strength reading in Woodbridge, where a Sharp (the worst - I tried 3 of them) went garbled all the time. Nice orange display. Note that the headphone output is very bass heavy on good headphones, owing to the fact that bass emphasis has been applied to boost speaker performance. This would be a good feature, if it had not been set to too low a frequency for the speaker(I think it could be improved on by the designers. The bass boost is too fierce for most headphones, and a headphone socket should have a flat response to allow use of the best headphones (I used Sennheiser HD650.

..then this is the DAB Radio for you.

Mine arrived this morning. Plugged it in. Turned it on. Instant Digital Radio! No fuss. Yes it's that simple to use.

After playing around with it for 1 minute (still haven't read the manual) I'd auto scanned all the available Digital stations & saved my favourites onto the five preset buttons (would of liked More preset buttons)

Sound quality is good, why only good.
I've never owned a DAB Radio before so can only compare the audio quality to listening to radio channels on my Sky box & I couldn't tell the difference between the two.

It's 1 speaker, so mono only (not a problem for me.) We have it in the kitchen, turned up you can hear it throughout the flat without it distorting. You get information that scrolls along under the channel name, stuff like news updates etc (which I think is amazing, yes i'm a gadget freak!)

But enough of that. Simply here are three reasons why you should buy this Radio.
1) It looks fantastic!
2) It's under £65
3) It's Soooo simple to use!

Buy it you wont regret it!

Ok, so incase you don't know Roberts are a brand that specialise in radio products and have been going since 1932. They have built up a good reputation in the many years they have been making their great products.
I first came across the RD-15 in a local Comet store, upon searching for what to buy next with my spare cash.

I stood there fiddling about with it. I wanted to know what all the fuss was about with Digital Audio Broadcasting, (DAB).
I turned it on, and straight away was amazed, at how fantastic the sound was - just like a CD. That's the end of hissing with FM I thought.
I searched through some of the stations and was suprised at the variety and choice. You get a lot for what you pay!

The radio, sounded fantastic, and looked great so I decided to buy it.
I rushed home, unwrapped it and plugged it in. No instructions needed really!
Just switched it on, waited a minute for it to scan the stations, and suddenly I had entered the digital revolution.
Since purchase, I haven't been able to stop listening to the radio. I could have binned all my FM radios, I was so pleased with the concept of DAB.

So, if you wan't fantastic sound quality, a well built radio, a good manufacturer, and loads of station choice, then this is for you!
Powered by DC or 4 x D batteries so it can go wherever you go!