Home > Consumer Reviews > Roberts SOLARDAB-BK Solar Powered DAB Radio with Rechargeable Battery Pack - Black

I bought one of these to use in the garden, being no mains power and not wanting to spend a small fortune on 6 'D' sized batteries for my other radio.

First impressions: Good quality build, rubberised controls, but no carrying handle. Headphone socket, mains adaptor socket and MP3 inputs on rear case. The mains adaptor itself covers 100-240V. You also have menu options as per which country you want the radio 'set up' to work in when you first switch it on.

Battery pack is 3 'AA' sized 2000mA nimh batteries wrapped in plastic that fit in a compartment in the bottom of the radio secured with 2 screws and has a tiny plug/socket connection.Has a rubber-ducky type antenna, which screws into place on the top. This has a telescopic antenna built in, but you may find (as I did) that the smaller antenna is sufficient in strong signal areas.

When switched on for the 1st time, tunes in very quickly to available stations. Sound quality more than adequate, but lacks a tone control. A glaring absence is the lack of FM. Radio had both band III and L-Band, so will receive transmissions abroad.

Solar panel is a 1 inch wide by approx 8 inch long strip along the top surface of the radio. Instructions warn that this will only produce current in natural sunlight, (so unlike my solar powered watch), cannot use fluorescent light for power.

There is a useful meter on the display relating to the solar panel, which indicates whether any sunlight is reaching the panel. According to the manual: If the meter shows some light, this supplements the battery pack. Over 50% will power the radio and provide some charge and if all the bars are shown, then enough to charge and power the radio at a moderate volume. It is not recommended to use the radio without the battery pack installed.

Battery pack requires an initial 24 hour conditioning charge.

I would have awarded it 5 stars, as it is a great idea, but:

No FM
No tone control
No carrying handle (even a removable one so solar panel can be unobstructed)
Does not use easily replaceable (and cheap) 'AA' batteries, rather than a battery pack costing 3 times as much when it finally dies.

Detract 1 star from the above. I use in more than one location, one of these is where DAB is very poor, hence FM would have been useful.

This Roberts is really nice - but with two let downs.

1 - The Radio has rechargeable AAs that can't be easily changed. You have to send off to Roberts for a new pair. It would be nice if the radio could have a standard battery compartment using standard rechargeable AAs.

2 - For saving power, the radio should have a sleep button. I've had to get the charger out a few times because the radio has been on all night.

I think 4 stars is about right - it's a great little radio.

Apart from the initial charging of the bateries, we have only had to charge it once in the last seven weeks, which makes it very handy and easy to carry around. I would add that we only listen to it for a limited time each day. Although we keep it on the window sill, it is hard at this stage to comment on the sun's recharging capabilities as it is February. It does seem quite a lot of money, but DAB radios are, I guess like all other new items they will come down in price?? Overall we are pleased,it tunes in well and is of good quality, but I guess that the real test will not be until the summer.

I am very pleased with this product. I generally keep it where there is good natural light and the battery recharges well. The reception is excellent and the operation clear and simple.

The radio was bought for me as a present and I am really pleased with it. It is small and compact but sturdy as well and so easy to programme.The sound is good and I am able to use it outdoors as it is solar powered. Would deffinitely recommend this radio.