Sony SRF-S84 FM/AM Radio Walkman - Silver

With this item you will be treated to an exceptionally good reception just using the headphone wire as an FM radio. Much better than, say, FM reception on a typical mobile phone or mp3 player. The AM reception is also excellent (although don't blame the regular interference you'll get walking about listening to AM these days on the radio - blame it on the emission polluted environments we live and work in!).Takes 1 AAA battery which will give you a good couple of days of SOLID listening (all day at work, some on an evening some at night), so you're looking at 3 - 4 days of general usage in the day time if not more.Unlike most modern audio devices, this is a triumph of simplicity with the only added function being the "mega bass" which is the third click of the sliding on / off switch. The tuning and volume are dials. Proper analogue dials too. This is a breath of fresh air these days.Am very happy that Sony are still producing these things.I use this for listening to radio and in partnership with a decent FM transmitter (the type you usually buy for the car). I tune this radio to the FM transmitter which I connect to my computer and this results in a cheap, wireless sound system which covers the whole house.

I bought this to replace an old Sony ICF-SW1 that had packed up after more than 20 years use.Controls are very easy to operate, which is useful in the dark (I'm mystified by the comments below about the tuning dial 'lighting up' - no lights of any description on the one I received).FM reception is as good as I get with other radios. I'm in a very poor reception area, so the stereo/mono switch does come in useful to reduce hiss.FM sound quality is good enough with the supplied headphones, and although other phones will give better quality, I'm using the ones supplied because they seem to radiate almost no noise to annoy other people. Lack of a 'sleep' switch is a shame, and the radio usually gets left on overnight, but even using 1000 mAH rechargeables I get several night's use out of a single battery. The plus side is that there are no settings to be lost when the battery runs down.All in all a great little radio

I have been using this model for so long I was surprised it was still available when I needed a new one, but it's a design classic; it has every feature needed in a pocket radio; ultra-compact, basic mechanical controls which keep their settings until moved, mono/stereo FM option, excellent sound quality and very modest battery consumption. I'm on my third or fourth model now, but they last for years even in constant use, and the only reason for replacing them has been wear in the earphone socket causing intermittent connection.

Have bought this radio before, so I knew what I was buying.Nice and small, and nice and light.It comes with earphones but I prefer to use my "Bud" type ones because they stay secure in your ears and sound better.Sound is quite good on AM and even better on FM- You have the option of making the sound quite bassy, with the "Boost" switch.Battery life is pretty good - I would have thought you could almost get two eight hour days out of it on low volume. It's powered by just one AAA battery... I use 1.2 volt rechargeable ones and save myself money and the environment too!This radio seems to lock on to radio stations slightly better to other similar radios. I've used an analogue Roberts AM/FM radio that didn't quite hold on to FM stations quite as well as this one...although it did go on forever on it''s solitary AAA battery.You can use the little metal clip on the radio to hang on a shirt /Tee shirt, or whatever, but if you catch the earphone cable on anything by mistake you'll probably shear the clip straight off the radio in the process. Do this two or three times and the metal clip won't fit back anymore! But that'a about the only design fault.Lastly, any tiny radio, like this, doesn't work that well on FM if you're constantly moving around but it's fine if you're walking slowly or are stationary. So you can forget going jogging with this radio!

This radio is tiny and only needs one AAA battery which lasts ages. The sound quality is very good and the bass boost is excellent. It is a good little radio to take with you anywhere as it hardly takes up any space. The only criticism I have is that the fm tuner is less sensitive than I would like and it fails to pick up the weakest signals. I find this frustrating when out in the country. However overall it's a good little radio with powerful bass sound.

Pros:Over 40 hours usage from 1 alkaline battery, and about 30 hours from a rechargeable 800mah AAA battery (use long life ones like Uniross 4 x AAA Multi Usage Long Life Batteries)Good sound, with nice megabass functionCons:Controls are poor. The tuning dial is loose and slightly wobbly so difficult to tune, hurts your thumb after a while. Seemed to be a sealed new product - so I assume that's how they are new. The mega-bass and fm-mono selector are implemented as a 3rd selector position on the on/off switch and am/fm switch - so difficult to be sure you have them selected correctly, why not dedicated switches? The volume dial is awkwardly placed on top - it would be better on the side like the tuning dial, and the headphone socket would be better on top!No auto power off so not a good radio for listening to at night in bed.Apart from battery life, this radio is not great compared to digital alternatives like Roberts Sports 995 2-Band PLL Synthesised Personal Stereo Radio