SonyICF-F10 Two 2 Band FM/AM Portable Battery Transistor Radio

The Sony F10 radio is a surprisingly good radio for the money. I've had mine for a month now - it accompanies me around the house in the morning as I get ready for work listening to 5 live, it follows me around the garden as I trim the hedges or relax in the sun listening to Classic FM, and it sits on the shelf in the evenings as I listen to the sports and news round-ups. The radio it replaced was a similarly priced supermarket brand, but the quality of the Sony puts it in another league.The sound is far richer than I expected, with a hint of bass from the larger than average speaker. The controls are very simple - no tone control, just volume and tuning, so less to go wrong. Station separation is good - much better than the supermarket unit which bled stronger signals over fainter ones.Reception is excellent; having once fallen for the digital radio hype and wasted my money on a popping gurgling useless piece of expensive, battery draining rubbish, it is a relief to be able to settle down and listen without constantly having to adjust the antennae. There is no frequency drift - the tuning stays true. Nearly all the stations available on digital can be picked up clearly on the two bands AW and FM, and certainly all the ones I'd want to listen to.The two D type batteries are cheap to buy and are still going strong after a month despite the radio being left on all night numerous times after falling asleep listening to Talk Sport twaddle, Radio 4 ramblings or Magic FM muttering. There is no mains option, but the portability that allows is what this little beauty is about. The cabinet is made of a reasonable grade of plastic and is ergonomically shaped with a finger recess for carrying short distances. A carrying strap is provided, but this would prove obtrusive and was discarded. The tuning and volume knobs on the front feel a little flimsy, but work smoothly enough with no crackle on the volume and no slack on the tuning.In conclusion, this radio comes highly recommended (and I'm not easily impressed). For general use about the home, garden, beach, camping etc, it is a much better and cheaper option than any DAB radio.

I've been a radio enthusiast for over 50 years and as basic small radios go, I have to say this is a little gem.The sound quality is very good, this is mainly down to the fairly large speaker used and the vent at the back, which helps with the bass response.It's quite sensitive on both Medium Wave and on FM, although there is a drop off in sensitivity at the high frequency end of the MW band, between 1400 - 1600 kHz (or 1.4 - 1.6 MHz).The FM band is surprisingly good, with IMO a good AFC (automatic frequency control) level that is not to aggressive, unlike on the Sony SRF-59 which jumps onto adjacent stations like a magnet.The selectivity (the ability to separate close together stations) is not bad, given the price of the radio. A test I always do with all radios is to see if it can separate a station here in London, it broadcasts the same programme on the adjacent frequencies of 963 and 972 kHz - the radio did a fair job of separating the two frequencies.I was pleasantly surprised by the selectivity of the radio on FM. It's ability to tune to stations just 200 kHz apart without too many problems from adjacent frequencies, was quite surprising for a radio in this price range (well done Sony).Ok now for a couple of moans, let's make that three.1. Why oh why Sony didn't you put the on/off switch on the volume control potentiometer, rather than on the band change switch - I hate it when they do that.2. Why only a mono jack socket for the ear/headphones. I know the radio isn't stereo, but a stereo socket would allow stereo phones to be used without the need for a mono to stereo adaptor.3. Why the silly shoulder strap, a simple lift up handle would have been so much more convenient.I know the radio is built to a price, but for just a few bob more, they could have added the above three items to make what is a great little radio into a super little radio - oh heck just buy a of Sony ICF-F10, they are great just as they are.

Appears to be very well made and looks good. I like the optional strap, handles are sometimes a nuisance. Pity about the ON/OFF switch combined with wave change. Excellent reception on both AM and FM.Sound quality good but not ideal for me owing to age related hearing loss I need a bit more power in the high frequences. Tone control might have helped.

Reasonable little radio with that 60's styling about it. Is battery only and has a separate on-off switch on the side rather than a combined volume/on-off switch. Surprisingly, whilst this is no a fault, it can prove a bit of an issue: I bought one for my elderly mother, who is somewhat hard of hearing and she likes it, (which is a compliment, as she also has a bigger, heavier, and not that portable £100 Roberts job), but she tends to turn it down, thinking she's turned it off, and of course she hasn't, then the battery goes flat :0\. Front Controls feel somewhat flimsy, but seem to work fine. Station selection is razor blade thin - i.e. it's there or it's not, if you know what I mean!

Fantastic radio. Worth the money. One of the main points for me was that it takes 2 D cells giving you around 200 hours on FM and 220 Hours on AM, I am currently using some asda smart price zinc batteries. I found the current draw at reasonable volumes to be from 8-13Ma so good in that regard. The sound is amazing for the size of the aforementioned radio. Sony quality as well is great as usual.Some people complain about the on/off switch not being on the volume control, you get used to it and I have grown to love it and I prefer it. Sony's usual quirk of having a mono headphone socket though.**Update**It is still working, currently I am using a pair of Panasonic D cells (Yes I know Zinc Chloride batteries are not good) but for 99P for 2 and considering the negligible current draw they are fine for this situation, and I have been using them since about March the 1st and I wioll update this review again when they die.