DX-286 Portable Shortwave AM FM LW SW Radio With TEF6686 Chip - Ultra High Sensitivity Full Band for Kitchen, Desk, Bedroom, Office and Outdoors

This is easily one of the best handheld shortwave radio ever created in the history of this planet. High sensitivity, amazing audio quality and it effortlessly pulls in stations that would otherwise be inaudible. Basic usage is intuitive, but it also comes with so many advanced features/modes please please don’t discard the manual, down the road it will be your friend. Highly recommended!!!

After staying in the learning curve and playing with antennas i can say this radio is amazingly sensitive. On all bands. FM is just fun now . Dxing a bit there and I’ve discovered a whole new world from amplitude modulation. I purchased another radio for its wifi connection that shows propagation info. General but very instructive.So, bottom line i love this radio as a portable. I have never dragged a radio around with me until i discovered this gem.There are radios with more functions to play with all night. This i listen to short wave with my breakfast. Im learning that there really are stations to enter into memory for recall. And thus has great memory functionality.If you are looking for a “ base” of some kind this is a portable but as such and it is the best radio ive ever used.Pricy i thought but after using it., Learning about what it is im attempting to do, and this radio performs exceptionally for its design.When i was a kid we had the “new” transistor radios that were so tinny we’d turn it down as trash ,today but back then it was aces. This is that radio again.Im glad i bought it. Finally the first radio i received i had to return and i had a replacement the very next day. No exaggeration. I guess enough said.

I live in a HoA community in the Northeast US with outdoor antenna restrictions. My reception is almost entirely captured from indoors. The Qodosen DX-286 radio receives very well on FM and AM/MW bands, and good on SW bands (better than other SW portables I own). The radio captures FM-RDS digital station data if selected to do so from the radio setup menu. This radio does not offer USB or LSB reception, however I am able to receive NOAA Weather when set to MW range and dial to 1667 for my area (this is somewhat off center from my NOAA frequency, but still easily readable). The DX-286 does quite well to filter and reject various noise within my community location. I've had no luck so far capturing LW broadcasts, though I must state that LW stations are almost extinct these days. --- Lastly, I purchased a Goozeezoo GA800 rechargeable active loop antenna to attached externally to my DX-286 (note: follow all Manuals instructions closely). This loop antenna has notably improved my AM/MW and SW reception (when the integrated signal boost is "turned on") by easily 30%+ and audio louder and more clearly. The GA800 antenna can be turned 360 degrees, which helps better tuning in these stations directionally. With the signal boost "turned off", it operates about as well as the DX-286 radio itself, which is quite good, but allows for an external antenna proximate to a window for more reception. Do not "turn on" the signal boost when operating FM bands. It is unnecessary and may overload your DX-286 radio front end. Lotta information here but I believe that you will enjoy the Qodosen DX-286 if you enjoy broadcast radio (and perhaps don't trust Bluetooth/WiFi or app-connecting radios).

Very successful Very clear.Simple to use

QODOSEN DX-286 Radio, Portable Shortwave Radio AM FM LW SW Ultra High Sensitivity Full Band Radio with TEF6686 Chip for Kitchen, Desk, Bedroom, Office and Outdoors. Sold by: Qodosen radios for $89.99 on March 14, 2025.My reviews are always 100% my personal honest opinion I never receive anything for my reviews.TLDR: Best FM broadcast radio to date, beats all the so called "super radios", but can stand improvements.So this radio for its size does extremely well on SW, MW broadcast and LW AM but does it's best using an external antenna. I can say the same thing about the CCradios. With that said, the CCrane EP and EP Pro beat this radio due to the size of their internal ferrite rod antenna.The customization ability is outstanding. Love the 18650. FM sensitivity and selectivity is the best period easily beating the pants off the CCranes. Step over CCrane, their is a new kid in town and he is kicking your but up and down the coast!I am not going to take one star off for things I knew before buying, IE don't knock it for not having the weather band, don't knock it for being small, rather learn how to read!However, the volume wheel appears to be a simple old style potentiometer that is fed into an A2D, if true, it WILL wear out as they all do. Even the cheap $10 FM tuner boards are using encoders with noticeable steps. I could be wrong on this but this is what it appears to me. I also did not expect micro USB for a charge port. The picture wasn't clear and it the type of port was not mentioned in the desciption - I guess that should have been a red flag. Come on Qodosen, thats Dodo land, for USB port, especially charge, it's type "C" or nothing. So for that last issue I take off one star. It's far from a "perfect" 5.0.Note for all that have this radio: I warn you not to pulg and unplug the micro USB charge port often, it WILL wear out.With that said, I agree with Radio Jay Allen, it's FM performance is five and a half stars. Out of the box this radio picked up a very difficult to receive favorite station by just extending the whip in the same location others cannot. On other radios their is a lot of spot hunting and antenna pointing required. AM can be five stars indoors with a larger external ferrite antenna like the CCranes have but take it out in the woods and it is five stars right out of the box on the whip. However, it is not rain proof nor water proof by any stretch of the imagination so if you do take it into a wet environment, consider putting it in a 1 gallon zip lock bag poking a hole for the whip antenna.Sound given a handheld portable and small speaker is as expected. I would not say it is stellar by any means but voices are clear and sharp, this over 60 senior with hearing damage had no problem hearing it without hearing aids. But not as good as larger radios with larger speakers of course.I look forward to what Qodosen offers in the future. Fix these two problems and it is indeed an all around five star new standard setting handheld portable radio.Throw an additional NOAA alert receiver in the mix that will interrupt you while listening to FM/AM and nothing can beat it. Put it in a larger box with larger stereo speakers and 8" ferrite antenna for a table top plug in the wall like the Sangean HDR-16 and OMG!!!!!If you want NOAA alert with DSP PLL FM and AM performance then look to the "Portable AM FM Shortwave Radio, with Best Reception, 4000mAh Battery, NOAA Weather Alert Radio" sold here on Amazon by several different vendors and listings in different colors e.g.:https://www.amazon.com/Jazmm-Shortwave-Reception-Rechargeable-Emergency/dp/B0D2D4C5MM?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1That radio is not as good as this one on sensitivty and selectivity but it is very nearly as good as the CCranes for a lot less money with vastly better sound than this small portable and it does NOAA Alert, but be forewarned you cannot listen to an FM/AM station and have the weather alert interrupt you. There are few radios that do that as it requires two receivers in the same box.The manual is done very well indeed and I have attached images of the manual pages for digital posterity.I absolutely love how it was shipped inside the included latching plastic foam lined carrying case. That is awesome. Makes it easy to toss in the truck or glamper.I cannot say it is difficult to use because out of the box it worked perfect without me having to change a thing. I didn't even read the manual first as AM and FM was intuitive and perfect right out of the box, no tweaking necessary.Go Go Qodosen!Edit 4/7/2025: As expected the micro usb port stopped working but in a spectacular way...it melted fusing the usb cable to the port. Ended up putting in a USB C port instead. Also, I received the XHDATA W-109WB and I have to say, I prefer it to the Qodosen. I couldn't tell a difference on FM and it's more intuitive, easier to use, sounds better, has external SW/AM antenna port and comes stock with a USB C port oh and it has weather band and weather alert, although it cannot remain in alert while you listen to a different station like you can with the Sangeans (that support weather alert like the PR-D4W) or the CCradio 2e/3.