Eton Mini Super Compact AM/FM/Shortwave Radio with Digital tuner

2019-07-04T17:20:14

I purchased my Eton Mini Compact from Adorama about a year ago. I love it. Compared to just about every other pocket radio, the form factor of this one is better. Roughly 4.3 inches tall, 2.7 inches wide and less than a half-inch thick, the Mini Compact is only a little bit bigger than a standard-sized playing card, and it's thinner than a deck of cards, too. Most of what are called pocket radios are quite a bit bigger than that (and especially thicker), so here you really do have a radio you can slip into a shirt pocket and basically not feel that it's there. This exceptional design carries over to the controls. There's a large power button that also sets the sleep time (if desired) at the upper-right corner of the radio, and below that is a small round lock button. Holding the lock button for about a second locks the controls so the radio won't be accidentally turned on by rubbing up against other objects in a carrying bag or in your pocket. This control can also be used to lock the controls while the radio is on, so if you're carrying it in your pocket and listening with a headset, you won't accidentally change the station. (The volume control isn't locked by this control, so you can still turn it up or down if the lock is set with the radio on.) To unlock, just hold down the lock button for about a second. Tuning and volume controls are thumbwheels on the right side of the radio, and you can also tune and seek-tune with the right two buttons on the front of the radio. Single pushes of these buttons move the radio up or down one frequency at a time; holding the button down starts an up or down seek function. The band selector is on the left side of the radio, and the left two buttons on the front of the radio are used to set the time or alarm time. Both are completely intuitive: Just hold down the time or alarm button and press the minute and hour buttons to advance the clock time or alarm time as desired. And, here is a "secret" button function not explained in the manual: With the radio turned on, press the time button to rapidly advance the radio frequency. On AM each press of the time button will advance you 100 kHz; on FM, pressing the time button will advance you one mHz, and on shortwave you'll advance to the next meter band. When the radio is off, the right-most button will toggle the display from "off" to "always on - dim," to "always on - bright." The "always on" settings let you use the Mini Compact, for instance, as a bedside clock radio that always shows the time. Of course, this would deplete the batteries quickly, but it's useful to have this feature for times when you might not have another clock handy. All of the buttons and controls have a precise feel of quality and good tactile feedback, making the Mini Compact a pleasure to use. Good control placement lets you do everything completely by feel in the dark. I also like the Mini Compact's "reverse LCD" display, which features orange digits on a black background. Some criticize this style of display for poor viewability in very bright light, but if you try different orientations of the display relative to the light source, you'll notice that you can read it well in bright light without the backlight of the display. Or, you can activate the backlight and shield the display with your hand. Either way, I think the pleasant look of the reverse LCD and its exceptional low-light viewability more than make up for this small issue. So, how does the Mini Compact work as a radio? FM reception is impressive; highly sensitive and selective on this band, bringing in stations that lots of other radios won't get. On AM, the reception is not bad but not as sensitive as on FM - no doubt due to the radio's small size and the inevitability of a correspondingly-small internal ferrite AM antenna. Still, AM reception is not bad for a small radio. Shortwave tests a little weaker than a larger shortwave portable I have when using only the Mini Compact's built-in telescoping antenna, but improves markedly with the addition of as longer wire antenna. (There's no antenna jack, so any longer wire used as an antenna can simply be clipped to the radio's telescoping antenna.) Sound quality through the speaker on the front of the radio isn't bad, with crisp audio. Great for voice and not too bad for music at softer volume. But connect a pair of earbuds or a headset using the 3.5 mm audio jack and enjoy full-range audio and powerful sound. (Many other devices deliver weak audio through their 3.5 mm jacks, but with a set of earbuds in my ears plugged into the Mini Compact, I cannot bear turning it up full blast.) The Mini Compact is an impressive audio performer when you use it with earbuds or a headset. The Mini Compact plays for a long time on its two little AAA batteries, and when you do have to change the batteries, the radio will remember the time so you don't have to reset it at each battery change.

Ken

2018-07-14T14:35:58

LIKED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PRODUCT EVEN THO A BIT PRICEY. ONLY ONE PROBLEM AFTER IST COUPLE OF DAYS OF USE WOULDNT STAY ON FOR MORE THAN 15 SECONDS. AFTER 2 DAYS OF FRUSTRATION HAVE DECIDED TO TRY TO GET A RETURN AUTHORIZATION

LEONARD M.

2018-05-29T08:41:16

A great traveling companion. Intuitive. Good sound. A value for its price.

Assir D.