“Snazzy Looking, Award Winning Product”.

Yes, that is right… we have found not only a snazzy looking portable FM radio but one that packs the punch against its competitors with, in built internet radio capabilities.

Picking up a prestigious ‘iF’ product design award, there is no question that this product is a top quality, compact yet powerful device. With the potential of picking up over 12,000 internet radio stations you can relax with the peace of mind that wherever you are in the world, as long as you can connect to the internet you will be able to listening to your favourite radio broadcasts. Not that you would want to listen to Chris Moyles when you are relaxing on a beach in Spain or Johnny Vaughn when you are sunning it up in Egypt. But, whatever tickles your fancy you can pick and choose and listen to the type of radio show that you want to listen to. If you are not in a Wifi hot spot, don’t worry! The product has an inbuilt FM receiver too.

The unit looks really good, and sounds remarkable for something of its size. It boasts 4.5w speakers which sound good however where the unit is so small, when up full volume I found that the unit vibrated and I almost had a broken unit after it went for a walk of its own across the table and onto the floor. (Don’t worry, it survived!) Top Tip; put it on a cushion or uneven surface so it cannot break free.

The visual display is easy to understand and using the scrolling wheel control system you are sure to be able to get your unit set up within minutes without any problems. Usually small units like this are hard to set up and hard to understand, honestly… it’s that easy my grandmother who is a technophobe could do it. The unit supports both 64 and 128 bit Wifi security keys and unlike other units inputting the security key takes no more than a minute.

The unit displays the radio station that you are listening to and the quality that it is being broadcasted. The great thing with this internet radio is that you can pick the country/language you want to listen to and the genre for example pop & rock. Again, when you are not connected to the internet through Wifi you can listen to local stations using the FM receiver. I was mightily impressed that this small device with no visible aerial could pick up local and even national radio stations with ease and the quality of sound, although you can clearly hear the difference between digital and analogue was still very impressive.

When speaking with and demonstrating this unit to my friends and family it is clear that majority of them were happy and amazed by this product. 1 thing to feedback was that for people without wireless internet unfortunately there isn’t a CAT5 input for users to be able to plug there internet router directly into the device. This in my eyes is not a massive issue as majority of ISP’s now provide wireless routers and more and more homes, offices and hotels worldwide are relying on wireless internet.

The unit can charge up being plugged in to any USB socket and also comes with a selection of universal adapters so you know your unit can be charged up wherever you are in the world. When charging or in use it lights up a multitude of colours. All the buttons on the unit are clearly marked and cleverly they have added a “lock unit” switch which means you can’t stupidly knock any buttons when you have the unit in your pocket.

The Sovos portable radio isn’t a necessity but if you like your radio and want to enjoy it wherever you are in the world this unit is definitely something worth a purchase. Don’t confuse this unit with DAB radio as DAB radio although very good doesn’t give you access to over 12,000 stations like this.

Unit Stats;

• Model: SVWFPIR
• WiFi internet and FM radio
• 12,000+ internet radio stations
• UPnP function – Universal Plug and Play
• Supports Microsoft media (WMA), Real Networks, audio and MP3 formats
• Easy to use scrolling menu wheel
• Preset Channels
• 4.5W Speaker and 3.5mm headphone jack
• Gloss black finish
• Built in 1800mAh lithium-ion battery gives over 12 hours playback
• Low 2W power consumption
• Worldwide power adaptors included
• Unit size: 2.87 x 4.92 x 0.91 inches (H x W xD)

Our Star Rating:  4.4 out of 5