- Joined
- Apr 20, 2025
- Messages
- 7,266
I got this radio on sale for $30 a few days ago, it just arrived today. I like it so far. I wanted something that would combine a bunch of bands and useful features into one product, and it fits the bill. This is a substantial upgrade from the original V115 which has been on the market for a decade. The two look similar at a glance though.
Features:
Build Quality
I'd say it's pretty good, the case is made of all ABS plastic but it's smooth (not the soft touch type) and the radio has a decent amount of weight to it, 192 grams. The case doesn't creak if pressure is applied to it, it feels like a brick almost.
I really like the design of the radio too, it reminds me a lot of a 90s Sony product.
Battery Life
Haven't tested it enough yet to find out, but it should be twice that of the previous model thanks to the bigger battery. My original V115 gets 6-7 hours of playback on FM, and that's with extensive use of the backlight.
Finding batteries to replace the included cell may be hard in the future though, the BL-10C is fairly obscure. I think it's proprietary despite using a Nokia naming scheme. The BL-9C (far more common) does seem to be the same size and polarity, I'll need to investigate it.
Pros and Cons
+ Affordable
+ Bluetooth connects very quickly
+ Decent battery life
+ FLAC support
+ Bright ass flashlight
+ Good shortwave reception for the price (I managed to tune in to a Cuban station earlier tonight)
- Volume control sucks, the lowest setting is still too high. This only applies to FM/AM though.
- Interface is kinda confusing, everything is nested in menus and even then there's weird button combos
- Stupid lanyard came with it, only way to remove it without taking the radio apart is by cutting it with scissors
- Price fluctuates over and over, I saw it for $60 but managed to snipe it at $30.
I will add more info as I use it
Features:
- AM/FM/LW/SW/Weather band support
- 1800 mAh Nokia-style BL-10C lithium battery
- USB-C port for charging
- Headphone jack and line input (latter can also be used to record)
- Microphone
- MicroSD slot, unlike the old model this one supports cards up to 256GB (up from 32GB)
- The manufacturer states it can play MP3s and WMA files, but I've had good success with FLAC files without needing to tamper with anything
- Bluetooth, sadly it's only for using the device as a speaker (you can't use wireless earbuds/headphones)
- A built-in extremely bright flashlight that raped my eyes the first time I turned it on
- Clock, with an option for an alarm that can either beep or play a radio station on FM.
- External antenna socket, not sure how well it works
Build Quality
I'd say it's pretty good, the case is made of all ABS plastic but it's smooth (not the soft touch type) and the radio has a decent amount of weight to it, 192 grams. The case doesn't creak if pressure is applied to it, it feels like a brick almost.
I really like the design of the radio too, it reminds me a lot of a 90s Sony product.
Battery Life
Haven't tested it enough yet to find out, but it should be twice that of the previous model thanks to the bigger battery. My original V115 gets 6-7 hours of playback on FM, and that's with extensive use of the backlight.
Finding batteries to replace the included cell may be hard in the future though, the BL-10C is fairly obscure. I think it's proprietary despite using a Nokia naming scheme. The BL-9C (far more common) does seem to be the same size and polarity, I'll need to investigate it.
Pros and Cons
+ Affordable
+ Bluetooth connects very quickly
+ Decent battery life
+ FLAC support
+ Bright ass flashlight
+ Good shortwave reception for the price (I managed to tune in to a Cuban station earlier tonight)
- Volume control sucks, the lowest setting is still too high. This only applies to FM/AM though.
- Interface is kinda confusing, everything is nested in menus and even then there's weird button combos
- Stupid lanyard came with it, only way to remove it without taking the radio apart is by cutting it with scissors
- Price fluctuates over and over, I saw it for $60 but managed to snipe it at $30.
I will add more info as I use it
