Features
When I started thinking about it, the feature set is quite similar. One reason I liked the Zhiwhis ZWS-2415 was the ability to press a button on the top that turned on the radio light, showed the current time and then went back off. Well, both radios do that. I found in testing that both are virtually identical in their ability to receive weak weather stations, and both are the most sensitive FM radios I’ve encountered.
To catalog features, I made a table:
| Feature | HRD-908 | ZWS-2415 |
|---|---|---|
| VHF Band | 30-200 MHz | 30-199.975 MHz |
| SW Band | 4.75-21.85 MHz | 3.2-21.95 MHz |
| Accelerated Tuning | Y | Y |
| Meter band button | Y | |
| Tuning knob | Y | |
| Bluetooth | Y | Y |
| MicroSD card music play | 256 G MP3 / WAV / WMA | 256 G MP3 / WAV / WMA / APE / FLAC |
| MicroSD card recording | Y (with app) | |
| Solar charge | Y | Y |
| Crank charge | Y | Y |
| USB-C charge | Y | Y |
| Flashlight | Y | Y |
| Reading Light | Y | |
| Charges other devices | Y | Y |
| Battery capacity | 5000 mAh | 10000 mAh |
| Battery | 2 x 18650 3 x AA 14500 | Internal |
| ATS memory locations | 100 x 4 | 99 x 4 |
| Clock/Alarm/Sleep timer | Y | Y |
| AM/PM or 24-hour | Both | Both |
| Equalizer settings | Y | Y |
| App control | Y | |
| Music light bar | Y | |
| Signal strength bar | Y | |
| Speaker | 5 W | 5 W |
| Mute button | Y | Y |
| Weather Resist | IP64 | IPX4 |
| SOS Siren | Y | Y |
| Compass | Y | |
| Earphone jack | Y | |
| Aux input | Y | |
| Carrying handle | Y | |
| Carrying strap | Y | Y |
| First available | 2025 | 2024 |
| Price (Amazon, July 3, 2025) | $59.90 | $42.77 |
For my use case as a weather radio, there isn’t any feature or lack of one that stands out. I mean, if I really wanted to listen to CHU on 3330, I couldn’t do that on the HRD-908, but it was weak on the ZWS-2415 and something like the Qodosen DX-286 gets a much clearer signal.
In a real emergency with a power outage, the ZWS-2415 has double the battery capacity, but the HRD-908 has replaceable batteries, and I have far more than 10000 mAh in 18650 and AA batteries on hand. The solar panel is bigger on the ZWS-2415, but solar charging is more of a gimmick than a practical way to charge a radio.
The Plot Thickens
My wife has become interested in the idea of playing CDs, and of the many things in the house that can play a CD, none of them are particularly convenient, so perhaps the best approach is to rip the CDs, copy them to MP3 files, and play them on a radio. Two good candidates for that are the radios here.
When it comes to media music play, the HRD-908 has one very big advantage: the name of the track being played is displayed in the app.
It also supports the additional music formats: APE and FLAC.
OK. I keep the ZWS-2415 and she gets the HRD-908.