OK, it will soon be my birthday and so I blew a big $25 (after 20% discount) plus tax for a pocket shortwave radio. I asked Rufus (Amazon AI assistant) and it said the model number was: 6f9846ec-031e-4f5a-876d-0ee9460591cb, and apparently that really is the model number. I’m going to have a hard time remembering that. The manufacturer is Jimeng, and so far no manual is to be found online. Amazon, however, has a couple of videos that cover operation in some detail, one that appears to be from the manufacturer and one from a user who found what he described as “hidden features.”
I’m a sucker for small radios, and this one seems pretty small, 2.3″L x 4″W x 1.3″H, although that’s a bit thick due to the speaker and belt clip. In addition to MW/FM/SW it adds weather band, Bluetooth and MP3 play. It may act as a computer speaker if “USB MP3 Play” means that. [Update: it doesn’t work as a USB speaker, nor does plugging in a USB flash drive do anything.] It’s described as having NOAA weather alerts. Shortwave coverage is 4.75-21.85 MHz. There is some sort of auto-scan feature with 100 station presets. The odd thing about this radio is that every picture of it online shows the same 162.585 MHz display, which is not a frequency the radio is supposed to receive.
My main reasons for the purchase was the high reviews given to the speaker, the small size and the flashlight. Negatives include a non-replaceable battery, product reviews saying shortwave was weak with the telescopic antenna, and the radio being on the thick side.
One Amazon reviewer thought it would be better without the belt clip. Another said the earphone output was mono on FM, but that it played stereo from MP3 files. Overall ratings were 4.3 stars.
