Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 Product Review – Part 2

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Kevin

Performance

MW/FM

The Daytime Band Scan had surprising results:

Given the nearly 1-meter long telescopic antenna, I fully expected superior FM performance, and I was not disappointed — it delivered a top scoring 88 stations, but given the radio’s size and price range, I was not expecting its mediocre MW performance. A teardown by ElectricBananas of the Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 (henceforth called the C919) showed a very long ferrite antenna nearly as long as the radio is wide, perhaps the longest loop of any radio I have. Nevertheless, it got only 15 stations.

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Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 Product Review – Part 1

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Kevin

The Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 is a device that receives a wide range of frequencies and has a long list of features. It scores high on quantity. This review concentrates on how well it performs all those functions it has. The firmware underlying this review is v1.723.

Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 (product photo)
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First Impressions: Zhiwhis ZWS-C919

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Kevin

I picked the Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 out of the 4 available brands, because it had best sale price on Amazon (and a little because Zhiwhis bought some good will by offering to send me a free updated version of the ZWS-603).

HanRongDa is the OEM manufacturer for all the branded versions, and today they seem to all have the same firmware and accessories. Raddy, however, has the best manual, but that’s not a deciding factor since they make it available online for free. All the ones I checked online also are advertised as having latest 1.71 firmware (mine ended up with 1.723).

Please keep in mind that these are first impressions. I may not be using some features right and I might not understand some things. I could change my mind. I’m going to mention comparisons to the Tecsun PL-990 throughout this post because it happened to be nearby and as my other higher-priced upper-tier radio, I intend to make more comparisons in the future.

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Big Deal Days

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Kevin

October 7-8 are Amazon Big Deal Days, and there are some deals to be had on shortwave radios. I didn’t see anything for Tecsun or Qodosen, but the Raddy, Zhiwhis, Retekess, Retevis and XHDATA crowd are offering 20% or more off on some items, and there appear to be some new regular prices on the high end RF919 (also branded Zhiwhis, HanRongDa and Retekess).

Here are some I found:

Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 $173.87 (16% off of new regular price)
Zhiwhis ZWS-A320 $60.62 (20% off)
Retekess V115P $23.99 (27% off the new model)
Retekess V115 $17.24. (25% off)
Raddy RF75A. $36.79 (20% off)
Zhiwhis ZWS-2415. $34.22 (20% off)
XHDATA D-109WB $39.12 (20% off)
XHDATA D-808 Radio $86.40 (20% off)
XHDATA D-608WB $35.18 (20% off)
XHDATA D-219 $9.99 (22% off)
LiJiANi Rd239 $44.72 (20% off)
Zhiwhis ZWS-603 $19.82 (20% off)

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Incoming radio: Zhiwhis ZWS-C919

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Kevin

Decisions, decisions. Recently I’ve been thinking about a radio: the HanRongDa HRD-C919 / Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 / Raddy RF919 / Retekess TR113.

Zhiwhis ZWS-C919 (Amazon product photo)

Here are some reasons I’m interested:

  1. Wide frequency of coverage including Air, Weather, CB, LW, SW, VHF and UHF.
  2. I have a small feeling of familiarity, thinking about my Raddy RF760 and HanRongDa HRD-757
  3. Optionally controlled by the Radio-C phone app.
  4. It records and plays MP3.
  5. Bluetooth.
  6. SSB.
  7. A conditional recommendation from Jay Allen.
  8. It seems to be actively supported: new firmware and revised manual.
  9. It seems to be a generally overlooked radio that I could write about.
  10. Lighted keys.
  11. Ability to pick background color. (On some of these you get one color with Raddy and a different color with HanRongDa or Zhiwhis.) Of course, it will end up green.
  12. Exceptional 20W speaker.
  13. FM support on CB band.
  14. A variety of antenna connections, including a rotatable ferrite, phone jack and SMA.
  15. Comes with a case.
  16. It’s on sale.
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2 Radios, 4 Ways

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Kevin

The fellow with the hard hat standing next to one of the three big power company trucks parked in front of my neighbor’s house said they were working on the transformer and the power would be off for a couple of hours.

Power Transformer case

For most people, the failure of electric power is an inconvenience, but this morning it was an opportunity to do some radio listening without the usual electronic noise blanket. I grabbed my accessories bag and two radios, hurrying outside to see what I could get. The two radios happened to be my almost constant companion Qodosen DX-286 and my Tecsun PL-330, recently featured in a Fred In the Shed video on the subject of what radio to buy at different price points.

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Phase Locked in Battle: Tecsun PL-990 Against All Comers

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Kevin

Someone made a comment on the Official SWL Channel Facebook group:

So I’ve got the modern raft of DSP and SDR radios, just the same as anyone else. I was wondering whether, in 2025, there’s any point in picking up an older PLL shortwave radio. … Tell me, is there any real advantage to a dual conversion PLL shortwave portable over one of the flagship DSP based radios or an SDR radio in 2025?

Group founder Gilles Letourneau replied:

There is no real reason to get one, except that you want one.

A wise answer. He should know, given his vast experience with all types of listening on many types of radios — and I have no reason to dissent — but I just like to compare radios, so I want one, or two, or five.😳

I bought 3 of those older dual conversion PLL radios (used) this year partly out of curiosity, but mostly from nostalgia. The Grundig G4000A is one them; it’s a good radio but it didn’t outclass my modern DSP receivers like the Qodosen DX-286 on a visit to the park a while back (see: Grundig G4000A: Observations Part 2). I added two more, the Sangean ATS-909 and the Kaito KA1101.

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