This was a Prime Day deal for $21.77. I ordered one yesterday (July 9). The price was just too low to pass up. And for proof of the deal, this is a snip from my Amazon invoice:
Perhaps others thought the same because today there are only 17 left in stock and although it is still Prime Day, the price jumped to $32.99.
SM-616
It is essentially a multimedia player with a 7″ color screen, an MP3 music player, an MP4 video player, a Bluetooth speaker and a radio, supporting FM 87.5-108MHz , AM 520-1730 kHz, SW 4.75-21.95 MHz.
If you’re interested in starting to listen to shortwave radio, there are some notable deals on Amazon.com during their Prime Day promotion. And no, I don’t get any commission on products I mention here.
A firmware update was released for the ATS Mini earlier today (July 1, 2025) and I quickly grabbed it and installed it on my V3 and V1 models. The latest version is always found on GitHub here.
There are two installation files, one with OSPI in the zip filename and one with QSPI. For the commercial AST Mini products, the OSPI firmware is the correct one. One of the features of V2.28 is support for PSRAM and this is the reason for two versions. Copilot says: 🤖”PSRAM stands for Pseudo-Static RAM. It’s a type of external memory that behaves like SRAM (fast, byte-addressable) but is built using DRAM internally, making it cheaper and denser.”
If you’re up for opening your unit, this table is helpful:
The item in the left column should match the component on the circuit board, and then the PRSAM type is either Quad (use QSPI) or Octal (use OSPI). Mine says N16R8.
For a technical description of which firmware to install see: Firmware Files.
There are multiple ways to update the ATS Mini firmware, but I’ve always used the Flash Download Tool that I’m comfortable with.
Flash Installation Tool Ready to Install
Fixes
The one complaint I’ve had about the ATS Mini, and one I posted as an issue on GitHub, is that the 200 kHz step on the VHF (FM) band forced even multiple of 1o0 kHz, so that the FM channels tuned were 90.0, 90.2, 90.4 rather than 90.1, 90,3, 90.5 where the actual channels are in North America. The reply I got from the developers was “Fixed in main.” I wasn’t sure what “main” was and when the fix would be available, but now I know: it’s fixed in 2.28.
One interesting change is described as: Much better seek sensitivity. The other was a fix to “Fix loud clicks when changing bands/modes on the PCB version without the mute circuit.” I haven’t observed the problem.
Process
I’ve flashed the firmware enough times that I don’t need to refer to the documentation. Updating two radios takes maybe 10 minutes not hurrying (longer if I hurry). Of course, I already have the firmware download tool on the hard drive.
Version 2.28 Firmware About Page
Turning the encoder knob advances to page 3, which shows a nonzero value for PSRAM.
One AliExpress seller is selling an updated version of the ATS Mini they are labeling V3S. Specifically, the differences identified are:
The latest upgraded version in June 2025
It is equipped with a built-in HIZ circuit and a headphone amplifier circuit
It uses an ABS injection-molded shell, which will be more sturdy and durable (previously, all shells were 3D-printed).
The circuit has been optimized, and there will No longer be a large amount of additional power consumption after shutdown. No more the battery drain issue.
It’ll arrive when it does (estimated delivery date: Jul 20, 2025).
One buyer who has already received one complained that it comes with V1.01 of the firmware, but they are easily upgraded. I see that there is a new version 2.28 out now.
Update: It arrived at a US airport on July 5. I hope it looks like the picture.
I took my new HRD-908 outside at around sunset local time (00:39 UTC) to see what it could do. It hits the ball out of the park on FM. The speaker is great, MW sucks and so does the manual. But there’s more:
There is no hint in the Amazon product description that this emergency radio has app control, but it does. The same Radio-C/Radio-CT app that I’ve enjoyed with other radios like the HRD-757 and Raddy RF75A, also works here.
AI generated content may appear occasionally in articles and will be denoted with the 🤖 [robot emoji] symbol. Content comes most often from Microsoft Copilot, but may also come from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Duck.ai, Grok or Deep Seek.
