Sony XDRS20B Fm/dab Digital Radio Reviews

Sony XDRS20B FM/DAB Digital Radio

When one of your children comes home, tail between their legs, holding a record card from the school teacher because they’ve been bullying the other kids, it’s hard to stop yourself from shouting your disappointment. You expected better of them and they’ve let you down. That’s how we feel with this Sony DAB radio. It has so much promise with the Sony branding, and there’s potential in the box, but it’s just not hit the mark. The Sony DXR-S20 looks the part and with its single speaker could make an ideal kitchen radio and it even picks up a decent signal. But the tuning system really lets it down.

Good Effort Sony But Not As Good As Pure.

Design

Looking wise this is a classy looking radio that follows traditional designs. Sony’s XDR-S20 comes in a black and white version. Its clean design doesn’t have anything fancy on it. The chassis is square with rounded edges and the front has material stretching over the speaker and only reveals a small panel for the LCD. The side of the radio has the dial which is the strangest thing we’ve ever seen – unlike any other radio we’ve seen this one doesn’t automatically scan the radio stations you have to twiddle it from left to right to get a channel. The rest of the controls are placed at the top of the radio with a button for DAB to FM, an auto tuner, display and favourites. And to the left there's a headphone socket just in case the kids complain about your listening choices. At it's all powered by either a cable or with six large batteries.

Setup/Installation

Anyone who has used a DAB radio before will know how it works – and generally it’s really easy. You switch it on, and the radio starts finding the channels for you. And the XDR-S20 is no difference – you switch it on and let it work its magic.

Features

Sony could have gone all guns blazing and crammed this radio full of different functions. But like the design the workings are based on a simple premise – less is more. And what you get is an elegant, basic radio. There’s no recording functions, you don’t have to mess about with USB cables for updates and there’s nothing else to send you in a tizzy. This is just simplicity at its best. Once tuned in the reception is pretty good, and reselecting radio stations is fast. Depending on the area you live in and the reception you get will determine what radio stations you can pick up, but in our test we found we could get a whole selection of stations, including some we didn’t even know existed. In some cases you might have to put up the aerial if reception starts crackling. And you don’t have to limit it to the kitchen either. The fact it takes batteries makes it ideal for pottering around in the garden or shed. And the handy clock makes it ideal for a bedside radio. The major downside is if you want to retune the radio, or select another channel – as we mentioned earlier you have to shake and twist the knob around rather than pressing a button, and then once twisted you have to press it in, which isn’t the easiest of things to do.

Performance

While you can get several channels on DAB radios, like all of them the reception can be problematic sometimes. We found that when you were walking around the kitchen you would sometimes lose the signal or have to place the radio in a different part to get the best signal - which meant you’d lose the show. Because unlike FM, MW or LW, you don’t get a crackle, you simply can’t get anything at all. But this isn’t just with Sony, this is an issue with all DAB radios. The actual sound is kind of old fashioned which we liked. Because it’s only got one speaker the sound can be slightly tinny but we didn’t mind that. What we did mind as that terrible tuning dial. Why Sony has opted for this rather that the simple buttons everyone else seems to be going for is beyond us. It really isn’t easy to go through and makes finding channels a pain. But if you can get over that, it’s not a bad little radio.

What's In The Box?

Sony DXR-S20 radio, power adaptor

Overall Opinion

If you like having a radio in the kitchen that looks good and works well you can’t go wrong with the Sony XDR-S20. It is a bit on the pricy side, and there are other DAB radios on the market that do everything Sony does, and possibly even more, but it’s the Sony branding and the unfussy design that will sell this radio to you.

By Babita Wakelin

Pros	Cons
Simple design Easy to use Battery option for garden	Terrible tuning dial Not particularly cheap

Reviewed by on 5:05pm Mon 17th Jul 2006

Factor	Rating
Ease of Use	3/5
Durability	3/5
Style	4/5
Service & Support	4/5
Value for Money	3/5
Recommend	1/5
Overall	3/5