Insignia™ - Tabletop FM/HD Radio - Black

I own a Sangean HRD-14 pocket radio shared between my office and bedroom so wanted another to prevent from having to move it from room to room. The Sangean price seems to fluctuate wildly lately, so when I saw this Insignia FM HD radio was on sale it seemed perfect for my bedroom setup. Sensitivity is about the same as the Sangean using the telescoping antenna at full extension, with both radios needing to be on the window sill for solid reception in the bedroom. I prefer the radio to be on my nightstand, and the external pigtail allowed me to do so. Since the telescoping antenna is disabled when the pigtail is inserted the telescoping is able to he collapsed and stored neatly in the tabs behind the top of the radio. The external antenna connection is IMHO the best reason to purchase this radio, especially for those living in fringe reception areas where it could even be connected to a good outdoor antenna. I plan to do some experimenting myself with an antenna in the attic. This is not an option for any other HD radio even close to the Insignia's current sale price, or even at the original MSRP. The Sangean portable regretfully does not have an external antenna connection, and for solid reception must have the radio placed on the window sill for stable reception. The Insigia, by using the supplied pigtail antenna plugged into the back and dropped behind my night stand allowed solid reception of WFAE HD2 Charlotte Jazz channel with the radio placed exactly where I wanted it on the night stand. WFAE HD1, 2 are equally good reception, as well as many other FM HD channels in and around Charlotte. The radio is simple to operate and program the presets, and sounds very good even through the built in speakers (yes, it is stereo too), I will use mainly with an external headphone amp and "cans", but didn't expect it to sound as respectable as it does through its internal speakers, so will use it just on its own as well as with headphones. I find the styling is unique, looks cool, and of good design that has a wider base than i expected to keep the radio very stable. The Insignia HD radio is much better than I expected from a $60 HD radio, and at close to half that on the current sale! Very good build quality, although I would have liked to see the battery compartment in a 2x2 side by side configuration, but now im just nit-picking : p This is an excellent tabletop FM and FM HD radio (no AM, not an issue for me) that has so far exceeded my expectations in every way. Get one on sale now while you can...not many choices out there for portable or tabletop HD radios being manufactured with many modela apparently becoming discontinued. I hope this one isn't destined for that fate as well. Great job Insignia, thank you for a product that has exceeded my expectations in nust about every way I can think of!

This radio is not an easy one to use. Complicated.

Picked this up to use as an emergency radio, and if the power goes out and I need some tunes, it will get the job done. Pros: One of the few consumer radios that still available on the market with an HD Radio tuner built-in. How much that will matter in a 5-10 years, I don't know — HD Radio never really caught out with consumers because of the expensive licensing requirements for the technology needed to decode HD signals (which is controlled and licensed by the company that makes TiVo — really, look it up). The tuner on this model appears to be sensitive enough to pull in stations from 30 miles away, even when inside and with a few terrain blocks. Display is nice and clear, gets bright when tuning and then quickly dims after you've settled on a station. Has a preset function, but I've never used it. Runs on 4 AA batteries which are pretty widely available. Includes an AC adapter for daily use. Cons: Runs on 4 AA batteries, which means it probably won't last more than a few hours, given everything it does. Even though it can pick up a good signal on most stations that are around 30 miles away, I'm not getting all the stations I could get compared to when I'm in the car. Radio has a pretty glossy finish, which makes it a fingerprint magnet and might scuff easily over time. Not extremely durable either. No Bluetooth, which won't matter to people who want a radio to just be a radio, but thought it's worth mentioning since Bluetooth seems to be everywhere. Audio: Volume gets nice and loud. Quality is decent — not audiophile quality, and some cheap headphones crank offer better fidelity, but if you're someone who just wants a radio playing in the background (say, at work, or while on a remote job, or a garage or kitchen), it's plenty fine. Also good for people who listen to a lot of spoken word content like NPR or sports radio, especially when tuned to an HD station. Features: It has an FM tuner only. There's no AM radio, but most mainstream AM radio stations (like all news or sports talk) simulcast on a secondary FM HD radio signal. Many AM stations are also starting to simulcast on traditional analog radio, so even if it's not offered in HD, you shouldn't feel like you have to go without. When tuned to most FM stations and nearly all HD stations, part of the display will provide subcarrier information, like the station's call letters, currently playing artist/song/program, etc. Radio also includes an aux jack for hooking up to a phone or MP3 player. Durability: It's not. It's just not. Yes, it's portable, but if you take it everywhere you go (i.e., you're a contractor who likes having a radio on at different jobs), it will scratch and scuff over time. Beyond cosmetic imperfections, it should still operate just fine. Overall, this is a great radio for people who live in an area with a good selection of FM radio stations that are transmitting HD signals, like to listen to music in the background and aren't looking for pure audiophile quality (but still want a good sounding radio, which this is), like listening to spoken word content and want a battery-backup device for emergencies or the occasional power outage. It's a great daily driver for background radio listeners, especially with the included adapter, and a good option for emergencies, too (just make sure you have a stockpile of AA batteries).

I got this radio to be able to tune into HD Radio stations in the area. It picks them up quickly, the antenna works well. The sound quality is more than I expected from a set at this price and this size, plenty to be able to take advantage of the higher quality digital stations. There are ports for an external antenna, headphones, and an AUX in. The power adapter is included, but can run on AA batteries. The radio is pretty straightforward to use, there is the normal tuning buttons, volume, and then HD Tuning so it will skip until it finds a digital station. I've found sometimes this will skip one, so you may need to try manual tuning before it will pick up digital. Memories are easy to save and use. If you are interested in HD Radio, get this! I tried a little handheld, but this is WAY better!

Good little radio, nice sound, substantive case. The only thing that is a problem is putting in the batteries. It takes 4 AA batteries, and the way the springs are set up in the battery slot makes it difficult to put the batteries in. The buttons to change the channel and volume are at the top of the radio and are small, so they can be hard to use for someone who has a problem like arthritis. The radio comes with the extra electrical power source connector, so you don't have to purchase it separately which helps save on the battery use. Overall, I think it's a good value and I'm happy with my purchase.

I always tell people, never buy a portable FM radio unless it’s an HD radio. If you live in a major market/city where every FM station has an HD Channel, but this radio. Many of their HD Channels rebroadcast their AM signals and/or present special programming, like 106.7 KROQ in LA has their ROQ of the 80’s format. KOST rebroadcasts KFI, and K.Earth 101 rebroadcasts KNX. When they originally released this particular radio, it was...ok. Insignia, a Best Buy brand, did a great job with upgrading this radio, fixing issues they had with their old one. For an example, when tuning into a save station on the presets, before you would have to start at the beginning every time. With the new and improved version of this radio, if you’re at a station that you’ve saved in preset #4, when can continue from to move forward to the next station or backward. Play with the radio, and you’ll love it.

Yes, it has a small speaker. In fact, the entire radio is a rather small, unimpressive-looking item. Big things come in small packages. If you've got a bluetooth-enabled speaker or speaker system and a bluetooth transmitter laying around along with a 3.5mm audio cable, you've got the makings of a very impressive sounding FM setup. At it's most basic premise, it's an FM radio that receives and translates HD signals. However, it can also take a local FM station that doesn't transmit an HD signal and boost it's regular signal to near- HD status. In fact, what it does for KMFA, a classical station here in Austin, is take it from a scratchy, static- laden sound to a crystal clear signal that actually makes me want to listen to classical radio, and that's saying something. I don't normally want to do that. If you want ultra-clear radio and don't want to have to rely on your phone app to listen to a local station, this is a very inexpensive and wonderful alternative. I would buy this again.

I am impressed with this radio and even more so with the price. Most hd radio receivers are a minimum of $100 so finding this model for $40 was obviously a no brainer. The reception is good. The audio quality is great. I like that it has an aux out port that I can connect to a larger stereo system. It has a long extendable antenna and a pigtail antenna that can be plugged into the port on the back if you want to go that route. I do wish that it could receive hd am stations but I imagine that would require more tech that just isn’t possible at this time while keeping the size and price where it’s at right now. Overall I think this is an excellent purchase if you are looking for a deal on an hd radio tuner.