Roberts Revival RD70
Great DAB radio, so-so Bluetooth speaker.
If there is an iconic design in the world of DAB radios, it’s Roberts’ Revival. Styled as a 1950s ‘wireless’ in the old sense of the word, the RD70 now tackles the modern meaning of that phrase to add Bluetooth streaming from smartphones.
Do you remember what radios were like in the 1950s? Nope. Nor us. In fact, you could argue the vintage styling is a tad overdone, and the RD70 more museum piece than truly retro – but either way there are few more design-led DAB radios out there, save for the Ruark R1 Mk4.
It’s mostly aimed at kitchen sides, window sills, bathrooms and bedside tables. The latter is obvious from its provision of a sleep timer (for up to 90 minutes), two alarms and a snooze function (you just hit the right-hand knob), though we think its bulky size is a little too much for the average bedside table.
There is another reason to keep it away from the bedroom; its 36 x 48mm colour LCD display is ranged on the top of the device so it makes for a less than perfect clock radio.
The RD70 has a telescopic aerial extending to a maximum of 60cm, but it only feeds upwards. While that adds a little stability (sideranging aerials tend to droop after a while), it’s not great news for anyone wanting to put the product on a kitchen surface underneath cupboards. That goes doubly so because in our tests the aerial was mostly required to get a stable signal.
We managed to tune-in myriad DAB radio stations using the auto-tune function and found the combination of clicks and turns of the left-hand knob fairly intuitive. We were then able to set specific stations as presets and easily navigate between stations, though the RD70 lacks dedicated preset buttons that take you straight to a specific radio station.
FM and DAB broadcasts sound excellent on the RD70, but it won’t be for everyone. A result of its wooden cabinet housing a mid-size driver, the sound quality is warm, detailed and has plenty of bass, but isn’t designed for high volumes.
As its styling suggests, you’ll hear warm, round tones perfect for voice, and for music radio, too. However, it will be a little bassy for some; in our test a DJs with a low voice did sound rather boomy.
You can dive into the RD70’s EQ settings if it’s too much; here you’ll find classic / jazz / pop / rock / news sound presets (though none are standout) alongside basic tweaks to treble and bass.
We found that for DAB radio – music and voice – the bass needs to be at -4. For Bluetooth streaming we settled on -2 for bass and +3 for treble, though the major issue we had with this mode was volume.
Buy the RD70 if you want a great sounding, 1950s-styled ‘wireless’ for your kitchen. It also works as a portable Bluetooth speaker, though only on AA batteries when away from the mains.
Jamie Carter