Roberts Revival Petite

A wireless wireless

DIGITAL RADIO/BLUETOOTH SPEAKER ❘ £99 from Amazon www.snipca.com/40150

Radio addicts probably don’t always want to open up their smartphone and stream to a nearby speaker every time they want to tune into their favourite station. However, having a radio that can connect to Bluetooth and stream internet stations and music services like Spotify is very handy.

The small, stylish Roberts Revival Petite covers all those bases. It’s battery rather than mains powered, so easy to move around the house. It recharges via a microusb port and runs for about 12 hours. It’s about the width and height of a smartphone but much deeper and feels heavy for its size.

The retro styling is lovely, looking like a miniature radio from yesteryear. Its mottled vinyl casing comes in a range of colours, while the small OLED screen brings it bang up to date.

We were also impressed with the quality of the audio, particularly given its size, with an impressive amount of bass. Our biggest complaint is that it doesn’t go particularly loud, so it isn’t ideal for playing music at a garden party, say, but for personal listening in the house it’s very good.

Controlling the DAB radio is easy with the dial on the front of the device used to switch between channels. It also works well as a Bluetooth speaker – simply select Bluetooth from the sources menu and start streaming from your phone or tablet. It can remember up to eight devices so you shouldn’t have to keep setting the connection up when someone else wants to use it.

SPECIFICATIONS

FM, DAB, DAB+ wavebands • Auxiliary input • USB 2.0 Micro B charging port • Bluetooth • 73x76x124mm (HXDXW) • 430g • Two-year warranty www.snipca.com/40150

VERDICT A small attractive speaker, which can play DAB or FM radio, or anything else you can stream from a connected smartphone

★★★★ ★

ALTERNATIVE

Pure Elan Connect+ £77 This portable radio can play internet radio stations without connecting to a smartphone