Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver (Walnut)

Update: October 2016. I've been using the WR-22 for about 18 months, and I am still very satisfied with the radio. I have noticed that a lot of other reviews complain about the clock's accuracy. The problem is with FM stations and not with thw WR-22. The clock is actually quite accurate, however many RDS enabled FM stations do not transmit correct time, and can throw off the clock. There is such a radio station in my city. I used the WR-22 settings menu to change the clock to manual instead of RDS. After 12 months, the WR-22 was still within a minute of correct time.I purchased the Sangean WR-22WL with the walnut finsh wood cabinet. I thought the walnut would not show fingerprints and dust as much as piano black. In short, this is a very good table radio with nice rich sound. While it is only a single speaker, this radio puts out plenty of rich sound at very good volume levels. Though Sangean does not publish receiver sensitivity, qualitative testing of both the AM and FM bands shows that weak stations can be pulled in with minimal distortion.FM: no problems here. There is an internal FM antenna, and the antenna my also be switched to use an external input. A wire with appropriate connector is include in the box.RDS/RDSB: this is a function on the FM band, which is Radio Data Service. This allows the INFO button on the radio to select display of the station name, song title, call sign, program type and a sort text message. The WR-22WL also can synchronize its clock using the RDS, "CT," current time field. RDS seems to be a mixed bag, but that is not the fault of this radio. Broadcasters seem to lack consistency in their use of the RDS fields and some don't bother to have an accurate CT signal. There is one station in my city that throws off the WR-22WL's clock by five minutes every time I tune to the station, if I leave the setup menu setting to RDS CT instead of Manual. I prefer to leave the clock setting on Manual in order to avoid RDS from messing up the time.AM: the AM receiver is very good. There seems to be little or no interference from the radio's own CPU and selectivity is quite good. I checked inside, and there is a fairly large ferrite bar antenna that runs parallel to the side of the radio. The use of a bar antenna gives this radio better resistance to static and noise than radios that use just a wire hanging out the back. There are also terminals on the back to allow an external antenna and ground to be attached. The use on an internal bar antenna does make the reception at least somewhat directional, with the best results when the side of the radio faaces the transmitter. This could be an issue if you want to locate the radio with only the internal antenna, in a place where the radio does not face in the best direction. That is not a fault of this radio, as that would be true for any receiver with a ferrite bar antenna. At least here you may attach an external antenna if you want to.Bluetooth: the Bluetooth works very smoothly and reliably, and is uncomplicated to use. Some reviewers cited problems, but it sounds like they may not have thoroughly read the manual. Place the radio in Bluetooth mode, then tap the multifunction dial once to activate pairing, next use your device's menu to allow the device to pair. Once paired the WR-22WL and the device should pair automatically any time the device gets near the radio and both have Bluetooth turned on. The WR-22WL stores up to eight device pairings. I tested with my Android phone and 7th generation iPod Nano. Both paired quickly and the radio was able to properly control both.USB: I don't have any music files on a USB stick, so I could not test the feature. The requirements are pretty well spelled out in the manual. I did use the USB jack to charge my phone and it did a good job. There seems to be plenty of charging current avalable.AUX Input: I did not test this, but there is a typical 1/8 inch stereo jack on the back of the cabient .Fit and finish: I happen to like the styling of this radio. The design is uncluttered, but not plain to the point of being unattractive. The LCD display is very clear and can be dimmed enough to make use on a bedside tale acceptable. There is auto dimming via an ambient light sensor which seems to work OK for me. The front of the radio is plastic with nice solid feel to the buttons and dials. The radio has a pretty good heft because the cabinet is thick composition wood material. The outside appears to be a veneer of real wood. The finish is nice and smooth. The electronics inside are also very well done. The circuit is very clean and there are very few wires. The assembly is very tidy.Sound quality; the sound is reminiscent of a 1940s tube type radio. There is more bass then one might expect in a small radio, but I was able to easily set the sound to my taste by pressing in on the volume knob and setting the bass and treble the way I like. The speaker is small, but has family long travel, which allows full range output. The speaker has a surprisingly large magnet, which explains its good bass performsnce. The volume control appears to be calibrated so that even at full volume the sound is undistorted and stops short of risking blowing out the speaker. I don't recommend operating at full volume as a precaution.Alarm clock: there are two independent alarms that allow week days, weekends or daily triggers. The alarms may be set to allow radio or beeper and ramp up from soft to your preferred volume, which is independently settable. The alarm seems to work as expected. The WR-22WL does not have a battery backup, but can tolerate brief power interruptions. This could be an issue if you need to be awakened for work, for example. If you are using the alarm, it is probably best to also set time sync to Manual to prevent invalid RDS signals from messing up the time.Remote control: I did not test the remote because the radio is sitting right where I use the radio. All the basic necessary functions are on the remote, and I would expect it to work ewell.Summary: this is a very good radio that does not try to over achieve while doing its intended functions well. The price is much much more affordable than a fancy Bose or Yamaha table radio - as in about only one quarter the cost. Don't be tempted to over estimate your need for stereo or more speakers. In the setting this radio is intended to serve, a single good quality speaker will probably be comparable. I think you'll like this radio, but do give the instruction manual a quick read to be sure you know everything it does and how to adjust the settings.

If you're wondering how this radio compares to the Bose Wave Radio read on! Spoiler Alert: The Sangean WR-22WL is the clear winner in both sound and functionality and at roughly one-third the price!Last year I inherited a Bose Wave Radio. While it seemed well-built enough, there was something about its sound that very much irritated me. Even at low volume, I could not listen to the Bose for any length of time without experiencing a feeling of pressure around my ears and ultimately I would get a headache. Try as I might, I just couldn't get used to the Bose Wave Radio's sound.So I sold the Bose but decided it would be nice to have a good sounding table radio. After much research I decided to try one of the Sangean models and ultimately I ordered the WR-22WL. Based on many reviews, I had very high expectations for this model. I am pleased to say that this radio has met and/or exceeded even my highest expectations.My radio came superbly packed. Physical inspection showed no defects whatsoever and its operation has been flawless. I don't often use the word "craftsmanship" anymore but this is one well-crafted radio! I love its mirror black front finish. All the knobs, buttons, jacks, etc. fit snugly and work smoothly.The display is top notch! It features large white letters/numbers against a black background and the clock can easily be read across a large room and at most any angle. The FM RDS (Radio Data System) functionality not only shows you the station ID, song name, and artist, but it can set your clock's day/month/year settings too! Unlike some other reviewers, I've found that the automatic time setting feature (thru RDS) works flawlessly. It is every bit as accurate as the clock on my cell phone. I guess the radio stations in my area do a better job of ensuring the correct time is set on their broadcasts.My main reason for purchasing this radio was to have a great sounding unit and this radio delivers superb audio in spades! It has a very well balanced low end, mid-range, and upper end sparkle that sounds just right to me. I find the default settings (loudness on, base and treble both at +0) to be just right. But if you don't like the defaults, you can easily turn off the loudness compensation and/or make considerable adjustments to the bass and treble levels to suit your own tastes. The Bose Wave Radio, on the other hand, has absolutely no ability for you to alter its sound. Also, I can listen to my Sangean for hours on end and not experience the "listener fatigue" that I always experienced with the Bose Wave Radio.One feature I've really come to love with the Sangean, is Bluetooth. I have an iPad Air and can effortlessly stream any audio from it to my WR-22. I find the Bluetooth audio on this radio to be excellent and the convenience of Bluetooth has to be experienced to be appreciated. In fact, the majority of my listening on the WR-22 is now via Bluetooth from my iPad Air. Whether I'm listening to my own library of music, streaming Pandora, or whatever, the audio is excellent. With the Bose Wave Radio, there is no Bluetooth support.Some of you might be saying, well the Bose has two (stereo) speakers! True. But in my experience, unless you are directly in front the Bose Wave Radio and at distance of 4 feet or less, you are not going to hear the stereo separation. The WR-22 with its single 3 inch speaker can fill my entire house with beautiful music if I (choose to) turn it up loud enough.The WR-22 also can play MP3 and WAV files from a USB stick. I've not yet tried this feature but again this is a capability you won't find on a Bose Wave Radio. I have used the WR-22's auxiliary input and have tested the subwoofer and headphone outputs. All are excellent. (The Bose Wave Radio also offers a good selection of inputs/outputs for wired connections.)Both the Bose Wave Radio and Sangean WR-22 have excellent FM tuners and good (though not exceptional) AM tuners. I do find the quality of the WR-22's AM reception to vary greatly depending on where it is placed in my home and how it is orientated. Serious AM listeners will want to try out the external AM antenna connections provided on the WR-22. (No such AM antenna extension is available on the Bose.)Internal FM antennas and external FM antenna connections are both offered on the Bose Wave Radio and the Sangean WR-22. However, for best results, you need to disable the internal FM antenna when using an external one. This can easily be done on the Sangean unit via a switch on the back panel. The Bose does not offer this capability.Both the Bose and Sangean radios offer dual alarm-clock capability. I won't be using my Sangean radio for an alarm clock so I've not yet tested that feature. But I'll update my review if/when I do try out the alarm(s).I found both the Sangean and Bose remotes to work equally well. The Sangean radio itself is more compact than the Bose mainly due to its single speaker versus two for the Bose Wave Radio.All in all I'm glad I sold the Bose and bought the Sangean instead. I find the WR-22 to be much nicer to listen to, more convenient to use, and its available at a much lower cost than a Bose.

Overall, this is a very stout radio. It's pretty heavy for its size, and I have no doubt it will last a lifetime. That said, I'm not as blown away as I thought I would be. It's not bad, though. I bought it to play some background music, talk radio, podcasts, and audio books. Volume control goes up to 30 and the sound does clip a little at that volume (I wouldn't normally have it that loud anyway). My biggest issue though is that I wish I had gotten the woodgrain version instead of black. This radio has a very glossy piano black finish that will be a dust magnet for sure. I can remedy this by wrapping it with some adhesive vinyl. The presets are nice, and it gets very good reception, especially if you use the included external FM antenna. I've included photos, one showing the high gloss surface next to a small lamp.