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

Radio arrived in good condition, and was easy to open the box. I have had zero problems with it in the 24 hours I've owned it. Display has three brightness settings, and Setting 1 is great for the bedroom at night. Display will brighten to "max" for a few seconds if a button is pushed however, then return to current setting. Haven't used alarm yet, but apparently it "fades in" (music or buzzer) rather than blasting at full volume right off the bat. A good feature. Sleep function works just fine and I did test that out. Sound quality is just fine, and the treble and bass have adjustments in addition to the radio having a "loudness" setting (either on or off) which, when on, increased both the treble and bass. AM and FM (especially AM) reception are pretty darn good, and beat out a Sony ICF-38 portable radio I have sitting right next to it (though the Sony is not a bad radio either.) Sound quality is much better than the Sony though of course the Sony was never intended to be a "room filling" radio. I have not had the need to plug in the wire antenna that came with the radio, though if your FM reception is lacking it might help with that. Also has option to attach external antenna if purchased. Bluetooth works really well so far, and sound quality is as good as the radio. Plenty of volume while using Bluetooth. Other reviews have stated that the Bluetooth "cuts out" when they walk in between their source and the radio. I have not noticed this but have both iPhone and radio on same table so am not blocking the signal in any way. Radio seems solid, and looks real nice on my desk (I bought the black one.) Fingerprints show up easily, but it's easy enough to just touch the buttons most of the time rather than the body of the radio so it's easy to keep it "clean" looking. The owners manual states that the clock can be set "manually" or by using the broadcast of certain radio stations. Some reviewers have said the time "varies" quite a bit. I think that's because they didn't set the time manually and instead are relying on radio stations to tell the radio what time it is. For what it's worth I also set the time using the radio broadcasts and so far the radio is still right in sync with the time on my iPhone...and I've changed stations plenty of times in 24 hours and had the radio on and off several times. When the unit is off, the display is still lit (at your chosen setting) and will display the time and date. A nice feature, and easy-to-read from across the room if you have the brightness set on either 2 or 3. I have had no issues with the tuning or volume knobs making changes "slowly" as some other reviewers have noted. Seems to be very precise and incremental. This is a neat radio in my opinion, and a decent substitute (and smaller...a good thing) than the Bose Wave Radio that costs about twice as much. Clock Tip: I have read other reviews complaining that the clock loses/gains time constantly. I initially had that problem as well and called Sangean about it. They answered right away and gave me the following solution, which works! 1. With the power (radio) off, press and hold the menu/info button until it beeps. Then release. 2. Rotate the tuning knob until RDS-CT shows (if "Manual" is shows instead then don't press to change to RDS-CT). 3. Press and release the tuning knob. 4. Rotate the tuning knob until it says "Manual" 5. Press and release the tuning knob. 6. Rotate the tuning knob until it says "Time Set" and proceed to set the time as instructed in the manual. The Sangean guy said that the reason the time was not correct is that many of the radio stations broadcasting the RDS-Ct auto-time are broadcasting the incorrect time. Setting the time using the "Manual" setting as above will override this.

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.

I like this radio, but it has some flaws (or, if your prefer, quirks). For reference, I've been working with it for about a month now. First, there is a bug ("feature?") in the firmware for USB playback. If a USB flash drive has only a single file, it will never play - the 'reading' indicator just stays illuminated. Two files and more work fine. I actually returned the first unit I received because I believed that the USB playback was defective. (I tried to contact Sangean support and customer service but received a resounding silence). By the way, I was able to successfully use both USB 2 and USB 3 drives from 4 to 32 GB capacity. I have, but did not try, a 64GB USB 3 drive. The styling of the unit is nice - its size fits well on a bedside table and its fit and finish are attractive. It has a nice weight (~5.75 lbs) so that it isn't easy to accidentally push it around. Operation is not difficult, but does require a reading of the manual, since some operations are performed by multipurpose uses of the controls (I disagree with their choice of using the on/off button to also set the sleep time). I'm sure I'll have to refer to the users guide for functions I rarely use. (You can download the users guide from Sangean.) Display brightness is interesting. In the settings, there are "Dimmer off", "1", 2". and "3". Selecting "off" causes the display to go completely dark (after the 10-second delay). "1", "2", and "3" are successively brighter. For my own tastes, "1" isn't quite bright enough for daytime and "2" is too bright for night. I bought an inexpensive set of filters and found one that works fairly well in making the "2" setting work for day and night. EDIT: I previously said that the "dimmer sensor" appeared to do nothing, but that is incorrect. It DOES react to room illumination by increasing display brightness relative to the 'dim' setting. The "loudness" preset was not much to my liking, so I chose to disable it and use the treble and bass settings separately. That done, the sound quality is very nice. I've never had the need to go above about '15' on the volume scale. There are numerous other options one can select with the unit - for example display options for RDS-enabled FM stations, various repeat options for playback from USB, and the whole Bluetooth arena. I don't use these, so can't speak for their functionality. Would I recommend this? A qualified yes - given the items mentioned above. For my use, they are not critical (the brightness issue being the most annoying).

With our entertainment center relegated to the basement, we needed something for the living/dining room to play the morning news on the radio and the occasional background music for entertaining (light entertaining -- we're too old and baby-having to throw a big, loud shindig). I've had a Sangean atomic clock radio in the bedroom for a couple years and am very happy with its tuning performance, so I wanted to see what Sangean had in the way of music systems. I was momentarily sidetracked by the Tivoli Model One, which sure is pretty, but some radio geeks on a blog swore up and down that the Tivoli doesn't tune as well nor sound as good as the Sangean (WR-2, essentially the same as the WR-22 minus bluetooth), and I can't stand fighting with an analog tuner to find a station. Plus you have to pay a LOT more to get the Bluetooth Tivoli. So then I considered the Sangean WR-12BT, which offers a very simple, retro, analog tuner appearance somewhat like the Tivoli (I was worried my wife wouldn't like all the blinky button-y LED-y digitality of the WR-22 out on display on the bar), plus stereo sound and Bluetooth, although some people complained about the sound quality. I ended up ordering both and giving them a listen at home. It really comes down to style and your desire for digital features. Both radios sounded very good in a medium living room. The WR-12BT does seem a bit bass-heavy and muddled at first, but turning the bass knob down and treble knob up a bit did the trick. While the WR-12BT's woofer provides pretty good bass, it's better at the low-lows than the low-mids, so songs with funky bass lines sounded kinda thin. The single 3" speaker of the WR-22, on the other hand, provided excellent bass licks in the low-mid range (even after I turned the Loudness setting to Off, b/c frankly it was a bit thick), even though it couldn't reach the same low-lows as the -12BT (y'know, for your techno and hip hop). Switching quickly back and forth between the two on the same stations, the -12BT actually (and strangely) sounded a bit "smaller" than the -22 at comparable volumes, probably because of the better mid-range fidelity of the -22. The stereo sound of the -12BT is nice, but the mono -22 sounds great enough on its own that you don't really miss the stereo, at least not for a casual background radio. I think the -12BT is a good bit louder at max than the -22, but the -22 fills the room amply and I don't think I'll ever be cranking it to max anyway (like I said, we're beyond that). And unless you're a serious audiophile that is looking for your primary music system and are ready to shell out several hundred bucks for some other fancy system, both the -12BT (with tweaking) and the -22 sound great on their own; if you weren't listening to them side-by-side to figure out that one sounds better for jazz/classical or the other sounds better for rock, you would never know what you're missing, you'd just think you got a pretty good shelf system for a very good price. So if you want the handy features of digital tuning, 5 memory presets, a clock (that handily sets itself once you tune to a station broadcasting RDS), and a remote control, go with the WR-22. If you want something that will look cool at your Mad Men party and you don't mind manual tuning with no presets, get the WR-12BT.

The Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver (Dark Walnut) came packaged really well. Included was the power cord, a remote, FM wire antenna, And a Manual in book form. As I opened the box the radio sat in a thick two piece egg carton type support packing inside the box with one on top of the Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver (Dark Walnut) and one on the bottom. I do not see this with most electronics. ( most are Styrofoam fitted on the ends like they do now days ). All of this is quality packaging. and a small silica gel pack in the foam wrapping around the radio- (A REAL NICE TOUCH ) I like to say that they care about what they sell. And it shows as they build quality as it is flawless. And fitted together nice and finish is perfect by design. ( HIGH QUALITY MADE ) And the dark walnut seems to be a laminate done over a thicker peace of wood. ( WOOD CABINET NICE ). It's not a cheap imitation, and is well done. With a little polish on it with a good furniture polish and it will by some say it get richer, But it really looks very good out of the box as is. As I did a lot of research before buying this radio. read a lot of reading numerous reviews on radios before buying the Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver. ( THERE IS QUALITY PUT IN THE RADIO HERE ) I use the AUX input about some of the time or connect My Androids to it over Bluetooth the half of the time. On the plus side, it does everything I need, and the sound quality is good. One down side is the menu system, which is somewhat complicated for some -- You can always have to refer to the instructions to set the clock and other basic tasks. Also, the Bluetooth connectivity is very picky. When You switch to Bluetooth, it immediately connects to its preferred device, which makes it annoying to use in a house with multiple people ( if that's what you have ) or more then one Android device You have. ( Realistically, you can't get it to connect to the device you want unless all other devices turns off Bluetooth on other Bluetooth devices first as only one device at a time can connect to the Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver. ) I have always enjoyed listening to talk radio sometimes at night in bed. Fortunately I have a good local late night AM talk station and with the Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver I can still access it. I also know there's so much more out there via the Internet through live streaming and podcasts. I do live streaming and podcasts with the AUX input or the Bluetooth connectivity of the Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver and the sound is very good. Also do enjoy music in MP3's, Audio-books, and podcast on a USB flash drives in the USB port in the front of the radio too. I am fortunate enough that the some FM stations I listen to regularly send out accurate RBDS information with an advanced AM/FM-RBDS tuner displays useful information like song titles and artists And sometimes some station put out information notices, And the clock keeps the right time without ever having to adjust it. ( VERY NICE ). As some stations are in HD Radio Stations Format in the Twin Cities Area. The Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver radio is not a true HD radio it is a Analog Radio with Digital Tuning for the Receiver on the radio with RBDS. I am still trying it out but for most of all works really good as the sound is good and the radio works good - NOTE : I AM STILL TESTING THE Sangean WR-22WL AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver (Dark Walnut) OUT, AND SO FAR IT'S A WINNER. I HAVE BEEN USING RADIOS ALL MY LIFE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

I bought this to replace a 20-ish year old Boston Acoustics Receptor ratio that finally died. I did not want to buy anything made by an inferior company, and I’ve never heard of Sangean, really. So I read reviews, and took a chance. And I’m glad I did - it’s a really nice radio! Adjustable tone is important, and it has that. And it has a proper AUX connection, which I must have, because I use it in place of a sound bar for a tv in that room. I’m impressed that some stations that are difficult to receive are clear, and it holds the signals without them turning to static shortly after. I’ll probably buy this again, as my old Boston Acoustics slowly malfunction (I have a number of them - have loved them, but all good things come to an end!)

OK - I'll try not to repeat too much of what others have said. It's a great little "stereo" radio... does the two main functions quite well for a mini-radio/alarm clock; it receives signal well and reproduces it well. However... i notice that when you plug in earbuds.. you get stereo. That means it is a stereo radio receiver.. but with only a monotone speaker. I'm not sure about my manufacturing skills, but why would you have stereo on-board and not amp it out to two speakers? I know they make a stereo speakered model, but at 140+ bucks... this thing should do quad! BTW.. I've discovered I'm am a STEREO addict. Mono sound, as good as the WR22 is, just didn't cut it. So i bought a $35 'computer speaker / woofer' combo, plugged in the back of the WR22 and presto - I gots me stereo. Tuner: works well, displays station/song info in too-short display. Not that important to me. HOWEVER, and this is a major mistake they've made on this model.. only 5 assignable preset buttons! They could have VERY easily offered 2x5 or higher by programming the radio to perceive the first press of a button to be the first 'bank', the second press the next, and so on.... yeah, just like car and home radios do it. Only 5 buttons SUCKS more than i would have guessed. The USB port works well, even if the tune/folder selection process kind of sucks. If you're like me (and i know that i am) you've got a bunch of USB drives laying around.. so i recommend you put ONLY tunes you want to hear on the USB drive and just listen to them all in the order they're copied onto the drive. The port is on the front of the unit, sticks out in a way i don't like... don't know where it should go, i just don't care for where it is. The biggest surprise was the BlueTooth function. I have a Kindle Fire..and one night I remembered i have netflix app on it. I got in bed, fired up a movie and found the sound lacking from the Fire.. good enough for music, sucks for movies. I then remembered the WR22 having BlueTooth. Paired them up quickly and tada!!!!!! Sound is GREAT!!~ The alarm function is normal, with one bonus - you can have it 'fade' up in volume as it comes on at alarm times.. i hate getting BLASTED out of bed, so I liked this function right off the bat. Has every-day and no-weekends settings in case you hate getting woke up on Sat/Sun mornings. Bottom line; great mono sound, ok functions, great bluetooth/usb usage, looks sexy on my headboard. Downside: odd controls, a bit high in price, needs to be a stereo unit at this price and it COULD BE!!!

Since I already have a Sangean table radio (WR-11), I wanted a bedside radio that had pre-set tuning, because I sometimes switch channels depending on what I am listening. The WR-11 has very bright lights and has manual tuning (which is very sensitive and good), but not good for a nightime radio or a alarm clock. So since the price on these radios goes up and down on Amazon, I caught this radio at a good price. And this radio does not disappoint! Coming from a old Boston Acoustics Recepter radio, this radio is very comparable on many points: First, the wood casing makes the radio look and feel like a well built, quality radio. I bought the dark walnut version. It is built like my WR-11 - solid and strong. I use an external loop AM antenna, and used the supplied wired FM antenna. The reception is very good on both bands. Much better than my old Recepter. Sangean's radios have very good sensitivity in their tuners, and I can pick up every AM and FM station in my area. This is just as good as the manually tuned WR-11. Another plus is that it picks up the stations with RDS, so you know what station and song (it scrolls across the screen) you are listening to. I haven't tried the headphone jack, but you will get an indicator on the screen that the station is playing in stereo, and you can hear it in both ears with headphones. Second, It has dimming lights you can turn down for nightime, and it has 5 presets per AM and FM. You can go from AM to FM by hitting the source button. (The only thing that is missing is switching bands without going thru all aux and Bluetooth (which is very good and easily pairs) modes. But that is not a problem for me. The sound is great and this particular Sangean radio, the volume turns up and down in increments with every turn of the knob that you can see on the screen. It comes with a mini remote, and it works decently, especially from the other side of the bed. Third, It has a clock which keeps accurate time. (it was hard to set though....) I don't use the alarm, because I have a dedicated alarm clock. (this radio is about 5 seconds slower than my clock and my phone. And my atomic clock. Haven't lost any minutes yet. I can understand that once the power goes out or mistakenly unplug it, you will have to reset everything all over again. My old Recepter had batteries (3AAA batteries) that kept the settings backed up, but the flaw in that was that since the radio will get hot during it's use, the batteries will either get too hot to even use. And the batteries will be useless over time. This Sangean doesn't get hot, since it is wood instead of all plastic. So I can live with the occasional reset of settings. IMHO, this is not a traditional alarm clock radio. I will get into that in my dislikes. I have a few quibbles with this radio though. First: The controls are on the front with very small buttons. Not intuitive for a alarm clock, especially when you are either half sleep or not wearing glasses. Most alarm clock radios have top controls with a large "snooze" button. So I can't use it as such. This is more of a "premium" radio, and it serves my purpose as listening to music or a game to put myself to sleep. Second: The bluetooth light is very bright and can't be dimmed, like the other lights. Not good, when you are listening to either SiriusXM, or the TuneIn Pro app from your other device. You have to either cover the light, or sleep with a mask (which I do). Not a major knock though. Third: The instructions are garbage. I had to figure out how to set the clock, and the pre-sets. The instructions are not very clear and easy to understand. Just use common sense and trial and error to figure it out. Otherwise, it is worth the purchase, and I am very pleased. I'm liking Sangean radios very much. Now I have two great radios, which will last me a long time.