Bush BR20DAB digital radio

The Bush BR20DAB is the latest in a line of great digital radios to be released in the lead-up to Christmas.

This digital radio is curvy, black and sexy. The whole front panel is a mesh-covered speaker, leaving the top panel for the touch button navigation controls. It has a glossy black finish as well as a chrome handle on the top.

Overall the sound quality is good; the treble and mid tones are even and there is a bass boost system to give the low frequencies more kick. When the volume is turned up, there is hardly any distortion at all in the 1.5W RMS speakers. However the bass boost (if turned on while the volume is turned up) can muffle the sound slightly.

Priced at $179, the BR20DAB is cheaper than other digital radios on the market, and we believe that you get a lot more for your money than you do with similarly priced radios like the Philips AE5320. You can plug in an MP3 player through the auxiliary input port on the side, allowing you to use the radio as a speaker. The BR20DAB picks up both DAB+ and FM frequencies and you can also store up to 20 station presets. It should also be noted that even with the antenna down the radio has excellent reception.

The touch panel controls are responsive and it is easy to navigate using the two-line LCD display, which is bright and easy to read. The top panel of the radio is illuminated with electric blue LEDs allowing the user to easily see which buttons do what.

The Bush BR20DAB is easy to take with you; although it requires six C batteries, it still remains relatively light and the build quality is sturdy enough for you to take it to a picnic without worrying too much about it breaking. The Bush BR20DAB automatically updates the time via the digital radio service, sweetening the deal — no more fiddling around trying to reset things when daylight savings comes round! Unfortunately there’s no alarm clock, which we found a tad annoying. Ultimately we were impressed both by the attractive design and the performance of this digital radio.

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