Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player
by Sangean
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List Price: Our Price: $224.36 You Save: $74.64 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $191.73 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player
Customer Review: Works like a charm!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a well-built product from Sangean and it has surpassed my expectations so far. I was looking for something that can play continuous music like Smooth Jazz or Classical without having to pay for Sirius or XM charges each month. Sure I could play all the Internet stations on my laptop, but its not the same as listening to them on a stand-alone device. Another option was buying an HD radio, but you are still limited to 10-15 HD radio stations in the area.
Pros:
1) It performs its function as a Wifi radio very well. It updates the radio station list from reciva.com everytime it is rebooted (remove power and plug it back in). The buffering time for most radio stations is between 5-10 seconds and it seldom has problems with bandwidth (I have comcast internet with Wireless-G router)
2) Sound quality is very good. I am not sure how it compares to a Bose Wave radio, but it certainly compares will with my Panasonic audio system. I listen to everything from Classical to Techno and this radio has been delivering clear, crisp sound in every situation. Its very clear till about 75% max volume and at that volume it is loud enough to have a house party.
3) Podcasts are easy to setup via the reciva website. I have NPR 7 am news, and WSJ audio feeds setup and it works really well.
4) Overall menu and interface is good. Its not too hard to navigate, but having only one knob can make it a bit cumbersome.
5) As a media player over uPnP, this radio rocks. For those who are not familiar with uPnP servers, this radio can play streaming audio from your home computer on the same network. So, you just go to windows media player and set it up to share media and then you can play all the MP3's and WMA's on your home computer from the Sangean radio. You can search for songs by album, artist, genre etc and setup a queue/playlist of songs and they sound great!
Cons:
1) The remote is good, but sometimes you have to press the buttons pretty hard. I have noticed that about 1 in 5 times I have to press the buttons twice to get the response. It is annoying, but not really a big deal.
2) The menu system on the radio needs a bit of improvement. It works and does all the intended functions, but some of the features take way too may steps.
Overall I 'highly recommended' this product
Customer Review: All the negative things are true, but I still love this radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Sangean WFR-20 for about a year now. I've never written a review here, but I really love this radio and wanted to throw my thoughts in.
I read all the reviews a year ago, I haven't gone back to reread them tonight, but I pretty much agree with all the negative things written. It took my a while to set up, and after I got the wifi working it took me a long time to realize my modem didn't support playing computer files on other devices. I've since upgraded my modem, but that isn't what I bought the radio for anyway.
The radio also is pretty cumbersome to seek out interesting stations. It is easier to find them on my computer, then program them into the radio. But when I bought this, I already had several favorite stations anyway.
My thing is Australian top forty radio. I used to stay up late sitting in front of my computer listening to Nova or Triple J, until it got too late, then I would go to bed. That is what is wonderful about this radio. I can go to sleep and also wake up listening to internet stations. The sound is good,the best of many clock radios I own. Between this and my computer, I can listen from most of my apartment, and almost believe that I am living in Adelaide.
My biggest complaint isn't with the radio itself, but with the internet feeds. My favorite station sometimes loses the internet stream and doesn't correct it for a long time (although they are getting better, and my other stations don't have this problem). If someone comes out with a similar product which incorporates a flash player (like my iphone does), it would solve this problem. I would probably buy it, but I would certainly hold onto my Sangean. When it works (which is most of the time) it works really well and I love it.
Another thing - last year I stayed in a motel in Florida with a wifi connection and the radio worked very well there. It saved my setting, and I had it working in about five minutes.
So....not many technical details here, and I can't compare it to similar devices. I just want to let everyone to know I am very happy with this product.
Customer Review: What a blast! One great piece of technology.
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently my wife bought me a Sangean WRF-20 for my 7th AA birthday. I had been eying these machines for many months but would not spring the money. I am 43 years old and a short wave listener from childhood. I am also an Extra class ham radio operator, KC0LFW. For a living, I am an 'Electronics and Instrumentation Technician' at a large chemical plant.
This radio is fantastic! It is like short wave radio on steroids. After I powered it up the unit found my home network. I had to manually go to my wireless router and enter the radios MAC address. After another scan I was listening to the one factory default station, BBC.
Next I dialed up KIWI FM from New Zealand and set it as Preset #1. This is without looking at the book. I had a problem registering the radio at the Reciva site. After they emailed me back I corrected the problem. My mistake. The register and serial numbers are in hexidecimal. This means you only use numbers 0 through 9 and the letters A through F. What I thought was the letter "g" was actually the number "9". So write them down carefully.
The sound is comparable to a Bose Wave. Very good frequency response. I can feel the base with the volume set low. Ease of use is a 10. If I can fugure out how to use it without opening the manual, it must be easy. The remote works well as does the single button/ knob. I worried about this when debating buying the radio but I actually like it. It is very natural and has a positve, well-made feel. The display brightens up when you use change settings of any kind and then fades to dim after a few seconds.
Who would I buy one of these for? ANYONE! There is so much to listen to it is hard to know where to begin. A person can find any type of radio station located any where on the planet- and it is there. I would give the unit 10 stars if Amazon had them.
David Walkup
Customer Review: You Will Become Addicted
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased my WFR20 11 months ago. I loved it from the start. It's a solid feeling, well constructed device that has some heft to it. I did not purchase for the sound quality but was pleasantly surprised that it sounded so rich for such a small box. The Reciva website makes it fairly easy to search for and add stations which you can then access directly on the radio. I mainly use it to listen to talk radio from around the world. It also works well streaming mp3 files from a PC. Works well with .m3u playlists (create your own party mix!).
At first I didn't like the single knob but now think it is quite ingenious. My 76yr old Mother operates the radio without any problems; there was a learning curve but she likes her British talk station LBC, London so much she got the hang of it pretty quick. Speaking of my Mom, she liked my radio so much I ordered her one of her own so she can listen to it in bed at night (great way to drift off).
You can listen to just about any talk show host even those not in your local market...ie, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, etc... In addition, there are plenty of commercial free music stations available also (they take a bit of finding but they are out there).
The WFR20 is the 'close cousin' USA version of the Roberts WM201. Roberts supports the WM201 in the UK while Sangean the WFR20 here in the USA. Speaking of which, Sangean just released a firware update to add some new features (ie, signal strength meter). If you search for 'Sangean' on the Reciva community forums you can get more details into the firmware upgrade(s).
I hope internet radio catches on here in the USA. I feel it is sort of a hidden treasure only I know about. My radio gets constant daily use of at least 4 hours a day.
If you're on the fence and love radio or want an expanded view of the world get this radio.
Customer Review: Superb Radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I set up this radio a few days ago. Setup and operation are reasonably intuitive. One minor criticism would involve the flimsiness of the remote control (very typical of many current products) and the use of a single know on the radio to operate the whole thing.
This radio enables you to access thousands of radio stations and sound streams located all around the world. I use if for favorite French and Spanish stations, as well as local stations that typically are received poorly. All come in with flawless digital fidelity, although sound levels will vary and volume adjustments have to be made.
Although it is possible to dowload lists of stations and manually sift though them on the radio, I would recommend using the Reciva web site to search for stations and then upload these choices directly to your radio. (I did crash the radio at first while trying to download a list of over 3000 stations originating in the US.) The Reciva site makes this rather easy to do, although the site could benefit from some redesign. Thanks to Reciva suggestions, I have discovered several great stations.
Radio fidelity is good given the small speakers, but I use the line output fed directly into a sound system. The line output does not mute the radio, so it is necessary to turn the volume down. Sound quality through the sound system is great.
Altogether, the radio is well designed and the menu system becomes easily understood after a few tries. I use a wifi connection, but the radio can also be connected directly to a router through an ethernet cable.
If you are a radio fan (as I am), this is the one to own.