Ocean Digital WR-23F Portable FM Internet Radio 2.4” Color LCD Built-in Battery Wi-Fi Bluetooth (Black)

I have a smartphone with the TuneIn app, I have had for years. I have a smart speaker, have had for years. Despite that, I wish I had bought an internet radio years ago!I guess that, as an internet radio itself, I’d rate this 4 stars but the concept of an internet radio 5 stars. I haven’t tested the UPnP support, but I’ve tested the Bluetooth, Internet Radio, and FM radio system. As an FM radio, its reception isn’t as good as some of my other FM radios, but it’s still great that it includes FM. The sound quality isn’t great (of course, it’s mono only), but the quality of most internet streams isn’t that great, either. I also wish it had more direct presets, maybe 5. And the navigation controls are a little squishy. On the plus side, the price makes this an excellent radio to evaluate if an Internet radio is right for you. Additionally, the small size, while impacting the sound quality, increases the portability, which means I’m more likely to use it. The sleep timer feature has also been brilliant. Also brilliant is the fact that the screen dimmer feature will go down to 0%, great when listening at bedtime.Now for a review of the concept of an Internet radio itself. I’ve got the TuneIn app on my phone, so I’m no stranger to internet radio. I’ve been wanting to reduce screen time, and a significant amount of screen time for me is watching YouTube videos for background audio. The TuneIn app is still an app on my phone, and to change a station requires opening my phone with all the distractions that entails. And, while the TuneIn app probably has a sleep timer function, I charge my phone outside of my bedroom so I’m not distracted to open it first thing (or into late night browsing). And, unlike a smart speaker, it’s much easier to navigate and find a stream to play. I’ve had a blast on a technical level, going into the web inspector for a stream’s website to find the stream URL, configuring all the bits on the radio. And having a dedicated device for internet radio has made it easier to listen to streams. As a result, I’ve now got a radio that can tune in local stuff, stuff that’s internet only, stuff that’s local to places far away. I’ve got spoken word streams saved, music (including genres I’d never hear around here), combinations. While I’ve always been able to pull up an app and hear these streams, it just feels better and more accessible in the form factor of a portable radio. If you think you might like Internet Radio, this is the radio to get if you want the smallest, simplest one. If you want more presets or better sound quality, maybe a higher end model is the way to go. But I’m convinced that Internet Radio is one of those concepts where having a dedicated device makes a lot of sense.

I was looking for a travel internet radio and this fills a nice niche for me. It's lightweight but has a strong, well-made case. The case doesn't give when you press on it and the buttons are secure so I won't worry about it being damaged in packed luggage.Once you've connected it to 2G wifi, it boots up very quickly to play your favourite station within just a few seconds. I like that there are 3 dedicated favourite station buttons on top and a dedicated sleep timer button in front. This makes it very easy to manipulate in the dark. The input wheel is a bit stiff and small for big stubby hands unless you use your fingernails, but I got used to it. The display is easy to read which is a big plus for such a small radio.One of the best things about the radio is that you can manually add stations using your computer's browser. This is a great feature to have because if Skytunes ever goes down, it won't brick your radio. The favourites webpage even allows you to format/alias your favourite stations' names and sort them as you wish. I've read that it can take up to 150 favourites, but I stopped at around 75.The sound quality is about what you expect for a radio of its size. It's not going to fill a large room nor will it make audiophiles happy, but it's fine for a nightstand or desk. You can connect headphones or a speaker to the headphone jack for better quality sound. I find that the Pop EQ preset gives a nice balanced sound but you can try the other presets or set up your own EQ to work for you. It's also very easy to pair your radio to your phone/iPad and use it as a Bluetooth speaker, but you're not going to be able to connect Bluetooth headphones to it. The Bluetooth only goes one way.Some have complained that the radio's Wifi receiver isn't as sensitive as it could be, but I travel with a small portable router so that has never been an issue for me. However, I would highly recommend going into the radio's Configuration menu and setting the Buffer Time to 5 seconds to reduce drop outs. They should have defaulted the radio to that setting in the first place.I have received about 9-10 hours of battery life per charge cycle. Going into Configuration and setting the display to Dim and then setting the Dim setting to 0% greatly improves battery life. You can wake up the display by pressing any button or turning the volume wheel.The FM reception is a bit of a disappointment. I live in Brooklyn, NY so ordinarily have an easy time finding FM stations, but even after going into the Configuration menu and setting the FM area to Americas, after using the radio's scanner, most of what was picked was static.Another quibble for me is that with e-waste in mind, I wish the battery was replaceable. So far, I haven't seen anything that leads me to think the battery will wear out quickly but it would be better if this radio took rechargeable AAA, AA or 9V batteries. I would rather recycle batteries than a whole radio.I also wish this radio had a stand on the back so it can be laid back at an angle on a table for extra stability. The protruding antenna somewhat allows for this but the angle isn't ideal. My workaround was to buy a cellphone kickstand that I superglued to the radio, but it would be nice if it was included.But for US$65, it more than meets its brief. Now that international shortwave broadcasting has faded away, my small portable shortwave radio hasn't gotten much use when I go on the road. I've long wished for a dedicated small portable internet radio to take its place. Sure, you can use your phone with a Bluetooth speaker to stream internet radio, but then it's more difficult to use your phone for other functions and often you don't want to drain your phone's battery by streaming radio.I give it 4 stars and recommend it if you're in the market.

This is one of the better internet radios. Of coz some have complained of battery life but that's not an issue. You can charge on the go with a power bank and so that even enhances portability. So all in all, it's a very good product. Using a smartphone to access the skytunes website somewhat makes it feel like the radio has a remote control so there's no need to fiddle with the buttons on the radio itself.If there's one improvement it would be that the radio comes with a numeric keypad. This makes searching or storing for presets a breeze. Merely key in the preset number to store or access the stored station makes life simpler as opposed to having to click the up/down arrows continuously to find a stored station. That said, using the smartphone way mentioned helps so it's still 5 stars for me.