TECSUN R-9012 AM FM SW 12 Bands Shortwave Radio Portable Receiver Gray

It came via USPS in a bubble package in perfect condition. Even after looking at the pictures and Youtube videos, the size of it still surprised me. It's the size of a small smartphone that can fit into your pocket. In that small package, it has FM, AM, and Shortwave. All three have really good reception. I got this radio to replace my other shortwave radio that my batteries exploded in. Whoops.Pro: Small size that can fit into your pocket. Batteries last a long time. I love the analog style. With a portable shortwave roll-up antenna that clips onto the whip antenna, it becomes a very portable shortwave radio that you can take anywhere and listen to anywhere at any time. The reception on FM, AM, and Shortwave is really good for its small package. You wouldn't think that something this small, and especially this cheap, would have such a good reception. Even with just the whip antenna, this radio has decent shortwave reception and even better with a clip-on roll-up shortwave antenna. The volume from the speaker is loud enough even for someone that's hard of hearing like I am. And very simple to operate.Cons: The biggest con I have with this radio is that the actual station isn't lined up with the printed numbers. For example: When tuning to 92.7 FM, the needle, for lack of a better term, would be between 88 and 92. Not to the right of 92 where it should be. This is also the same for the shortwave frequencies. The actual frequency really doesn't line up with where it should be on the dial, so to speak. With that said, let me say this. That is to be expected with an analog radio at this price. For me, it's not really a problem because I got it for the shortwave only anyway and like to explore the band. With analog radios, there's always a chance at drifting. This means after some time listening you may have to readjust the dial a little to bring it back into focus. However, I haven't had this problem with this radio as of yet. Another con is that it doesn't cover all of the shortwave frequencies. You still get about 90%, roughly, of them.Final thoughts: For a small radio at this price with good reception that can fit into your pocket, I'd say this radio is a great starter radio for someone who is interested in shortwave listening. For the best reception and performance from this radio, it is necessary to remember to turn off static causing appliances. Such as computers, LED and Fluorescent lights, possibly your smartphone, TV's, etc. Turning off those appliances will reduce the static coming from the radio. Because AM, Amplitude Modulation, is very receptive to interference from those appliances. What's called RF interference. If you get a clip-on roll-up antenna, it's best to string it up as high up as possible in, or preferably outside, the house.Happy listening.Update: 1-15-21: I really don't know what to make of this radio. I've been listening and fiddling with it for a few days now. I'm going to tell something that sounds ridiculous, but it is the truth. I had the selector on SW3 and the needle was at where it is in the picture submitted where it covered the 0 of the 4.00. The station I was listening to was actually WRMI out of Miami, FL. That seemed strange because the station doesn't broadcast on 49m anywhere. The closest frequency to what the dial indicated was either 7.455 or 7.570MHz. So, I needed to check this out and verify this. I used to have a ham radio license and therefore have an all-band HF transceiver which I used just as a receiver now. So, I turned it on and started to search around 6.40Mhz for the same signal. I couldn't. I finally found the signal being WRMI's 7.570 MHz frequency. Now hold up a second! According to the specs, this radio shouldn't get that frequency in the first place, and even if it is what's it doing on the SW3 49m band? It took me going back and forth between radios to verify that what I was listening to really was WRMI 7.570 MHz out of Miami, FL. I verified this by also getting WWCR 7.520 MHz also on SW3 just to the left of what you see in the picture. This blew my mind. How is this possible? Is the SW3 channel both 49m and 41m. Further investigation told me that I was also receiving 7.570 MHz on SW4 just to the left from where it is in the picture. Ok...wait. Does that mean that at least part of SW4 is duplicated on the right side of SW3? I also found that I was able to receive the 5MHz Universal Time broadcast on both SW1 and SW2. Ok, this radio is weird. I knew the frequency dial was off, but how can it be this off?? I'm happy that I can get the signals, don't get me wrong but this radio shouldn't be able to do what it's doing. So, I don't know if it is just my radio or if that's the case for all the radio's currently in production. Can anyone verify this for your own radio's? Because I've never seen a radio do this before.Update: 1-26-2021: I'm returning the radio, or going to try to return it, and changing my stars from 5 to 2. That's because I'm now getting bleedthrough from the FM band into the SW5 channel. And bleedthrough from other shortwave bands. I don't know what's wrong with this radio, but I retract all my previous statements. Save up your money and get a better one.

I didn't get this radio for FM but SW with the occasional MW band scan and for a completely analogue tuning experience. I have many other portable shortwave radios but they all have some form of DSP. My only other small analogue radio is an older Emerson AM/FM/WX/TV radio from around 2004. This radio is well built for its price. Its controls feel pretty solid to me, especially the tuning knob and band switch. For batteries, it only takes 2 AAs instead of 3, 4 or some non-standard rechargeable. Mine are still going strong after almost a month and I've left it on while sleeping some nights. Sound from this little thing is pretty good too. Not Retekess V115, Supersonic SC-1080BT or Radiwow R-108 good but it has nice mids and treble with a hint of bass if you are close to it. It does not have FM Stereo but still sounds nice on headphones as well. The R9012 has images all over the FM band like others have noted, but I found out that if the antenna is collapsed to one or two sections it performs much better on this band. Even further, if one uses headphones, they seem to act as a second antenna. I could easily get my strongest locals and, with some patience, low power semi-locals which are right next to the stronger stations. If I were to raise the antenna fully on FM, I would immediately be treated to an image salad all over the band with 2, 3, or more stations on top of one another. The R9012 has images on shortwave as well but something a bit more interesting is happening with these. I noticed that in some parts of certain bands, I would receive signals that are 1MHz below the spot where they actually should be. For example, in the 80m/75m band I could hear Brother Stair, who was supposed to be on 4840khz in the 60m band, so I'm guessing the image was around 3840khz? On the 41m band I can clearly hear CHU, which is supposed to be on 7850khz at night, at about 6850khz, and during the day on 13670khz when it's really supposed to be on 14670khz. I don't mind two more time signals besides WWV on 5000khz, 10000khz and 15000khz. Other than these images on some bands, the hype about this radio on SW and MW is well deserved. It holds its own with my DSP radios with just slightly more static on some frequencies but clearer on others. I'm not a frequent MW listener, so I don't know if this band has any images, but I didn't hear any on my radio. I get MANY signals at night from as far North as Chicago, IL, as far east as , Atlanta, GA, as far West as Houston, TX, as far South as Mexico and many in between (still experimenting), all from Southwest MS. We don't have as many daytime MW signals in this area, but it gets my locals and a few semi-locals from Central MS and LA, about as good as my PL380, Eton Mini Grundig Edition, Supersonic SC-1080BT and Radiwow R-108. Even with its issues, I'm glad to finally have one of these in my collection. I would highly recommend it for a new shortwave listener who wants something simple to use, has many bands and is well made, or for a collector who wants one of the few radios left with true analogue tuning.