Retekess TR638 Portable Radios AM FM,Digital Shortwave Radio,Adjustable Brightness Display,External Antenna Jack,USB/TF,Bluetooth Radio for Home

I ordered the Retekess TR638 in late January as a replacement for an Audiocrazy radio that had to be returned. I had been waiting for the TR638 to become available in the US because I have a few other Retekess radios I like, but wanted to wait until the return window was past before giving it a review.I prefer radios with tuning and volume knobs rather than all button controls. The TR-638 has both button tuning and manual knob tuning, as well as a volume knob. Button controlled volume sometimes is too stepped, and a volume knob allows fine control especially at lower levels. Also, if the power goes out with two Grundigs I have, when I turn them back on the volume is at max. That doesn't happen with radios with a volume knob.I was into Shortwave listening when I lived in the mountains but in the city I can't have the antenna loops I had up there to boost signal, so I now buy radios for a few FM stations and no longer do the AM/MW band or SW. I can't comment on how well the TR638 tunes AM or SW, but if a person uses a radio for that in the city there are reel antennas that are about 20ft long that can be extended indoors and clipped to the whip antenna. I have an indoor antenna and one that runs along the eaves, and they help, but they're no comparison to the outdoor loops I once had. I will say that when the TR638 clearly tunes a station, it sounds good.I primarily buy radios now that have a USB port and Bluetooth for listening to MP3 files. I have music or audiobooks recorded to USB drives that I can plug into the USB port. Or, I use the radio as a Bluetooth speaker to play files stored on my phones. I often listen using a headset at night while I'm in bed and it has so far performed well.I also have an older analog dial TR618 that I use for the USB port but it doesn't have Bluetooth and it has performed well for the few years I've had it. I use it for hours each night, so I use my radios a great deal and can speak for their reliability when I get a good one.The issues I have had with the TR638 are peculiar to tuning on the SW bands. Because it's not a good area for SW reception, I didn't bother to study how the TR638 tunes up and down the frequencies. It does have a broad tuning range for people who do SW listening. SW 2.30 to 23.00MHz. Tuning along that wide range just with the knob is extremely slow, given that much of the band may seem "empty," and so using digital to find a spot, then honing in with the knob saves time.If a person is interested in SW listening they should get an inexpensive antenna extender, and read about Shortwave and how it works. Like AM/MW, some stations come in ok during the day but fade as the sun goes down. Then, other frequencies propagate best at night but fade as the sun rises. In the mountains with extensive long loop antennas I was able to receive signals from the east coast, Canada, and south of the border using my Grundig radios. They had Single Side Band reception and I was able to listen to ham operators at great distances. The TR638 doesn't do SSB, but SW is a whole world to explore by itself.A home made antenna can be a length of inexpensive speaker wire strung out the window along the eaves and connected to the whip antenna with an alligator clip. My antennas were hundreds of feet long along the fence, around the eaves, and they were nothing fancy, but there are YouTube videos and tutorials on the internet for how to make or buy your own. They can be strung through the attic and around the eaves, but for safety ought to be grounded and disconnected from the radios during storms.Just in and of itself, the TR638 should work well for casual listening just with the built in whip, whether it be local radio stations, or listening to files sent to the radio by Bluetooth, or MP3 files using the USB port.The only gripe is how close the headphone jack is to the USB stick, it's hard to insert or remove the phone plug with a stick installed.I thank Retekess for keeping the tradition of conventional radios alive, with old fashioned features like AC cord operation and a headphone jack, while adding the newer mp3 features like USB and SD card ports and Bluetooth. Their radios have become one of my new go-to brands. XHdata is another good one I recommend.

Radio made a loud pop sound and radio did not work anymore. Going to do a return/exchange . I received my replacement radio October 1st, radio work good for 5 days then the USB stop working and the radio started turning on and off when listen to FM. Another defective radio. I was so upset about this product i thro radio in trash. I was not going to go thro the process again to do another return/exchange since these radios our defective. So I'm out $20.00.

Noisy reception even on strong local AM stations. SW is poor. FM decent. Performs equally bad as the same radio with the Raddy name on it. The noise is created by the radio itself. It does not improve in a remote location.

This is a compact easy to use portable radio with digital tuning that pulls in stations clearly, and the sound quality is good for its size. The radio supports TF/USB play to meet a variety of needs. A great value for the price.

This radio performs as advertised. The quality is pretty good overall and make it great for taking camping or having as an emergency radio, especially in bad weather events. The shortwave feature is a bonus. Would recommend it.

The sound quality, battery life, and ease of use are marginal at best. Tuning is horrible even with scan mode. Save your time and money and find something else. This is a complete waste. Reception is horrible, even with an external antenna.This product make me wish there were negative star ratings.

I was attracted to this radio by the digital tuning dial, and that is great. However, many AM stations either cut out or seriously decrease in volume after the first few minutes of operation. This doesn't seem to be a problem with FM stations. I use this radio for a total of 20 - 30 minutes a day. After one week of such use, I have had to replace all four batteries. At this rate, the batteries will cost more than the radio itself. Consequently, I'm returning it. This just isn't worth the effort.

Am/fm did not work well where I live