Best DAB Radios Under £50 2023

The cost of DAB radios has come down a lot in recent years. It used to be hard to find a DAB for less than £50, but these days there are dozens available. In fact, there’s almost too much choice, and it can be overwhelming.

We’ve researched the market and picked out the top DAB radios under £50 available in the UK. Read on for our reviews of each.

Please note, we cannot guarantee that all of these radios will be available for less than £50 when you read this article.

Best DAB Radios Under £50

1. John Lewis & Partners Spectrum Solo

The Spectrum Solo is one of John Lewis’s cheapest own-brand DAB radios at the time of writing. It’s a compact and affordable radio that compares well to similarly priced radios from brands like Roberts. The radio comes in a choice of several different colours.

John Lewis’s own-brand radios tend to offer good value for money and are all backed by a 2-year guarantee when bought new.

Features

Summary

The Spectrum Solo is a straightforward and functional DAB radio that offers good value for money. It’s fairly limited in terms of features and doesn’t have an alarm clock.

The five preset buttons on the front of the radio make it easy to use as you don’t need to scroll through a menu to change the station.

Read our full review of the Spectrum Solo here.

 

2. Majority Little Shelford

The Majority Little Shelford is a stylish and compact retro DAB radio that offers great value for money. It has lots of useful features including Bluetooth and a dual alarm clock and can be powered by the mains or AA batteries.

It has a micro USB port which allows you to power it using a phone charger or computer, which is quite convenient.

You might not have heard of the brand Majority, but they are currently one of the top-selling brands of budget radios in the UK. Majority is a British brand whose products are designed in Cambridgeshire and made in the Far East (like almost all digital radios).

Features

Dimensions: 17 x 13 x 10 cm
Weight: 760 g

Summary

The Little Shelford is one of the most popular DAB radios on the market at the moment and it’s easy to see why—it’s cheap, has an attractive design and offers lots of features including Bluetooth.

Not many radios in this price range offer so many features. The Little Shelford is also very compact and portable, and the USB power connection is useful if you’re camping or caravanning.

Read our full review of the Little Shelford here.

 

3. Roberts Radio Play 10

The Roberts Radio Play 10 is one of the most popular DAB radios in this price category in the UK. You can plug it into the mains or use it as a portable radio with four AA batteries.

It’s a simple and straightforward radio that doesn’t offer as many features as products like the Majority Little Shelford reviewed above. One nice thing about this radio is that it has dedicated preset buttons so you can quickly tune into your favourite stations.

Features

Dimensions: 18 x 10.5 x 5.5 cm
Weight: 350 g

Summary

The Play 10 is a straightforward, no-nonsense DAB radio that will be fine for most people. It’s affordable and easy to use, and has decent sound quality.

As with all the radios listed here, there are better-sounding radios available, though they will cost you more than £50. Read our full review of the Roberts Play 10 here.

 

4. John Lewis & Partners Note

The Note is a simple yet sleek FM/DAB radio made and sold by the department store John Lewis. It comes in a choice of three finishes: Peach, Pink and Mint. These slightly more specialist colours will fit well into modern interiors and would make a great radio choice for those looking for something a bit more feminine and funky.

This radio doesn’t have a huge list of features but it looks pretty great, is easy to use and is light and easy to carry around the house.

Features

Dimensions: 12 x 17.7 x 5.3cm

Summary

The Note has a nice design and offers good value for money. It only has the essential features, and doesn’t have an alarm, but is a good choice if you want something simple, portable and stylish.

 

5. AZATOM Blackfriars Retro

The Blackfriars Retro radio is a straightforward and inexpensive DAB radio from budget brand AZATOM.

It has a compact vertical design, and won’t take up much space on a kitchen countertop or bedside table. The simple oak-style finish will also look great in a variety of different settings.

Features

Dimensions: 13 x 8.7 x 18.2 cm
Weight: 780 g

Summary

If you want an inexpensive DAB clock radio, the Blackfriars Retro could be a good choice. It looks quite stylish, sounds great and offers good value for money.

 

6.  Sony XDR-S41D

This small DAB radio from Sony could be good for a bathroom windowsill or carrying around the house or the garden. It has a thin and lightweight design, so it’s easy to carry in one hand.

The XDR-S41D has the sort of functional design you’d expect from Sony. It’s arguably not as stylish as some of the retro radios in this price range, but it’s well made and reliable.

Features

Dimensions: 18 x 9.5 x 3.6 cm
Weight: 431 g

Summary

The Sony XDR-S41D is a good choice if you want something small and easy to use. As you’d expect from Sony, it’s reliable and functional even if it isn’t the most stylish radio on this list.

 

7. Logik LHDR15

This affordable radio from Currys’ own brand Logik features an alarm clock, a headphone jack and the option to use it with batteries or mains power.

Features

• FM/DAB radio
• Alarm clock
• Mains or battery-powered (4 x AA)
• Saves 20 preset stations
• Headphone jack

Dimensions: 19 x 12.5 x 12 cm
Weight: 830 g

Pros

• Generally easy to use
• Good value for money
• Can be powered by batteries

Cons

• Buttons are small and fiddly
• Display can be too bright at night
• Sound quality is mediocre

Summary

For the price, the Logik LHDR15 is a good buy. However, the sound quality could be better, and the buttons are quite small and fiddly to use.

 

What to Look for in a DAB Radio Under £50

If you have a low budget, you’ll need to compromise somewhat when it comes to sound quality. However, you can still get a radio with plenty of features.

Here are some things to look for when choosing a budget DAB radio for less than £50:

• Bluetooth – Bluetooth lets you stream audio from your phone or another smart device through the radio’s speakers without connecting it via a cable. This means you can have your phone on one side of the room while listening to music from it through the radio on the other side of the room.
  Bluetooth used to be limited to more expensive radios, but now it’s available in several budget radios including the Majority Little Shelford and the AZATOM Woodlands.
• Alarm clock – Lots of budget radios have an alarm clock feature that lets you wake up to either the radio or a regular alarm sound. Digital radios under £50 with an alarm clock include the Majority Little Shelford, Sony XDR-S41D and AZATOM Woodlands.
• Portable – Radios in this price range are usually portable. Some take AA or C batteries, whereas others have a built-in rechargeable battery.
  Some people like to use removable batteries and replace them or recharge them separately, but many find it’s more convenient to have a built-in battery that charges when you plug the radio into the mains.
• Dedicated preset buttons – Almost every digital radio lets you save your favourite stations as presets so you access them quickly. However, accessing them often involves scrolling through a menu, which can be fiddly and time consuming.
  It’s more convenient to have dedicated preset buttons on the radio so you can tune into your favourite stations with just one button press.
  Some DAB radios with preset buttons that cost less than £50 are the Roberts Play 10 and John Lewis Spectrum Solo, which both have three preset buttons, and the Sony XDR-S41D, which has five.
• USB charging and/or playback – Some radios have a USB port that lets you charge a phone or another device. Some also have a USB port that lets you connect an MP3 player or USB stick to play MP3s or other digital audio files through the radio’s speakers.
  The AZATOM Woodlands has both a USB port and an SD card reader for playing digital audio files.

 

Conclusion

If we had to pick just one of these radios to recommend, it would be the Click for price on John Lewis as it performs well, has a neat and compact design and is easy to use.

If you want something even cheaper, you might want to consider one of these DAB radios under £30 or find out what the cheapest DAB radios in the UK are here.

To see more recommendations, see our page that summarises what we think are the best DAB radios in the UK in different categories.

 

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• Best Portable DAB Radios