Denver CRB-619 Retro Clock Radio Review

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Summary:
An affordable and attractive FM clock radio with Bluetooth, though lacking in some features.

Buy it online:
See on Amazon.co.uk

The Denver CRB-619 is a retro FM clock radio with Bluetooth and a USB port for charging your phone overnight. It’s made by Denver, a Danish company whose products are manufactured in China. Let’s see what the CRB-619 can do…

Features

FM radio
Bluetooth
Dual alarm clock
3.5 mm aux-in
Dimmable display
USB port for charging a phone
Battery backup to keep the clock and alarm accurate in case of a powercut
Sleep timer
Dimmable LED display
Wire aerial

Dimensions: 21 cm wide x 12.3 cm high x 12.3 cm deep
Weight: 800 g

Performance and use

The Denver CRB-619 looks great from a distance with its 1950s/1960s style design. However, it feels quite plasticky when you get up close. In fact, the build quality feels quite poor, though you might expect that given the low price.

The LED display is 0.6 inches wide and displays the time as well information about the radio station you’re listening to.

This radio has a couple of useful features that you don’t find in many radios in this price range: Bluetooth and USB charging. You can use Bluetooth to stream music or other audio from your phone or other Bluetooth-enabled device, and can use the USB charging point to recharge your phone overnight.

The alarm lets you set two separate alarms, which is useful if you want to wake up at a different time on weekdays to weekends, for example. You can set it to use either the FM radio or an alarm sound. You can’t set the volume explicitly—the alarm comes on at the same volume level you had it on the last time you listened to the radio.

Pros

Attractive retro design
Sound quality is decent

Cons

No headphone jack
The screen’s lowest brightness level is still quite bright
Setting preset stations could be more intuitive
No DAB radio, only FM

Verdict

The Denver CRB-619 has a very attractive design and some of its features are very useful, especially Bluetooth and USB charging. However, the build quality is quite disappointing, and some user controls are fiddly. It also lacks some of the features you’d expect it to have like a headphone socket and DAB radio.

To conclude, it could be a good choice if you want an affordable clock radio with Bluetooth and can live without DAB radio and a headphone socket.

Similar radios

One cheaper (and in some ways higher quality) alternative is the Roberts Radio CR9971, which is an FM clock radio with a dual alarm. It has the excellent build quality you’d expect from Roberts, but doesn’t have the nice retro design you get with the Denver CRB-619.

If you like the retro design of the Denver CRB-619 but want something with better build quality and more features you should consider the Goodmans GSR1889DABBT Heritage Radio. Like the Denver CRB-619 it has Bluetooth, but it also has DAB radio and a headphone socket.

For some more clock radios to consider, see this article: Best Clock Radios.