Goodmans Oxford 1960’s Style Radio Review

Summary: If you want an attractive yet sturdy retro radio for listening to in the kitchen, the Goodmans Oxford is ideal.

Buy it online: See on Amazon.co.uk

The Goodmans Oxford radio is a 1960’s-style FM/DAB/DAB+ radio that comes in a choice of colours: Porcelain White, Moss Green, and Sky Blue. It’s a good looking retro radio, but do its sound and build quality match up to its appearance? Let’s take a closer look.

Features

Dimensions: 26 cm wide x 16.6 cm high x 7.4 cm deep
Weight: 1 kg

Build and design

This 1960’s-style retro radio is made from a combination of plastic and metal, and feels fairly durable. Despite using a lot of plastic, the radio doesn’t look tacky. The leather carrying handle is a nice touch that adds some class and makes the radio look more expensive than it is.

Performance and use

Setting up and learning to use the radio is straightforward, but you might need to check the user manual here. The radio doesn’t come with a battery, but you can plug it into the mains instead. If you want to use it as a portable radio, you will need either 6 C batteries or a lithium ion battery.

The radio comes with an aerial, but you probably won’t need to use it as this radio offers good reception to begin with.

The volume can be adjusted using the dial on the top of the radio. To tune the radio, you turn the tuning wheel. There’s also a scan button for finding FM stations.

The sound quality from the radio’s single speaker is crisp and clear without distortion, especially on DAB digital radio. It does lack bass and can sound quite tinny depending on what you’re listening to. It’s great for speech programmes and Radio 4, but leaves something to be desired when listening to music. The volume doesn’t go very loud, so if you want something really powerful this isn’t the radio for you.

Verdict

The Goodmans Oxford radio will look great in your kitchen or bedroom. The controls are very easy to use, even if you’ve never used a DAB radio before. This radio has a classic, nostalgic look at an affordable price.

You could accuse this radio of prioritising looks over sound, as the speaker can sound quite tinny and the radio lacks power. However, if you want an attractive yet sturdy retro radio for listening to in the kitchen, the Goodmans Oxford FM/DAB radio is ideal.

Similar radios

For a bit more money you can get the Goodmans Oxford 2, which comes with NFC and Bluetooth for wireless streaming from your smartphone or other Bluetooth device. This could be a very convenient feature if you have a lot of music on your phone or regularly stream music from YouTube or Spotify.

The Roberts RD60 Revival radio has a similar design to the Goodmans Oxford, but is significantly more expensive. It has better sound quality, but seems overpriced for what it is.

If you’re still undecided, you can also consider one of these retro radios.