Roberts Play Duo Radio Review

Disclaimer: Best Radios UK is audience supported. If you buy via links on here we may get a small commission. This doesn’t impact the price you pay & lets us keep the site free.

The Roberts Play Duo is a small portable FM/DAB/DAB+ radio with the useful addition of a built-in battery charger. This radio is part of the Roberts Eco range of digital radios.

This radio is available in a range of colours: Red, Grey, Light Blue, Lime Green, Orange and Purple. Let’s see what it can do…

Features

FM/DAB/DAB+ radio
FM uses RDS to show the station name (DAB radio does this too)
Battery charger built in
Can be powered by mains power or 4 AA batteries
Save up to 10 preset radio stations—5 on DAB and 5 on FM
Stereo sound
Headphone jack

Dimensions: 19.5 cm wide x 10.5 cm high x 4 cm deep
Weight: 590 g

Pros

Good DAB reception compared to many other radios
Built-in battery charger is very handy
Feels solid and well made
Stereo sound, though the speakers are close together so you won’t hear much stereo separation
Goes quite loud for a small radio
Nice, attractive design
Clear and well written instructions manual, though this radio is simple to use so you probably won’t need it

Cons

Sounds quite tinny
It’s a bit too easy to set a preset station by mistake when you’re only trying to change the station
Display can be quite hard to read
No alarm or other extra features

Sound quality

The Roberts Play Duo sounds decent for its size, but it isn’t the right radio if you want exceptional sound quality. It sounds a bit tinny, but is generally fine for casual listening. However, if you want to really appreciate the detail of music, you should go for a higher quality radio.

Verdict

The Roberts Play Duo is small and compact, and is a good size for listening to in the kitchen or the bedroom. The sound quality is decent but not great, and it lacks features like an alarm clock which you would find in most other DAB radios in this price range.

The Roberts Play Duo’s best feature is its ability to charge batteries while it’s plugged in. This is quite a rare feature as most portable digital radios have expensive bespoke battery packs.

Similar radios

The Roberts Play radio is similar to the Play Duo, but with just one speaker rather than two. Like the Play Duo, it has a built-in battery charger, which is a great feature. It’s slightly cheaper than the Roberts Play Duo, so it could be a good option if you want an especially affordable DAB portable radio.

Another radio in the Roberts Eco range is the Roberts Radio ECO4BT, which has great battery life of up to 150 hours.

One radio with a similar design is the MoreAudio Desire. If you’re willing to buy a radio from a less established brand, this radio could be a good value alternative to the Roberts Play Duo.