Roberts Radio Play10 Review

Summary: Inexpensive and easy to use, the Play10 is a great basic DAB radio.

Buy it online: See price on Amazon.co.uk See price on John Lewis

The Roberts Radio Play10 is a small and portable DAB/FM radio which would be good for using in the bathroom, kitchen or garden. The radio is very light at only 350 g, and can be used with AA batteries or mains power. It’s available in either white or black. Let’s look at this radio in more detail.

Features

Dimensions: 18 cm wide x 10.5 cm high x 5.5 cm deep
Weight: 350 g

Performance and use

This radio is very easy to use, and you shouldn’t have any problems figuring out how it works. It comes with a well written instructions manual just in case.

When you first turn the radio on, it automatically scans and finds DAB stations available in your area. The radio has good reception, and should pick up all major stations fine. One nice feature is that the radio displays the station name even on FM, which means you no longer have to guess which station you’re listening to.

You can set 3 preset FM and 3 preset DAB radio stations. This is useful, but many other radios let you save 10 or more stations.

The Play10 is very light and can be carried around. When using batteries, you could use the radio anywhere: around the house, in the shed, on the allotment, in the garden etc.

It takes AA batteries, which is very convenient as they’re easier to get hold of than C or D batteries. They’re also much easier and cheaper to replace than the bespoke battery packs some portable radios use. Unfortunately, the radio won’t recharge batteries when it’s plugged in.

The design is simple and intuitive. The radio’s base is slightly raised which makes it good for using in the kitchen, as it protects it from spilled liquids.

Given the radio’s low price, sound quality is good for both music and speech radio, though the speaker lacks detail when listening to music. This isn’t the right radio if you’re looking for really high sound quality, but it sounds decent for casual listening.

The radio’s LED display is easy to read thanks to the radio’s design, as the display slants forward meaning you can read it from a distance.

Verdict

If you’ve never owned a DAB radio before, the Roberts Radio Play10 offers a gentle introduction to the world of digital radio. It’s very straightforward and is one of the easiest to use radios available at the moment.

The only real drawback with this radio is that it won’t recharge batteries when it’s plugged into the mains.

Similar radios

For a slightly higher price, you could buy the Roberts Play Digital Radio with Built In Battery Charger. It will let you recharge batteries while it’s plugged in, meaning you won’t need to keep buying new AA batteries.

A cheaper alternative to the Play10 is the Goodmans Portable Digital & FM Radio. Like the Play10, it’s a light and portable FM/DAB radio.

A more expensive alternative is the Sony XDR-P1DBP Pocket DAB/DAB+ Radio. It uses a built-in lithium-ion battery which can be recharged via USB, and offers a long battery life of up to 20 hours.

For some more options, see our roundup of the best portable DAB radios.