DX-286 Portable Shortwave AM FM LW SW Radio With TEF6686 Chip - Ultra High Sensitivity Full Band for Kitchen, Desk, Bedroom, Office and Outdoors

This is an outstanding portable. I have been able to receive signals that I never thought possible. To begin with, I put the radio's performance against other well-regarded portables I own and the 286 came up a winner by far on all bands - LW, MW, SW, FM. Then I put it against desktop amateur radio base transceivers I have and the 286 came out with solid results, in some cases offering a more legible output to an identical signal.The features of the 286 that give the listener superpowers- whether you are merely seeking the best reception or whether you are seeking DX are to (1) utilize the antenna switching options - internal/external and couple it with the appropriate antenna for the job you want done, (2) adjust the AM filtering or FM bandwidth of the incoming signal and (3) utilize the adjustment on how it processes FM signals. Working these in various combinations makes it possible to get the 286 to focus and, after some thinking for a few seconds, the radio begins to lock-in on signals and stays there. I have found that the 286 will pull in signals on your target frequency that you never knew possible. LW, MW and FM are outstanding. SW is as good as it gets!The ergonomics are very good. The size of the unit (smaller than what you think) is ideal for travel and it comes with its own hard-case for protection, which can fit a few charging accessories as well. I got mine with the unique-type battery-included, so it was good right out of the box without hassle and it charges directly through the radio. The speaker gives good output for the size. This radio immediately put all my others into the drawer and I can't recommend it highly enough. At this price, you should have already ordered one for yourself by now...

Sometimes once in a while a product really delivers and lives up to it's promises. I've had a couple of tecsun, cc crane and sangean small shortwave FM AM radios. This Qodosen has better reception than all those, there's a slew of settings and options and the speaker and headphones sound wonderful.I got the package with 2 rechargeable batteries and I find the battery life so far very good. Frankly it's the best radio I've ever used. Also the size is very compact. In the pic it's pictured with the sangean dt 400 which is very small.Honestly I can't recommend this radio highly enough. If you get it take you're time and read the menu, there's of settings.

This radio is definitely one of the best radios I've ever owned in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Only the GE Super Radio might surpass the DX ability of this radio but this is a true portable radio- so nothing I've ever owned comes close to this. I have tested SW reception with the optional long distance external antenna attached and the reception definitely improved. You will not be disappointed- I'm just scratching the surface with this radio. Its a keeper

QODOSEN DX-286 Radio, Portable Shortwave Radio AM FM LW SW Ultra High Sensitivity Full Band Radio with TEF6686 Chip for Kitchen, Desk, Bedroom, Office and Outdoors. Sold by: Qodosen radios for $89.99 on March 14, 2025.My reviews are always 100% my personal honest opinion I never receive anything for my reviews.TLDR: Best FM broadcast radio to date, beats all the so called "super radios", but can stand improvements.So this radio for its size does extremely well on SW, MW broadcast and LW AM but does it's best using an external antenna. I can say the same thing about the CCradios. With that said, the CCrane EP and EP Pro beat this radio due to the size of their internal ferrite rod antenna.The customization ability is outstanding. Love the 18650. FM sensitivity and selectivity is the best period easily beating the pants off the CCranes. Step over CCrane, their is a new kid in town and he is kicking your but up and down the coast!I am not going to take one star off for things I knew before buying, IE don't knock it for not having the weather band, don't knock it for being small, rather learn how to read!However, the volume wheel appears to be a simple old style potentiometer that is fed into an A2D, if true, it WILL wear out as they all do. Even the cheap $10 FM tuner boards are using encoders with noticeable steps. I could be wrong on this but this is what it appears to me. I also did not expect micro USB for a charge port. The picture wasn't clear and it the type of port was not mentioned in the desciption - I guess that should have been a red flag. Come on Qodosen, thats Dodo land, for USB port, especially charge, it's type "C" or nothing. So for that last issue I take off one star. It's far from a "perfect" 5.0.Note for all that have this radio: I warn you not to pulg and unplug the micro USB charge port often, it WILL wear out.With that said, I agree with Radio Jay Allen, it's FM performance is five and a half stars. Out of the box this radio picked up a very difficult to receive favorite station by just extending the whip in the same location others cannot. On other radios their is a lot of spot hunting and antenna pointing required. AM can be five stars indoors with a larger external ferrite antenna like the CCranes have but take it out in the woods and it is five stars right out of the box on the whip. However, it is not rain proof nor water proof by any stretch of the imagination so if you do take it into a wet environment, consider putting it in a 1 gallon zip lock bag poking a hole for the whip antenna.Sound given a handheld portable and small speaker is as expected. I would not say it is stellar by any means but voices are clear and sharp, this over 60 senior with hearing damage had no problem hearing it without hearing aids. But not as good as larger radios with larger speakers of course.I look forward to what Qodosen offers in the future. Fix these two problems and it is indeed an all around five star new standard setting handheld portable radio.Throw an additional NOAA alert receiver in the mix that will interrupt you while listening to FM/AM and nothing can beat it. Put it in a larger box with larger stereo speakers and 8" ferrite antenna for a table top plug in the wall like the Sangean HDR-16 and OMG!!!!!If you want NOAA alert with DSP PLL FM and AM performance then look to the "Portable AM FM Shortwave Radio, with Best Reception, 4000mAh Battery, NOAA Weather Alert Radio" sold here on Amazon by several different vendors and listings in different colors e.g.:https://www.amazon.com/Jazmm-Shortwave-Reception-Rechargeable-Emergency/dp/B0D2D4C5MM?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1That radio is not as good as this one on sensitivty and selectivity but it is very nearly as good as the CCranes for a lot less money with vastly better sound than this small portable and it does NOAA Alert, but be forewarned you cannot listen to an FM/AM station and have the weather alert interrupt you. There are few radios that do that as it requires two receivers in the same box.The manual is done very well indeed and I have attached images of the manual pages for digital posterity.I absolutely love how it was shipped inside the included latching plastic foam lined carrying case. That is awesome. Makes it easy to toss in the truck or glamper.I cannot say it is difficult to use because out of the box it worked perfect without me having to change a thing. I didn't even read the manual first as AM and FM was intuitive and perfect right out of the box, no tweaking necessary.Go Go Qodosen!Edit 4/7/2025: As expected the micro usb port stopped working but in a spectacular way...it melted fusing the usb cable to the port. Ended up putting in a USB C port instead. Also, I received the XHDATA W-109WB and I have to say, I prefer it to the Qodosen. I couldn't tell a difference on FM and it's more intuitive, easier to use, sounds better, has external SW/AM antenna port and comes stock with a USB C port oh and it has weather band and weather alert, although it cannot remain in alert while you listen to a different station like you can with the Sangeans (that support weather alert like the PR-D4W) or the CCradio 2e/3.