Sony ICFP26 Portable AM/FM Radio,Black

I couldn't decide which one to get, so I ordered this Sony ICFP26 as well as the Sangean SR-35. For me, the Sony is the clear winner between the two. The sound quality is outstanding for a small portable radio. If you plug in a pair of good quality headphones you will hear sparkling highs and deep bass. Pretty impressive for an inexpensive pocket radio. Sensitivity is excellent on both AM and FM. This radio will pick up stations that some car radios struggle to pull in. Tuning is smooth and uncomplicated without any extraneous responses (unlike the Sangean radio, which has plenty of them). Sony made a trade off here on AM to go in the direction of better sound quality at the expense of selectivity. What this means is that if you have a strong local station, you're not going to be able to pick up a weak station within 10 or 20 kHz of that frequency. It is simple physics; sharp filters degrade the audio quality. I prefer the choice that the Sony designers made here. This radio is much more listenable. If you have a local station that broadcasts good quality sound, you will be shocked how nice it sounds on this Sony radio. The radio has a modern, updated appearance. In my opinion it could be a little slimmer, but the choice of speaker and the use of AA batteries rather than AAA cells probably added to the thickness. I prefer the AA cells from the standpoint of battery life. I use AA Eneloops in almost all of my devices now. As others have pointed out, the FM antenna bracket also projects outward from the back and adds to the thickness. I am not a fan of the design of these whip antennas. All of them invariably break at some point, usually causing the case to crack as well. It would be nice if someone would figure out how to get rid of them entirely without degrading FM reception (they are not needed for AM). I did not notice any spurious responses or odd noises tuning across either the AM or FM band, unlike the older ICF-S10MKII that some people seem to think was a good radio. My copy of that model squealed in between stations making it impossible to receive weak stations and I got rid of it. This radio is free of any such aberrations. Despite all of the good points mentioned above, accurate tuning requires a bit of practice on an analog pocket radio because of the small diameter of the thumbwheel tuning knob. If you don't have the patience for it, or would like a radio that allows you to quickly jump between several stations at different points on the dial, you might prefer a radio with digital tuning. They generally cost more and sometimes the battery life isn't as good, but that might not always be the case. With this radio, if you plug in a pair of stereo (or mono) headphones, unlike older models, sound will be heard in both ears. It will be mono, not stereo, but it sounds good. Of course on AM, you wouldn't get stereo anyway; at least not on most radios. AM stereo went out of style a long time ago, unfortunately. I occasionally see complaints from people to the effect that when you set a portable radio down, the signal goes away on FM. Don't blame the radio! The problem is that when you are holding the radio, your body is serving as the other half of the radio's antenna system. When you take your hand away, it can have a big effect on reception. If the station you're listening to is a strong local station, you probably won't notice this, but on a weaker station it might disappear entirely. There are no really good solutions to this problem, but basically what you have to do if the station goes away when you set the radio down is readjust the radio's antenna position or move the radio to a little different spot. All portable FM radios that I have ever used suffer from this issue, unfortunately. If you buy this radio, I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I am enjoying mine. I am very happy with my purchase.

I wanted a battery powered radio to use at work while I did the books. Plus it's always good to have a battery powered radio just in case. I always do my homework on products and read reviews before buying to see if it's generally been considered a good purchase by customers and this one held up to all the good reviews and rung true. I've had it over a year now and still works great. The reception is great everywhere I've used it and tunes in pretty well. Sometimes you do have to find the right spot but that's with any radio. This one was just easier in that regard. I worked in a grocery store (basically a metal and brick box that doesn't always get great cell/radio service) and other radios didn't tune in as well. It's not too big or klunky and it's pretty well made I would say. I would definitely recommend if you're looking for a battery powered radio for any kind of use that's a good size and very portable. It doesn't seem to go crazy on battery use and I haven't had to replace them at all yet. I even bought a second one because I liked it so much. I recommend!

I compared this to some other radios under $50 which included the Sangean SR-35, the Kaito KA-210, the Sony ICF-8 and the only digital-tuning radio I tested, the Sony ICF-M260. My interest is primarily AM through a speaker. Eneloop batteries were installed in all radios and all radios were allowed to break in for about 6 hours before I began to test and listen. The break-in time is important because performance changed somewhat during this time. Of this group of radios when placed on a countertop, AM voice was the most intelligible without becoming shrill or otherwise irritating (like the Kaito KA-210). Held at arm's length, the radio had to be turned almost all of the way up for a satisfactory volume. Amplifier specifications state a power output of only 100mW which is purposely limited for extended battery life, but I think it is a bit too little. Attaching my quite neutral Sony 7506 headphones produced monaural sound in both earpieces with a centered image. AM sound was the best of all the radios with more extended high frequencies and good bass, but overall quality was not as high as my older Sony Walkman M-35 which was specifically advertised as having wideband AM. However, I enjoyed AM listening through the headphones with the ICF-P26. Tuning was tedious with this radio because it is rather coarse. Small movements of the tuning knob resulted in larger movements of the tuning needle, the opposite of the Sony ICF-8. I was able to pick up a greater number of AM stations than most of the other radios with selectivity and sensitivity being very good in comparison. However, the tuning light indicator was lit almost the entire length of the band, so it was mostly useless. The indicator on FM was substantially better but not as useful as on the Kaito. Among the vertically oriented radios, this Sony and the Sangean were the most physically stable on a shelf or cabinet and least likely to tip over. I have two complaints which are common to the 3 Sony radios. The first is Sony's use of raised lettering of the same color as the radio's case instead of ink silkscreening, making the markings very difficult to read, especially in lower light circumstances. The other is the method of attachment of the antenna which is inadequate compared to some of the other radios, especially the Sangean. Pocket radios are susceptible to antenna damage, but instead of employing a proper joint, Sony prints a piece of paper attached to the antenna on the ICF-P36 specifically showing how not to orient the antenna to avoid breakage. This is ridiculous. Have a look at the Sangean and just fix the problem! All these pocket radios under $50 seem to have serious performance and ergonomic shortcomings. You have to pick whatever shortcomings you can live with. Of the radios tested in this group, this was my reluctant choice based on what I value – AM voice intelligibility from the speaker, ability to select and hold a respectable number of both AM and FM stations, reasonable ruggedness and intuitive use not requiring instructions. However, the lack of a digital tuner made the tuning process entirely too fussy and so the search continues.

Shades of the early 60s when there were primarily top 40 AM channels and a transistor radio is what you wanted for Christmas or your birthday. I like this radio as well as I did my first one as a teen. I cannot address any of the negative reviews but I am exceedingly happy with this purchase! The radio arrived quickly and intact. It is a bit larger than I thought but still a good size. I put it to use immediately. I primarily listen to AM while working in the shop or yard. The radio worked well both places. I can pick up all of the local channels with no problem, both AM and FM. I have used it every day since I received it with no problems. I can understand why some didn't like the antenna but I can put the radio in my shirt pocket and use it as a pocket clip by folding it down outside of the shirt pocket. With the volume almost on high, I can hear the radio well and not disturb anyone past 10 feet away. I have not tried the earplug option yet. I like the placement of the on/ off switch with the AM and FM selections better than on the volume control. Like any analog dial, it isn't as perfect as digital but having the red station fixed light, makes it easier to locate and lock channels. I have had no station slippage and it is in my shirt pocket. Since I listen to mainly one station in each band, presets don't matter to me. If you listen to a lot of different channels, are in a heavily saturated radio market or want anything beyond the basics, you may want something different but right now this radio is perfect for my needs.

I've owned several of the Sony ICF-S10MK2 models over the years. Most important for me was they were AM/FM, small, cheap, battery powered and with an external speaker. Lots of small radios require headsets which is not what I wanted and many with external speakers are bigger and need to be plugged in. I listen to sports talk most of the day while working from home. Sometimes I'm out in the yard with the laptop/wifi or doing something else. These small radios are convenient to take them wherever you go. The batteries last forever. They last me for many weeks and I'm sure my usage is higher than the average user. The biggest issue I had was with the antenna constantly getting loose and me having to tighten the screw. After one too many drops my last S10MK2 finally broke. I was sad to see that the model was no longer made and the remaining stock are going for $130. So I tried this new model ICFP26. Everything I loved about the old model is still true here. The plastic where the antenna is screwed into seems a lot sturdier than before. Time and many drops will tell if it is an improvement. Another change is that the power switch was previously integrated into the volume wheel and it is now part of the AM/FM switch. The tuning and volume wheels are also much wider making them easier to scroll. They also seem to give a finer grain control. I a minor issue I had with the old model was sometimes it was hard to get the volume just right. Either too low or too loud with little movement on the volume wheel. The new wheel is more responsive. I'm giving this 5 stars even though it could be a bit cheaper. I'm sure I'll buy another when this one needs replacing. If it lasts as long as the old model it'll be worth it and I don't doubt that it will.

Crisp audio which helps with those with high frequency hearing loss. Sensitivity is good on fm and am. Beautiful looking radio with wide dials which I prefer to those on the s10mk2. Ok, now for notes on performance. Here is just a synopsis of my radio credentials so to speak as people might be interested in that as I will go against the grain as far as other owners of this radio have not properly addressed one VERY IMPORTANT issue regarding the am performance versus the s10mk2. I am almost 70 years old and started to listen avidly to shortwave and am radio when I was 7 years old. I am an Extra class amateur radio operator going on 35 years. I did military communications for the U.S. Army and also served in the U.S. Navy. Ok, here is the area of gross neglect by some other reviewers who compared this little radio's am performance unfavorably with the s10mk2. SIGNAL to NOISE RATIO! I live in a terrible area for both am and fm reception as my town is surrounded on all 4 sides by hills and mountains. Yesterday afternoon I did a direct comparison using WBZ am 1030 in Boston and WGAN am 560 in Portland, Me as two benchmarks. The noise floor on the s10 mk2 is so incredibly high that even though they came in louder on the s10 both signals were unusable as it was a battle between noise and the signal itself which means, even with headphones it would be no dice. I then put the s10 by my Tecsun passive loop antenna and all that happened was that everything got far louder but unlistenable for all intents and purposes. You see, the signal to noise ratio didn't change one iota. Now for the test with the new p26. Again, same time in the afternoon the p26 has such a low noise floor that both stations came in pretty much clearly but not loudly. However, putting a good pair of earbuds or headphones you get about a 20 decibel improvement in perceived signal quality and this is true no matter if it is fm, am, shortwave, radiotelegraph or any other radio mode of transmission. On the p26 I could listen to both of these stations with headphones for hours if I wanted. I then put on headphones with the s10 and both stations were coming in very loudly but with totally unusable signals due to the high noise level. In fact the s10 is absolutely the worst I have ever encountered with regards to the noise floor on am. At night the s10 did better with stronger signals as the signal to noise ratio seemed better but with weaker am signals I couldn't tolerate listening to those for very long. The sensitivity on the p26 is not as high but the low noise floor make weaker signals come with more clarity. I recommend using headphones when hunting for distant am signals at night no matter which radio you use but the p26 is better than the s10 for the reasons stated above. I tested both radios out in my back yard near where miles of forest begin and the results for both radios were roughly equivalent. If anything the p26's am reception got better but the horrendous noise floor on the s10 didn't change. The s10 has warmer audio and has great fm performance which is my primary use. The p26 is roughly equivalent in fm performance but I prefer the crisper audio as it increases intelligibility for me on both bands. On any inexpensive radio one may experience overloading due to stronger fm signals swamping weaker ones that you might want to hear. Collapse the whip to one or two sections and that may render the radio more selective. On both the s10 and the p26 try this and you might be impressed with the improvement. I love my s10 for fm but in the am band the p26 wins hands down. If you want to really capture am stations far away at night time with the p26 use good earbuds and even spend around 25 bucks for a Tecsun AN-200 loop aerial which makes an unbeatable combination. Also, I like the p26 having the audio jack feed both sides of a stereo pair of earbuds etc. even though the fm output is monaural which is actually better for weak fm signals. More expensive radios have a stereo monaural switch for fm but, for weaker fm signals monaural is better. The s10 only feeds audio to one side which forces me to have to use an adaptor if wanting audio on both sides. All radios can vary in alignment from the factory so results may vary from radio to radio. I hope to check the alignment of the p26 in the future and optomize it if needed. Do not attempt this unless you have the proper alignment tools and know what you are doing! On the s10 I doubt there is any way to reduce the horrendous noise but I love it for fm and use it every day. I am sure others can benefit from my insights here. As far as the p26 goes I have a radio friend for life! WBZ in Boston, about 135 miles by air. WGAN in Portland, ME about 55 miles by air. Even using the speaker on the p26 daytime reception on both stations fairly good but not great amounts of volume but listenable. The s10 is totally useless on both stations. All electronic products can have a certain percentage of defects. Instead of giving a simplistic 1 star review consider that Amazon is good about returns and refunds or a replacement if so desired. The p26 is a great little radio for the price. I know what I am talking about.

I've purchased quite a few radios over the years, including several Sony models which were always great performers on both AM and FM. When I discovered that a new model had come out I was excited to try it, so I ordered one in the fall of 2015, shortly after its release. Upon testing it out, first impressions were good - AM reception was excellent, and it covers the entire band (up to 1710 kHz), unlike some other models which max out around 1630 kHz. Sound quality was crystal clear, and the headphone jack was a nice feature also. Unfortunately, what I didn't know at that point was the good news would end there. FM performance, in comparison, was a disappointment. "Bleeding" from strong stations was more prevalent on this model compared to other Sonys, and selectivity was poor as adjacent stations blended together and couldn't be fine-tuned. On a more technical note, it became obvious that a very low quality ceramic filter was used on the FM side. The antenna setup is strange also, with the base sticking out from the back of the radio, rather than being inside the case. It definitely interferes with pocket use, and also doesn't allow the radio to lie flat when placed down. And things only got worse. The volume control felt rough when adjusting, convincing me that it could give out early on. Sure enough, after limited use, there was static on the lower settings. The audio levels are well spaced out, which is a plus, but not much help if the volume potentiometer fails that quickly. I'm hoping they swap it out with a better part in future units. Initially I had planned on receiving the radio as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately I ended up testing it out beforehand just past the 30 day return window, so I contacted Amazon explaining the circumstances. Their customer service was excellent - I promptly got a response stating they would approve a return, so back it went. I wanted to like the radio, but it looks like Sony missed the mark on this one. If your primary interest is AM listening or headphone use it may work out, but otherwise I'd stick with its predecessor. And if you were disappointed with the earlier S10MK2s, you may be pleasantly surprised by the more recently manufactured ones. Several internal changes were made, including an upgraded speaker for better sound. Reception quality on both bands was improved also - FM is more precise, with less interference, and AM noise has been reduced. It's quite an impressive pocket radio, and I recommend it highly - just wish I could say the same for the P26. Hopefully Sony will make some improvements throughout the model run.

I love this little radio and get far more use out of it than I ever expected to. It is small and lightweight, easy to loop around your wrist or just set down on a nearby surface. Reception is good, at least for the local stations I listen to. It's not always perfect, but the long antenna helps and positioning it close to your body also helps. Tuning it is very simple. The dial is sensitive so you can find the perfect spot to get the station the clearest. The volume is responsive. The highest volume is not always that high, depending on the station and ambient noise. For example, when I bring it outside, the wind and road noise competes with the small speaker. However, it has the option to use headphones which would solve that problem. The absolute best part of this radio is the long long battery life. I've been using it for several hours almost every day for a year and have never had to replace the batteries. I never expected it to last this long. If I had to make an improvement, I'd add a clip to the back so you can clip it to your belt and make it completely hands free. I normally just use it inside and occasionally move it from room to room as I move around the house. As a basic, no-frills, portable radio, it can't be beat. I paid $19.99. Great purchase.

Mu buena

Love this little gadget! Got a couple in used-like new condition for half the price of new and they were just that, like new. My late grandmother's most priced possession was a cherry red radio very like this one, I remember scheming and plotting to steal it away from her as a little kid :D (never did succeed at that), it went everywhere with her. I got this to listen to the radio while cooking, gardening or soaking in the bathtub. I like to have some background noise on all the time and this is the most portable, cost effective and power efficient option! Good reception where I live, very sturdy plastic construction w/ no creaks or flexing. Appreciate the robust attachment of the antenna to the back of the radio (it can also be unscrewed and replaced if ever damaged), and the hinged battery compartment. The speaker output is loud and clear and even more amazing through headphones (I use really good audiophile grade headphones with them, so ymmv). They're particularly useful on my frequent trips to the drive-in theatre, with headphones plugged-in I can completely drown out all ambient noise. Update: Took these to the drive-in last night, at full blast the sound out of the speakers was surprisingly rich and clear with zero distortion!

Très satisfait de ce "petit" poste radio qui réponds parfaitement à ce que j'en attendais. Je me permets de le recommander.

This is a great little radio for it's size and sound. Picks up stations well but I wished the headphone jack was on the top. Well worth the money.

El producto me dejo mas que sorprendido, desde los acabados, la excelsa recepción,y la forma de sintonizar las estaciones de radio que tiene tintes retro me parece de lo mejor. La bocina que tiene en el interior cumple bastante bien, el volumen máximo que tiene el aparato receptor es bastante alto y basta con poco volumen para poder escuchar sin problema alguno. Lo estoy usando con pilas recargables y ningún queja al respecto, llevo vario días usándolo y nada al menos al momento. En cuanto al envió, fue de importación y llego vía DHL por MEXBUY un día después de lo acordado pero bien protegido el producto. 100% recomendable