Raddy RF750 Plus Shortwave Radio Review

--By Jay Allen

The Raddy RF750 Plus may be one of the most unusual radios I have seen (not to be confused with the similar but very different RF750). It is a marvel of miniaturization…a tiny yet solid device measuring a mere 2 ½ x 2 x 1 3/8 inches…plugging in the AM ferrite rod brings the height to about 3 inches…this thing is small… yet it has amazingly good performance. It covers FM/AM/SW/Weather Band and features Bluetooth, Tiff card playback (plus record when used with the mobile app) via an Android or Apple phone. There are a few surprises as well which I’ll describe as we go along. But first…

Reception Range:
FM: 64.0-108MHz
AM: 520-1710KHz
SW: 4.75-21.85MHz
WB: 162.40-162.55MHz (US Only)



297 Station Presets
FM/SW/WB Whip Antenna 10 ½”
MW/LW Rotating Plug-in Ferrite 1 ½”

Tuning: Manual, Search, Search and Auto Save to 297 Memories, Scan Presets, Front panel Shuttle (spinner) Tuning knob
Speaker: 4Ω 3W 7 Equalizer Settings & Mute Mode
Bluetooth version: Ver 5.2
USB C Jack for Charging with indicator and Earphone out via supplied USB C to 1/8” Mini Jack adapter
Lithium battery: BL5C 3.7V 1000mAh (User replaceable)
Auto or Constant On Lighting
Clock 24/12 Hour formats
Sleep Timer
Alarm
2 Lock Modes
S.O.S. Emergency Alarm
TF card playback Format: MP3/WMA/WAV /APE/FLAC With FF/REW Scanning & Repeat Modes
TF card Record Mode (Must access through the mobile app)
TF card capacity: ≤256GB
Dimension: 2.2×3.0x1.7 inches / 75x56x44 mm
Weight: 7.9oz / 226g

1 x RF750 PLUS Shortwave Radio
1 x T-Type Swiveling AM Ferrite Rod Antenna (1 ½”)
1 x Type-C Charging Cable
1 x Type-C to 3.5mm Adapter (for earphone use)
1 x Detachable Carrying Strap
1 x Carabiner (For hanging the radio)
1 x User Manual

As you can see from the above list there is little this tiny radio can’t do, but you have to appreciate that this is all accomplished with only FOUR controls. This is definitely a radio that requires you to initially sit down with the manual and go through the various setup options to familiarize yourself with all of them. The manual is small but you can download it from Raddy’s website and print it out larger which is what I did. I found the User Manual a bit disorganized making it hard to initially find specific functions so I have compiled a Quick Start Guide at the bottom of this review. Although there are two buttons on the left side, and the Shuttle (spinner) knob surrounding the speaker, many of the radio’s functions are controlled by the unassuming little Function button on the top just to the right of the AM rod antenna. This toggle moves left, right, forward and backward and can also be depressed to control virtually everything. Clearly this won’t appeal to old-school radio-lovers but if you are comfortable with multi-function controls (which are present on all modern digital radios to varying extent), the RF750 Plus merely carries this concept further than I’ve seen before. It is just amazing how many functions this tiny radio achieves with so few controls…and of course, you can use a smartphone app to give even finer control if you like, including a keypad.

A perfect example is unlocking the radio for the first time. To unlock it, lightly press the Power and SOS buttons on the left side. This turns on the screen and shows the Time display. Now double-click the S.O.S. button to unlock the radio. When not locked a double click of the power button turns it on or a long press brings up Sleep mode and with repeated presses you can toggle through the various sleep times from 90 Minutes down to permanent ON. By default, the lighting is set to Auto but you can set it to remain on all the time the radio is on.

When charging the radio, a small bubble level indicator lights up in various colors to show the state of charge… I’m not sure how useful the bubble level is but it is colorful and cool-looking.

As recommended, I first fully charged the radio…the Bubble Level Charging Indicator changes colors from Red to Yellow to Green at different states of charge. As I started to acquaint myself with the 750 my first thoughts were how solid this tiny radio is…it feels heavy (in a good way). If you enable the lighting to stay on, and especially if you engage the EQ (which lights up a level display on the top) this little radio dazzles you with its lighting…casual visitors commented on it. Battery life seems good…I used the radio a few hours each day for several days before it needed to be recharged. Sound quality belies the tiny size…it sounds pleasant and natural. Considering its size and small antennas I was surprised at how good its reception was on all bands, especially FM which was surprisingly good. For its size it receives signals quite well and in fact the RF750 Plus is better than many small radios in my collection. I was also quite surprised to discover that although it is not mentioned anywhere in the manual or literature and there is no indication of this on the display, the FM is in stereo through earbuds. Bluetooth and Tiff card functions all worked as expected…even the ability to record on a Tiff card (using the mobile app) is a plus in such a relatively inexpensive and tiny radio. Raddy has packed a lot into this small package. The USB charging jack doubles as a headphone output using the supplied USB C to 1/8” miniplug adapter. Sound through earbuds was full and clean. The S.O.S. Alarm feature could be a lifesaver as well.

The tiny size and the necessity of very few controls does make learning the radio a bit more complicated than with some larger radios…for example there is no room for a keypad (although again, if you opt to use the mobile app there is a keypad there). Although it tunes relatively quickly on AM and FM it takes quite a while to cover the SW spectrum. For that I recommend you let it set its presets. After that you can quickly navigate the entire SW spectrum and still manually tune around those presets for quick access to the entire spectrum. And even though I fault the instruction manual for being less organized than it could be, I did find that after a period of use I began to understand the various control functions better and then looking at the manual things made more sense. In other words, there is a learning curve but it’s not terrible and afterwards the radio is lots of fun and offers great performance for its size. I have created a Quick Guide which you will find at the end of this article. And of course, you can download their App which will give you finer control over everything, including a keypad, from your smartphone…I did not test this feature.

The Raddy RF750 Plus is a marvel of miniaturization and among multi-band radios is one of the smallest I have ever seen…I haven’t seen such a tiny multiband radio since the days of the classic Sony ICF-SW-100 and ICF-SW07. And although those were very sophisticated designs the Raddy challenges them on a raw performance basis. Of course, it is not intended to replace full-size radios, but I will say that its overall quality and performance are impressive. And since it includes Weather Band it is ideal for travelers who need a tiny radio to stay alert of weather conditions. There is no Weather Alert function but it is easy enough to tune in from time to time to see what’s happening. Overall reception, sound, battery life and features are frankly amazing and for its intended purpose. I think the Raddy 750 Plus is a great little radio!

Recommended.

There are only 4 Controls: Left side upper is Power, Left side lower is Lock/S.O.S., Top right is the Function toggle, the Shuttle or Gyroscope ring surrounds the speaker. All steps will refer to these as Power, S.O.S., Function and Shuttle. Many functions require you to be in Time Display mode. With radio off quick touch Power or S.O.S. to enter Time Display mode.

Lock/Unlock: There are two lock modes: Key & Shuttle Lock and Shuttle Lock.
Key Lock: Lightly press Power and SOS on the left to turn on the screen and show the time. The lock symbol appears on the top right corner of LCD. In the time display status, double click S.O.S. to unlock or lock the radio. Lightly press Power within 10 seconds of unlocking to turn on the radio.
Shuttle Lock: lightly press “LOCK/SOS” to lock/unlock the top Shuttle knob…Shuttle Lock appears on LCD.
Lightly press “LOCK/SOS” to disable…Shuttle Lock disappears.
Set Frequency Range & Tuning Steps For Your Location: In Time Display Status or with radio on hold Function to the right for two seconds until a number appears. Push to theft to toggle to 87.0 & wait for it to disappear…this will set it for the US. This also clears all memories.
Normal Power On: Press On/Off button twice for normal ON or once to start Sleep Timer, then you can continue to click it to scroll thorough descending sleep times or go all the way to ON.
Power Off: Long Press On/Off button.
Volume Up/Down: Push Function button backward or forward.
Mute/Unmute: Quick Press Power button.
Change Bands and Modes: Quickly double click Power Button.
Tune Manually: Push Function button left or right.
Scan: Push Function left or right and hold for 2 seconds.
Enable/Disable Shuttle Ring Tuning: Light press S.O.S.
Scan and Save To Memory: Double Click Function button.
Toggle between scrolling through presets or manual tuning: Push Function button
Delete Preset: Hold Function down for 2 seconds.
Select EQ: With radio on hold Function down for 2 seconds, tap to toggle (I like EQ 3 for the speaker but used different settings for the various earbuds I tried).

There are many other settings in the manual but these are the basics to get started.