WR-22BK Digital Radio, AM/FM with Bluetooth, USB, Black

With our entertainment center relegated to the basement, we needed something for the living/dining room to play the morning news on the radio and the occasional background music for entertaining (light entertaining -- we're too old and baby-having to throw a big, loud shindig). I've had a Sangean atomic clock radio in the bedroom for a couple years and am very happy with its tuning performance, so I wanted to see what Sangean had in the way of music systems. I was momentarily sidetracked by the Tivoli Model One, which sure is pretty, but some radio geeks on a blog swore up and down that the Tivoli doesn't tune as well nor sound as good as the Sangean (WR-2, essentially the same as the WR-22 minus bluetooth), and I can't stand fighting with an analog tuner to find a station. Plus you have to pay a LOT more to get the Bluetooth Tivoli. So then I considered the Sangean WR-12BT, which offers a very simple, retro, analog tuner appearance somewhat like the Tivoli (I was worried my wife wouldn't like all the blinky button-y LED-y digitality of the WR-22 out on display on the bar), plus stereo sound and Bluetooth, although some people complained about the sound quality. I ended up ordering both and giving them a listen at home. It really comes down to style and your desire for digital features. Both radios sounded very good in a medium living room. The WR-12BT does seem a bit bass-heavy and muddled at first, but turning the bass knob down and treble knob up a bit did the trick. While the WR-12BT's woofer provides pretty good bass, it's better at the low-lows than the low-mids, so songs with funky bass lines sounded kinda thin. The single 3" speaker of the WR-22, on the other hand, provided excellent bass licks in the low-mid range (even after I turned the Loudness setting to Off, b/c frankly it was a bit thick), even though it couldn't reach the same low-lows as the -12BT (y'know, for your techno and hip hop). Switching quickly back and forth between the two on the same stations, the -12BT actually (and strangely) sounded a bit "smaller" than the -22 at comparable volumes, probably because of the better mid-range fidelity of the -22. The stereo sound of the -12BT is nice, but the mono -22 sounds great enough on its own that you don't really miss the stereo, at least not for a casual background radio. I think the -12BT is a good bit louder at max than the -22, but the -22 fills the room amply and I don't think I'll ever be cranking it to max anyway (like I said, we're beyond that). And unless you're a serious audiophile that is looking for your primary music system and are ready to shell out several hundred bucks for some other fancy system, both the -12BT (with tweaking) and the -22 sound great on their own; if you weren't listening to them side-by-side to figure out that one sounds better for jazz/classical or the other sounds better for rock, you would never know what you're missing, you'd just think you got a pretty good shelf system for a very good price. So if you want the handy features of digital tuning, 5 memory presets, a clock (that handily sets itself once you tune to a station broadcasting RDS), and a remote control, go with the WR-22. If you want something that will look cool at your Mad Men party and you don't mind manual tuning with no presets, get the WR-12BT.

Update: October 2016. I've been using the WR-22 for about 18 months, and I am still very satisfied with the radio. I have noticed that a lot of other reviews complain about the clock's accuracy. The problem is with FM stations and not with thw WR-22. The clock is actually quite accurate, however many RDS enabled FM stations do not transmit correct time, and can throw off the clock. There is such a radio station in my city. I used the WR-22 settings menu to change the clock to manual instead of RDS. After 12 months, the WR-22 was still within a minute of correct time. I purchased the Sangean WR-22WL with the walnut finsh wood cabinet. I thought the walnut would not show fingerprints and dust as much as piano black. In short, this is a very good table radio with nice rich sound. While it is only a single speaker, this radio puts out plenty of rich sound at very good volume levels. Though Sangean does not publish receiver sensitivity, qualitative testing of both the AM and FM bands shows that weak stations can be pulled in with minimal distortion. FM: no problems here. There is an internal FM antenna, and the antenna my also be switched to use an external input. A wire with appropriate connector is include in the box. RDS/RDSB: this is a function on the FM band, which is Radio Data Service. This allows the INFO button on the radio to select display of the station name, song title, call sign, program type and a sort text message. The WR-22WL also can synchronize its clock using the RDS, "CT," current time field. RDS seems to be a mixed bag, but that is not the fault of this radio. Broadcasters seem to lack consistency in their use of the RDS fields and some don't bother to have an accurate CT signal. There is one station in my city that throws off the WR-22WL's clock by five minutes every time I tune to the station, if I leave the setup menu setting to RDS CT instead of Manual. I prefer to leave the clock setting on Manual in order to avoid RDS from messing up the time. AM: the AM receiver is very good. There seems to be little or no interference from the radio's own CPU and selectivity is quite good. I checked inside, and there is a fairly large ferrite bar antenna that runs parallel to the side of the radio. The use of a bar antenna gives this radio better resistance to static and noise than radios that use just a wire hanging out the back. There are also terminals on the back to allow an external antenna and ground to be attached. The use on an internal bar antenna does make the reception at least somewhat directional, with the best results when the side of the radio faaces the transmitter. This could be an issue if you want to locate the radio with only the internal antenna, in a place where the radio does not face in the best direction. That is not a fault of this radio, as that would be true for any receiver with a ferrite bar antenna. At least here you may attach an external antenna if you want to. Bluetooth: the Bluetooth works very smoothly and reliably, and is uncomplicated to use. Some reviewers cited problems, but it sounds like they may not have thoroughly read the manual. Place the radio in Bluetooth mode, then tap the multifunction dial once to activate pairing, next use your device's menu to allow the device to pair. Once paired the WR-22WL and the device should pair automatically any time the device gets near the radio and both have Bluetooth turned on. The WR-22WL stores up to eight device pairings. I tested with my Android phone and 7th generation iPod Nano. Both paired quickly and the radio was able to properly control both. USB: I don't have any music files on a USB stick, so I could not test the feature. The requirements are pretty well spelled out in the manual. I did use the USB jack to charge my phone and it did a good job. There seems to be plenty of charging current avalable. AUX Input: I did not test this, but there is a typical 1/8 inch stereo jack on the back of the cabient . Fit and finish: I happen to like the styling of this radio. The design is uncluttered, but not plain to the point of being unattractive. The LCD display is very clear and can be dimmed enough to make use on a bedside tale acceptable. There is auto dimming via an ambient light sensor which seems to work OK for me. The front of the radio is plastic with nice solid feel to the buttons and dials. The radio has a pretty good heft because the cabinet is thick composition wood material. The outside appears to be a veneer of real wood. The finish is nice and smooth. The electronics inside are also very well done. The circuit is very clean and there are very few wires. The assembly is very tidy. Sound quality; the sound is reminiscent of a 1940s tube type radio. There is more bass then one might expect in a small radio, but I was able to easily set the sound to my taste by pressing in on the volume knob and setting the bass and treble the way I like. The speaker is small, but has family long travel, which allows full range output. The speaker has a surprisingly large magnet, which explains its good bass performsnce. The volume control appears to be calibrated so that even at full volume the sound is undistorted and stops short of risking blowing out the speaker. I don't recommend operating at full volume as a precaution. Alarm clock: there are two independent alarms that allow week days, weekends or daily triggers. The alarms may be set to allow radio or beeper and ramp up from soft to your preferred volume, which is independently settable. The alarm seems to work as expected. The WR-22WL does not have a battery backup, but can tolerate brief power interruptions. This could be an issue if you need to be awakened for work, for example. If you are using the alarm, it is probably best to also set time sync to Manual to prevent invalid RDS signals from messing up the time. Remote control: I did not test the remote because the radio is sitting right where I use the radio. All the basic necessary functions are on the remote, and I would expect it to work ewell. Summary: this is a very good radio that does not try to over achieve while doing its intended functions well. The price is much much more affordable than a fancy Bose or Yamaha table radio - as in about only one quarter the cost. Don't be tempted to over estimate your need for stereo or more speakers. In the setting this radio is intended to serve, a single good quality speaker will probably be comparable. I think you'll like this radio, but do give the instruction manual a quick read to be sure you know everything it does and how to adjust the settings.

A nice design, has good reception for FM and the bluetooth works well. Simple set up, I like the white on black LCD and its auto dimming. All in all compact and sophisticated design. My negative views are 1) at this price point why is there no HD radio included ? I found the FM was great but would have thought HD with the extra channels would have been a relatively cheap implementation. 2) People referred to this as an audiophile radio. I use Magnepans for my music listening and they are audiophile. This radio suffers form bass bloat where they try and get 10lbs of bass from a 5lb bag.. it's admirable the amount of volume the radio can produce, and nice they cut it off before it distortion occurs. What I found was I needed to turn bass to -4 for music to sound "real" compared to my reference system (that cost 5K$ ) so not that bad for a 160$ radio... but what can you get from a 3 inch speaker really ? not Audiophile quality. I have yet to check the headphone output. All in all I feel this a good buy. Finds my iPod straight away, easy to set up. USB hook up to iPod did not register. I need to check a USB stick to see if that works now. UPDATE USB stick does work. Loud is the default setting, bass bloat is fixed when you find the off setting. CON: the date is fixed in memory and today it is telling me Wednesday 24th 2014 when we all know full well it's the 26th as it's the day before thanks giving. So maybe it needs a firm ware update... but the thing is a clock radio, one should be able to simply tell it the day and that's it. Another issue. I had to move the radio and hence turn off the power. For the price you would hope it had an internal battery to keep the time settings etc. in place... sadly not. I'm leaning to 3.7 stars now.

If you're wondering how this radio compares to the Bose Wave Radio read on! Spoiler Alert: The Sangean WR-22WL is the clear winner in both sound and functionality and at roughly one-third the price! Last year I inherited a Bose Wave Radio. While it seemed well-built enough, there was something about its sound that very much irritated me. Even at low volume, I could not listen to the Bose for any length of time without experiencing a feeling of pressure around my ears and ultimately I would get a headache. Try as I might, I just couldn't get used to the Bose Wave Radio's sound. So I sold the Bose but decided it would be nice to have a good sounding table radio. After much research I decided to try one of the Sangean models and ultimately I ordered the WR-22WL. Based on many reviews, I had very high expectations for this model. I am pleased to say that this radio has met and/or exceeded even my highest expectations. My radio came superbly packed. Physical inspection showed no defects whatsoever and its operation has been flawless. I don't often use the word "craftsmanship" anymore but this is one well-crafted radio! I love its mirror black front finish. All the knobs, buttons, jacks, etc. fit snugly and work smoothly. The display is top notch! It features large white letters/numbers against a black background and the clock can easily be read across a large room and at most any angle. The FM RDS (Radio Data System) functionality not only shows you the station ID, song name, and artist, but it can set your clock's day/month/year settings too! Unlike some other reviewers, I've found that the automatic time setting feature (thru RDS) works flawlessly. It is every bit as accurate as the clock on my cell phone. I guess the radio stations in my area do a better job of ensuring the correct time is set on their broadcasts. My main reason for purchasing this radio was to have a great sounding unit and this radio delivers superb audio in spades! It has a very well balanced low end, mid-range, and upper end sparkle that sounds just right to me. I find the default settings (loudness on, base and treble both at +0) to be just right. But if you don't like the defaults, you can easily turn off the loudness compensation and/or make considerable adjustments to the bass and treble levels to suit your own tastes. The Bose Wave Radio, on the other hand, has absolutely no ability for you to alter its sound. Also, I can listen to my Sangean for hours on end and not experience the "listener fatigue" that I always experienced with the Bose Wave Radio. One feature I've really come to love with the Sangean, is Bluetooth. I have an iPad Air and can effortlessly stream any audio from it to my WR-22. I find the Bluetooth audio on this radio to be excellent and the convenience of Bluetooth has to be experienced to be appreciated. In fact, the majority of my listening on the WR-22 is now via Bluetooth from my iPad Air. Whether I'm listening to my own library of music, streaming Pandora, or whatever, the audio is excellent. With the Bose Wave Radio, there is no Bluetooth support. Some of you might be saying, well the Bose has two (stereo) speakers! True. But in my experience, unless you are directly in front the Bose Wave Radio and at distance of 4 feet or less, you are not going to hear the stereo separation. The WR-22 with its single 3 inch speaker can fill my entire house with beautiful music if I (choose to) turn it up loud enough. The WR-22 also can play MP3 and WAV files from a USB stick. I've not yet tried this feature but again this is a capability you won't find on a Bose Wave Radio. I have used the WR-22's auxiliary input and have tested the subwoofer and headphone outputs. All are excellent. (The Bose Wave Radio also offers a good selection of inputs/outputs for wired connections.) Both the Bose Wave Radio and Sangean WR-22 have excellent FM tuners and good (though not exceptional) AM tuners. I do find the quality of the WR-22's AM reception to vary greatly depending on where it is placed in my home and how it is orientated. Serious AM listeners will want to try out the external AM antenna connections provided on the WR-22. (No such AM antenna extension is available on the Bose.) Internal FM antennas and external FM antenna connections are both offered on the Bose Wave Radio and the Sangean WR-22. However, for best results, you need to disable the internal FM antenna when using an external one. This can easily be done on the Sangean unit via a switch on the back panel. The Bose does not offer this capability. Both the Bose and Sangean radios offer dual alarm-clock capability. I won't be using my Sangean radio for an alarm clock so I've not yet tested that feature. But I'll update my review if/when I do try out the alarm(s). I found both the Sangean and Bose remotes to work equally well. The Sangean radio itself is more compact than the Bose mainly due to its single speaker versus two for the Bose Wave Radio. All in all I'm glad I sold the Bose and bought the Sangean instead. I find the WR-22 to be much nicer to listen to, more convenient to use, and its available at a much lower cost than a Bose.

We had an original Bose wave radio that failed after 20+ years of service. We were generally happy with the Bose, but the new model was slightly larger and wouldn't fit in the compartment where we keep our clock radio, so we started looking at alternatives. We considered various models from Yamaha, iHome, as well as some very basic clock radios before deciding on the Sangean. We read many reviews and were slightly concerned about some of the reported failures so we purchased an extended 3 year warranty, and we rarely purchase extended warranties. Here are our initial impressions after about a week of use: We found the controls very user friendly, intuitive and flexible - much more so than our old Bose. The Bose required two hands to set the alarm time, and the controls were on tops but the display was on the front, which made it very awkward. With the Sangean, you simply push the alarm button you want to set, wait for it to flash, then push/turn the dial to adjust the settings. All of the user settings follow the same model: push a button until the display shows what you want to adjust, then push/turn the dial to adjust. Once you have that down, you can easily adjust anything. We are retired and love the "ONCE" setting for the alarms since we rarely need to get up at the same time repeatedly. The "NAP" alarm is a nice feature that we didn't find on other models and we have already used it. Some people complained that the lowest dimmer setting was too low and the next was too bright. We found that the lowest setting is indeed pretty useless, especially once the room is dark. At that point, the display is merely a dim shadow and impossible for our aging eyes to discern. However, we found the second setting to be perfect. The radio is right next to our heads in the headboard, and my wife does NOT like excess light when she is trying to sleep, but I have no problem reading the display or finding the controls in the dark. The backlit buttons are a nice touch. Regarding sound quality, I would say it is a notch below that of the Bose, especially at higher volumes. At low volumes, which is how we use it since it is right by our heads, the sound is very rich and pleasing, especially to wake up to. Like the Bose, the low frequencies are strongest, weakest at the higher frequencies. If you turn up both the treble and the volume, it gets a little squeaky sounding. Several people complained about clock inaccuracies in their reviews. We haven't noticed any issues and can't help but wonder if at least some of these aren't getting reset by the RDS-CT function if people live near a time zone border and listen to a station in a different time zone. Overall we prefer it to the Bose that it replaced, and is about 1/3 the price of a new one.

Update I've been using this for almost a month now, and continue to be very impressed. I swear, the sound, the speaker, seems to improve with time. Indeed, it just may be that the speaker needs some time break in (not that it was bad at first). I listen to a wide range of music on this, and the breadth of fidelity continues to amaze me. Given the quality of the sound over time, the price of this unit actually seems modest to m e. Update #2 I've had this radio for 9 months now and appreicate its sound qualities every time I play it. I am listening to classical music over a local NPR station as I tyupe, and the sound is so accurate and full for a single (but very high tech) speaker/reflex system. You hear all the instruments, whether classical, jazz, or country. An oboe, a flute, a pedal steel guitar will just suddenly emerge clear and crisp. Voices sound great. Piano is clear and undistorted. The primary variable is the sound source, e.g., station reception. Also, some FM stations simply put out better sound. Bluetooth off my phone generally sounds quite good. I just love this radio in its wonderfull acoustic nook within the kitchen. Original review. This is a quality well-built piece of equipment, and is quite easy to use, very intuitive. I have found the instructions clear and easy to understand. For a radio with a single 3-inch speaker, this little gem puts out incredible sound. It plays the full range of sounds and is very high fidelity. For example, listening to a jazz program on the radio, many of the songs emphasize the stand-up bass, and the sound comes through surprisingly well. I have this radio in our kitchen, and it's just perfect; I can listen to high fidelity sound without an elaborate sound system. It is sensitive picking up stations, but like any radio, you sometimes have to physically move the radio to pick up certain stations adequately. The remote is small but works just fine, easy to use. What is surprising are the under-emphasized features. Specifically, the headphones-out jack in the back serves as an audio-out, to which you can plug in powered stereo speakers. It works quite well. The onboard speaker turns off when headphones or external speakers are attached). There also is a subwoofer output. Now keep in mind that the onboard speaker has surprisingly good bass, and a subwoofer seems unnecessary. However, if you attach external speakers, the onboard speaker shuts off as already noted, but the subwoofer continues to work. In short, you end up with a 2.1 stereo system. Very cool. Sangean does not really highlight this feature in any of their advertising or in their manual. Also, if you stream music via Bluetooth, it streams in stereo (I carefully checked this). I also attached a turntable (with a built-in phono preamp) into the auxiliary input, and it worked fine in stereo. So, you get a nice little radio here which in free-standing mode provides great mono sound, but plays FM stereo and other sources in stereo with the right attachments. All in all, I am very pleased with this handsome and versatile radio. I have been very impressed with the fidelity, accuracy, and lack of distortion of the radio. I have enjoyed a wide range of sounds (double bass, violins, oboes, distorted guitar, cymbals) that are so well reproduced out of this relatively small box. While I mostly listen to it in its free-standing mode, I really appreciate the ability to utilize external speakers, and the auxiliary-in and Bluetooth options. I have been using this for close to a week, and so far, no significant negatives to report (I have not yet used the alarm and snooze features, so no-comment there). My only compaint is that the black finish is a magnet for fingerprints, especially with the radio in the kitchen, so beware.

Since I already have a Sangean table radio (WR-11), I wanted a bedside radio that had pre-set tuning, because I sometimes switch channels depending on what I am listening. The WR-11 has very bright lights and has manual tuning (which is very sensitive and good), but not good for a nightime radio or a alarm clock. So since the price on these radios goes up and down on Amazon, I caught this radio at a good price. And this radio does not disappoint! Coming from a old Boston Acoustics Recepter radio, this radio is very comparable on many points: First, the wood casing makes the radio look and feel like a well built, quality radio. I bought the dark walnut version. It is built like my WR-11 - solid and strong. I use an external loop AM antenna, and used the supplied wired FM antenna. The reception is very good on both bands. Much better than my old Recepter. Sangean's radios have very good sensitivity in their tuners, and I can pick up every AM and FM station in my area. This is just as good as the manually tuned WR-11. Another plus is that it picks up the stations with RDS, so you know what station and song (it scrolls across the screen) you are listening to. I haven't tried the headphone jack, but you will get an indicator on the screen that the station is playing in stereo, and you can hear it in both ears with headphones. Second, It has dimming lights you can turn down for nightime, and it has 5 presets per AM and FM. You can go from AM to FM by hitting the source button. (The only thing that is missing is switching bands without going thru all aux and Bluetooth (which is very good and easily pairs) modes. But that is not a problem for me. The sound is great and this particular Sangean radio, the volume turns up and down in increments with every turn of the knob that you can see on the screen. It comes with a mini remote, and it works decently, especially from the other side of the bed. Third, It has a clock which keeps accurate time. (it was hard to set though....) I don't use the alarm, because I have a dedicated alarm clock. (this radio is about 5 seconds slower than my clock and my phone. And my atomic clock. Haven't lost any minutes yet. I can understand that once the power goes out or mistakenly unplug it, you will have to reset everything all over again. My old Recepter had batteries (3AAA batteries) that kept the settings backed up, but the flaw in that was that since the radio will get hot during it's use, the batteries will either get too hot to even use. And the batteries will be useless over time. This Sangean doesn't get hot, since it is wood instead of all plastic. So I can live with the occasional reset of settings. IMHO, this is not a traditional alarm clock radio. I will get into that in my dislikes. I have a few quibbles with this radio though. First: The controls are on the front with very small buttons. Not intuitive for a alarm clock, especially when you are either half sleep or not wearing glasses. Most alarm clock radios have top controls with a large "snooze" button. So I can't use it as such. This is more of a "premium" radio, and it serves my purpose as listening to music or a game to put myself to sleep. Second: The bluetooth light is very bright and can't be dimmed, like the other lights. Not good, when you are listening to either SiriusXM, or the TuneIn Pro app from your other device. You have to either cover the light, or sleep with a mask (which I do). Not a major knock though. Third: The instructions are garbage. I had to figure out how to set the clock, and the pre-sets. The instructions are not very clear and easy to understand. Just use common sense and trial and error to figure it out. Otherwise, it is worth the purchase, and I am very pleased. I'm liking Sangean radios very much. Now I have two great radios, which will last me a long time.

Overall, this is a very stout radio. It's pretty heavy for its size, and I have no doubt it will last a lifetime. That said, I'm not as blown away as I thought I would be. It's not bad, though. I bought it to play some background music, talk radio, podcasts, and audio books. Volume control goes up to 30 and the sound does clip a little at that volume (I wouldn't normally have it that loud anyway). My biggest issue though is that I wish I had gotten the woodgrain version instead of black. This radio has a very glossy piano black finish that will be a dust magnet for sure. I can remedy this by wrapping it with some adhesive vinyl. The presets are nice, and it gets very good reception, especially if you use the included external FM antenna. I've included photos, one showing the high gloss surface next to a small lamp.

Seems like a used product with torn internal packaging

Gran calidad de Audio, sintoniza perfectamente todas las estaciónes de radio AM/FM y es compatible con todo lo que menciona.

Zedi Online has delivered the product ahead of time. Their team also supported me to power up the product with DC power supply. The product is excellent and meets my requirements.

Transaction was fast and seamless Sangean does a very neat and professional job of packaging. This replaced an old Bose Wave radio that was dying on me. It is in our kitchen, and it sounds the same to me as the Bose - for a lot less money. I am still learning all of the settings, but the basics seem straight forward. It looks nice and seems well made.

この商品は並行輸入品ですので、世界基準のFM周波数帯87.5MHz〜108MHzなので受信できないかと懸念しました。結論は、大丈夫でした。 マニュアルには、書いてないので情報を提供します。以下のようにすれば、良いです。 1.情報/メニューボタンを長押ししてメニュー設定 に入る。 2.チューニングコントロールロータリーを回しディスプレイに『FM87-108』を表示。チューニングロータリーを押すと周波数帯の設定に入る。 3.チューニングロータリーを回して希望の周波数帯 FM64-108,FM76-108,FM76-90を選択し、チューニングロータリーを押して設定を確定。 日本語マニュアルは、ありません。タイムゾーンやラジオデータシステムRDS/RBDSも使えません。日本語マニュアルは、ネットで調べられます。抜群に感度が良いです。