XHDATA D-608WB Review

I love radios.  I can’t even say how many radios and short wave radios I own because my wife reads this.   However, I was tickled to death to find out that XHDATA was sending me their new D-608WB Emergency Radio ($33) to review.   It can also be purchased from Amazon.

I also own the original XHDATA D-608 and reviewed it previously here.   Like I said, I own a lot of radios.

Also, I own a lot of radios that call themselves Emergency Radios. So let’s see how the D-608WB shakes out.

Packaging

Packaging is minimal which I appreciate.  I hate things in boxes that are oversized.  You get a radio, a USB Cable, and a manual.   Simplistic and perfect.

Features

• AM
• FM
• Short Wave
• 7 Channel NOAA Weather Radio
• Flashlight (3 levels)
• SOS Alarm (It’s LOUD)
• Bluetooth – This is my favorite feature
• Can Play from TF card
• Hand Crank Dynamo
• Solar Powered
• Reading Light
• USB Output for charging phones, tablets, etc.

Phew!  That’s a lot for a $33 radio.  That is just the big stuff and I didn’t go into memory and channel storage.

My Favorite Feature

As mentioned above the Bluetooth is my favorite feature.  Let me tell you why.   I frequently ride a bicycle and ride with one AirPod and listen to podcasts while I ride.  I never get home exactly when the podcast is over so I always continue listening after my ride.   The first time I connected my iPhone to the D-608WB I was stunned at the richness of the spoken word.  It was SO MUCH better than the iPhone speaker.

Your mileage might vary on music as this is just a single speaker radio.  You can of course listen to music in stereo with headphones.  But Talk Radio and Podcasts sounds very rich and deep.

Here is a quick demonstration of how the bluetooth connects and disconnects.

Medium Wave And FM Band Settings

Much of the world uses 9K channel separation.  The US uses a 10K separation.  I’m happy to report that you can easily change the settings by holding the volume down button while the radio is off.  This makes it a perfect radio for travel as well.

Likewise for FM.  You can toggle between the FM broadcast range for whatever country settings you need.  For example the US uses 88-108 MHz.  The closest setting as per the manual is 87-108 MHz.  Again, that makes this the perfect travel radio.   I wish I’d have owned this radio when I was working and traveling the world.

D-608WB Controls

Almost all of the buttons are intuitive.  The only one that threw me for a loop is the M key on the right side of the radio.   The M key is for Bluetooth or TF card playback or sets the alarm if pressed while the radio is off.   Only takes one time to figure it out forever but the use of the letter M probably stands for Mode or something.

Tuning is a snap with either automatic or manual tuning.

Charging Options

The XHDATA D-608WB can be charged either via a USB C port, solar power, or hand crank.  It should be noted that any radio that uses a dynamo hand crank system takes a LOT of cranking to provide even a minimal charge.    In a real emergency situation though hand cranking may be all you have.

It is a big bonus that there are so many ways to provide power to the radio.

My favorite way to maintain a charge though is to get several 18650 3.7 volt batteries and charge them on my universal charger.  Be advised though that removing the battery, even for a second, resets everything.  I don’t find this problematic at all, but you might if you store stations in memory.  I don’t store any channels at all.  I like spinning the tuning dial.  Especially on short wave.  It only takes a few moments to reset the time.  My preference will always be to just swap batteries.

Reception

Reception is above average for sure.  Most of my small radios have trouble with shortwave on a whip antenna indoors where I live.  I was surprised to learn that I could receive a few channels DURING THE DAY WHEN RECEPTION IS BAD, indoors.  I live in the woods as well surrounded by a million trees and close to sea level.  That makes the D-608WB short wave reception impressive.

MW DX-ing is pretty darn good at night. I can get almost all of the AM clear channels (50,000 watts) on the East Coast at night indoors.   I love to MW DX at night when the insomnia hits.  Hearing the news and talk radio from Boston, New York, Toronto, Cleveland and other places gives me a charge.

FM channels are strong and I get all the channels in my region that I listen to on any other radio that I own.

NOAA

The XHDATA D-608WB has the standard 7 NOAA Weather Channels.   The radio can be set to receive emergency alerts by:

• Turning the radio on to any band
• Long pressing the Alert button
• The backlight comes on and Flashes the letters ALE

The radio stays in this state and the backlight stays on.  I’m not sure of the impact to battery life, however, I do wish the screen backlight would go off.

When the NOAA weather alert 1050 Hz tone goes off ,the SOS siren goes off.  Long pressing the alert button takes you to your local NOAA station and corresponding voice alert.

I have received a few false alerts.  I need to test it away from my home which has way too many RF transmissions from so many gadgets.

Recommendations

While I find the D-608WB to be awesome and possess SO MANY capabilities I do have a wish list for the next radio:

• Dedicated Line Out
• External Antenna Connector
• Time Out on the backlight when in NOAA Emergency Alert mode
• Ability to use the radio while in Emergency Alert mode
• NOAA Alert should go directly to voice alert
• Real time clock battery to store the time and channels in memory

While I have a wish list it should not detract from how great this radio is.  Pound for pound and dollar for dollar this is an excellent radio at a bargain price.

None of the stuff on that list is necessary for how almost anyone uses a radio.  This is just me having a pipe dream.

Wrap Up

XHDATA hits it out of the park again with the D-608WB.  What an amazing little radio packed with vital emergency features.   Here is a quick overview video that I made that touches on some of the features.

If you need an emergency radio or are just a radio geek like me, this radio belongs on your desk or shelf.

JOHN’S TECH BLOG ***LOVES*** THE XHDATA D-608WB