Choyong A8W Internet Radio

I recently grabbed a Choyong LC90 and reviewed it here.  While I found it to have some quirks, essentially I liked it enough to pick up a Choyong A8W.  The radio initially cost $119 but can now be had for right around $45 to $48.

I’m just going to say this straight up.  This is not a $119 radio.  However, in my opinion it is a $45 radio.

It is also advertised as an FM radio but I personally wouldn’t factor that into its list of features.  You CANNOT spin a tuner dial to pick a channel.  All you can do is scan the FM band.  If it finds a channel it becomes channel 1. The next channel it finds is channel 2.  On my scan in my area not one single channel displays the correct frequency.  I’d be mega angry if I spent over $100 on a radio that can’t display the right channel.   Also while scanning the FM band it found channels that I thought it wouldn’t be able to find and it DID NOT find strong channels that it should have.  If it doesn’t grab something you think it should, all you can do is rescan.  I don’t know why displaying 89.3 as 89.2 really gets my goat, but it does.  This is an Internet radio.  Plain and simple.

Internet Radio

The Internet Radio feature seems almost identical to the LC90.  It has the same channels.  The same way to search them and the same way to add other streaming stations.

And connectivity is the same as the LC90.  You can hook up to 2.4 GHz WiFi only or add a SIM card. The A8W also has an internal E-SIM.  It can be activated by purchasing data plans on the Choyong website.   To my surprise the Choyong data plans are very reasonable.  On my LC90 I paid $20 for 90 days and that gives you 3 GB of data.   Unless you play the thing all day long a single GB should last you a heck of a long time.  On the current data card I use from Tello (for something else) I pay $10 a month for 1 GB of data.  The Choyong E-SIM plan is cheaper.  I actually think 1GB per month would work for me.

I have no idea what cell company I’m using here in eastern NC but it does have most of the bars filled in so it most likely is a major cell company. If you use a physical SIM card you of course can pick the plan you want.

Another bonus to using cellular over WiFi is that it isn’t connected to your network.   I don’t trust a lot of stuff.  I have created a VLAN off of my firewall and attached a router to it.  It goes on that WiFi network which is segregated from all other networks in my home.  VLAN’s and Firewall rules create a mythical “Power User” status.

Error Message

Right as I was typing this and heading on to the Headphone section I got an error message that said I used all my data.   Not sure how that is possible as I don’t have the E-SIM enabled, nor do I have a physical SIM.  I’m going to grab my LC90 and make sure the data is still available there.

This exact same thing happened on my LC90.  After checking the LC90 the remaining data is intact and right where it is supposed to be.

Quirky.  A reboot fixed it.

Headphones

There is no headphone jack on the Choyong A8W.  Just a USB C jack for charging.

You can however use the USB C jack with an adapter to connect to headphones or an aux speaker.  The adapter is USB C male to 3.5mm female.   If you go to the big box store you’ll find them BUT THEY WON’T WORK.  You must purchase a PASSIVE adapter.  The ones in the stores or on Amazon mostly contain a Digital To Analog chip that won’t work on the A8W.  These adapters are designed for today’s modern cell phones.   Choyong sells them on their site for 1 dollar for three.  The kicker is that shipping is $15 from China.  Choyong is very up front about this and that’s why they give you 3 instead of just 1.   I labelled mine with a cable wrap.

This video explains it all.

Weebles Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down

Weebles don’t but the LC90 and the A8W sure do. While I haven’t had either radio very long they fall over on their face at the slightest anything.   Come on, Choyong.  You can do better.  I’ll 3D print some angled holders to mitigate this problem.

TF Card

If you don’t have a TF card installed I’m almost positive it won’t save your WiFi password or saved radio stations.  You have to have a TF card with a max size of 32 GB.  Sadly there isn’t one in the box.  I find this a bit unusual.  The LC90 is the same way.

Voice Commands

I’ve also noticed that Voice Commands don’t work well without a TF card.  I just did about 5 station searches in a row.  There were no errors but some stations aren’t on the magic list.

Adding Stations

Adding stations is easy.  Either scan a QR code or put the numerical code into their website.  Then you can add them manually.  Sometimes it is tricky to find the stream, the codec and the station icon but I found if you locate a live stream that you can “Inspect Element” in your browser and amidst all that HTML code it is in there somewhere.

I don’t have many stations but there are a few talk radio stations I sometimes listen to.  Adding stations is a really cool feature.  I wish I could make them all on one radio and transfer them somehow easily to my other radio.  While I’m on that thought I wish I could swap the E-SIM from one radio to the other as well.  Maybe someday.

Final Thoughts

This is a cool radio but has a lot of the same quirks as the LC90.  But it is still cool. It is worth $45 but it is a hard pass at $119.  I’m pretty sure the price drop is due to possibly this radio being phased out.

Streaming radios are cool and keep you from tying up your phone or your tablet.  Being able to listen to some station from the internet on your tailgate while you are raking leaves is a great feature.

JOHN’S TECH BLOG KINDA SORTA RECOMMENDS THE CHOYONG A8W AT $45. IF YOU BUY IT FOR IT’S FM SECTION YOU WILL LIKELY WANT TO SEND IT BACK.