Sony XDR-M1 review

To reduce the confusion, you can copy up to 20 stations to the Favourites list. This involves pressing Menu, scrolling down two positions and selecting Favourite, then selecting Save -- a total of five button presses. Following this procedure automatically switches you from Normal mode, where you can see all the stations, to Favourite mode, where you can only see your presets. To store a second station, you've got to switch back to Normal mode and start again. It's not the most intuitive or convenient system for storing presets.

The XDR-M1 also operates as an FM radio. Tuning is a mostly manual affair, although you can press and hold the central control to scan to the next station. You may then need to rock it up and down to adjust the tuning by 0.05MHz increments. Once you've found the perfect frequency, add the station to the Favourites list, which also has space for 20 FM stations. The procedure is basically the same as for DAB stations, although there's an additional option that lets you enter the station name by scrolling through the alphabet and picking out letters. You might want to save this task for a rainy day when there's nothing on the telly and you've read everything in the house, including the backs of all the cereal packets.

Features
Although it's a Tic Tac in a market dominated by enormous lollipops, the XDR-M1 displays more information than many full-size radios. You get four lines of DAB information, including the ensemble name, the station name, the programme type and a line that can be switched between scrolling text, frequency, component name, bit rate and signal level. There's also an option to fill the screen with four lines of scrolling text. In FM mode you get the frequency, plus the station name if you've bothered to enter it. Sony also squeezes in icons for almost all the radio's functions, from band and signal strength to Mega Bass and low battery, and a clock. Despite this, the display doesn't feel cluttered. If only it were brighter…

One unusual and useful feature is the ability to store the scrolling text as a text memo. This enables you to make a note of a song title, Web address or phone number that has been pushed out alongside the broadcast. You can store ten items and recall or overwrite them as required.

An Auto Off option enables you to turn the radio off after 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. We can't think of a use for this feature, since you surely won't want to fall asleep with the earbuds jammed into your ears. It doesn't have an alarm.

Performance
The XDR-M1 uses the headphone cable as its antenna, and ideally the cable needs to be vertical. When it's wrapped around your body and you're striding down the street, walking past the wrong kind of building can interrupt the signal. Sometimes you get a momentary blip in the broadcast; sometimes it sounds as if a big hairy monster has eaten the DJ and is slobbering on the mic.

We found the interruptions annoying, especially in comparison to the clarity of the DAB broadcasts. This problem is not unique to the XDR-M1. We've had similar experiences with other pocket radios and we only recommend them for people who're going to be outdoors or next to a window. If you're standing on the sidelines of a football match or parked under a green umbrella by the local canal, it should be fine. Moderate activity is okay, as long as you're in an open space, and we got good reception on a bus -- albeit a modern, mostly plastic bus. It barely worked on a train and the signal disappeared completely when we walked under a metal roof.

The XDR-M1 has a Mega Bass function that boosts the bass to fill out the sound. It's switched on by default, although you can switch it off via the menu. It makes a noticeable difference to the sound, especially when you're listening to music. The difference between FM and DAB is also clear, with FM broadcasts sounding hissy, especially when the signal is weak.

Sony claims a battery life of nine hours in DAB mode or 40 hours in FM mode. Those figures would seem more acceptable if Sony had built in a rechargeable battery, so you could just plug it in between trips. As it is, you should budget for rechargeable batteries and a charger.

Additional editing by: Nick Hide