Who remembers the ’80s & 90’s when we grew up and to listen to music you needed a transistor radio and you had to manually tune in to the station you wanted passing all the pirate radio stations as you wanted to look for your favourite station?
Fast forward to the present day and with music and radio streaming and Alexa being able to pick a station without having to tune in a station, the radio has become a novelty item but there is still a place for the trusty radio. In this series of reviews, we got approached by Majority audio whom we have reviewed a number of their affordable soundbars to review a compact radio.
In this series of reviews, we are covering both the Majority Belford compact AM/FM radio and the Majority Homerton 2. First up is the Majority Belford AM/FM radio which costs £24.95
Unboxing
Majority is a very environmentally friendly company, that plant a tree in one of their managed forests for every order received. Majority has made the packaging eco-friendly and the paper user guide is now no longer inside. If you want a user manual they are available online via the majority website or via the downloadable PDFs available. I would recommend you download the user manual as it provides a comprehensive guide on the controls and menu options so you get an understanding of how to use this device.
What you do find included is the following: Belford radio & Micro USB cable.
First Impressions/ Design
The Belford compact AM/FM radio has that very traditional look that you would have found in your grandparent’s house. In fact, put them side by side and you will struggle to see what the difference is.
The clear difference is that Belford uses a DSP digital tuner that comes with a physical turning scale. Weight wise it’s very lightweight at only 379g and not very large either with dimensions: 5.2 x 19 x 15.5cm (WxLxH). Inside it is powered by a 2299mAh, 3.7V lithium-ion battery which will provide you with 10 hours on a single charge.
The front of the radio keeps to the traditional style an old-school tuning scale at the top with the rest covered in a mesh grill protecting the speaker. At the top of the radio you have the mode switch which has the following options:
- OFF
- AM
- FM
Next to that is the tuning wheel to allow you to find your radio station this is very retro.
Moving to the right side of the radio and that has your volume wheel and headphone jack if you want to plug your wired headphones into the radio.
Last but not least on the rear is a seven-section telescopic antenna, carry handle and micro USB charging port.
Performance
Under that mesh grill is a monaural 2.5-inch speaker and outputs a watt of power at best but it does pump out some volume. When you use the headphone jack you get a mono sound through the headphones.
The Belford compact radio is only a medium wave radio with just the option of FM/AM stations. Now I would only use the AM option for TalkSport but it does give you the range of 522 -1620KHZ on the AM frequency with access to stations like BBC Radio Essex, Radio Gold, Absolute Radio and more. Whereas the FM frequency provides you with the likes of Heart, Capital and Kiss FM with a range of 88-108MHZ on FM.
When tuning in a station this radio can be a little sensitive and picks up weaker stations with ease which is not ideal as being a digital tuner the dial doesn’t tune in a linear fashion. What you will notice when switching stations is you get that choppiness and it requires fine-tuning to get the station you require just like the radios of old. Also to help you get your station is that seven-section telescopic antenna which you must adjust to get the best signal.
Verdict
The Belford compact radio keeps things simple from its affordable price tag (Under £30) to its no-frills radio with the bonus of an AM Tuner so I can listen to TalkSport or switch over to the FM frequency and listen to an array of radio stations playing the latest in music. If you’re looking for something even more compact then Majority also sell the Belford Go for under £15.
This radio is perfect for taking down to the beach and chilling out on a nice sunny day due to its lightweight design and handle perfect to carry down to the beach. In the wintertime, it’s also ideal to sit in the kitchen but with the fact I have an Amazon Alexa in my kitchen which can pick a station faster than I can tune the Belford I don’t think it will be replacing Alexa but for those who don’t have any smart home tech or just enjoy that vintage look, the Belford ticks the boxes.
Product Rating:
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Performance: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value For Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars – 4.3 Star review
You can buy directly from the Majority website
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