SonyICF38 Portable AM/FM Radio (Black)

I purchased this radio for $25.84 in 2015. Great radio but I wouldn't pay $220 for it now.

I want to start by saying I'm not really a radio person but I'll throw in my "2 cents" anyway.As a matter of fact the only reason I purchased the radio was so I could listen to it at night, 102.7 Fresh FM (I'm in New York City), has some rather relaxing songs and is my current favorite radio station. I bought this radio to replace an extremely cheap clock radio which I bought a couple of years back just to have something to listen to at a security post. The clock radio had very poor sound and a not so great tuner to say the least. I wanted to replace it and at first I looked into buying another clock/radio,but the "clock part" really didn't interest me because I just want to listen to the radio and having that bright red light in my face from the "clock part" wasn't exactly what I wanted.Any way so I came across this little radio,it was affordable and it's nothing fancy,it's simply a nice little radio,I mean more can you ask for right?I think it functions above average in my opinion,first of all it's made by Sony and Sony has a well known and very good reputation when it comes to making good radios,stereos etc. The sound is really what will blow you away,you may be thinking to yourself how could such a big sound come out of something so small. I was totally AMAZED at just how LOUD this thing can get. I mean you just have to hear it for yourself. Now for me sound is not too much of an issue but it may be for you,but unless you're very far away from the radio,you won't have a problem in the sound department. The sound on this radio is very good to say the least,at least in my opinion.The tuner is very good as well it actually says "Tune" in the upper right hand corner and it has a red light that goes on when you have the station tuned pretty much just right,likewise the light will get dull or just go out all together when you have static,so you really have to just turn the knob until you get it just right. I get 102.7 Fresh FM just fine now and I didn't even have to raise the antenna. Like I said I'm not really a radio person so I don't know how well the other stations will come in,but I'm sure they should be just fine. Also it's FM/AM so if Am is your thing then you have that as well.The radio comes with a power cord and it can used as a portable radio as well,it takes 4 double A batteries. I really don't have any complaints,I mean I just got it and opened it up barely 2 hours ago so if something goes wrong maybe I'll update this review if that's possible.I was going to give it 4 1/2 stars because the numbers that represent the radio stations that are printed on the radio seem to be maybe slightly off,again I'm not a radio person so I'm not exacty sure how this is supposed to work. As I said, I have it tuned to 102.7 fresh FM but the dial is pointing to about 104. I actually had to check on the internet and find the station there first and then tune the radio to it,just an idea I had which worked very well. I mean that's kind of nitpicking to me,but it may become an issue if you listen to multiple stations,you may have a hard time going back and forth because the numbers are a bit misleading,or so it seems.Overall though I'm very pleased so far,I just want to say one more thing and that is, this is just a simple radio. There is nothing fancy here,you won't find any tape or CD or anything like that,no way to program any stations into the radio or any other "extras". The only thing you're getting here is a radio with a band to change from FM to AM and 2 dials,one for the tuner and one for the volume and that's pretty much it. I'm saying all of this because I want people to know what they are getting before they make the purchase. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day.

(UPDATED 08/15/2016: This radio is still working great 18 months later on the original four AA batteries! I use it 15 to 30 minutes a day about 5 days per week to listen to a local AM station and have not had to replace batteries in it yet! Also the Sony ICF-S10Mk2 pocket radio referenced in the following review after decades of being a top value pocket radio has been discontinued and may no longer be available by the time you read this review. The pocket Sony been replaced by the Sony ICF-P26, which I am evaluating at this time and will review shortly. This ICF-38 is completely reliable so far and recommended for general use. Original review follows)A simple AM/FM portable radio that picks up clearly on both AM & FM and sounds decent is not an easy thing to find anymore. I recently bought another Sony model, the tiny pocket AM/FM ICF-S10Mk2 and since I liked how many stations it picked up I thought I'd try this Sony ICF-38 because it has a way bigger speaker making it better for listening to music and it also will run on AC. Both are made in China. They both seem sturdy and well made. Sony quality control seems fine in China.While the ICF-38 does sound great for FM music radio it is not as remarkable in long distance reception on either AM or FM as the little shirt pocket Sony ICF-S10Mk2. Since the ICF-38 is so much bigger I expected better reception but it is about the same or just a tad less sensitive as the Sony pocket model. Also this mid-sized Sony ICF-38 seems more susceptible to interference from my laptop computer and other sources of electronic noise when listening to AM than the little ICF-S10MK2 does. My laptop, or to a lesser extent Wi-Fi, causes both of these Sony radios to go bonkers on AM, but the ICF-38 seems worse. If you are seeking a radio to use around a bunch of other electronics to listen to AM, such as in an office environment, you might be better off with another radio or sticking to FM on the ICF-38.On a FM music station this ICF-38 yields better fuller sound than I expected for it's size! I'm very pleased with the tone on FM music stations. AM music sounds better on this radio than most others I have but not as good as the FM of course.I'm going to keep the ICF-38 because of the clean sound on FM music, not because it has better reception. For the price it is a very decent and uncomplicated basic radio that somehow sounds bigger than it is. It is sort of a "Plain Jane" in the looks department being stark and utilitarian compared even to other Sony models, but underneath the plain exterior the ICF-38 is a good sounding portable radio on FM. By good sound on FM I mean low distortion, bass you can hear without being boomy or overpowering and clear upper mids. No it isn't Bose but it has a well balanced tonal spectrum for casual music listening. Even on AM music sounds better than it does when listening to FM on other radios.It runs on 4 AA Alkaline batteries or you can use the built-in AC cord which many people will find a huge benefit. Since Alkalines are stated to last 80 hours and probably will last way longer with brief daily use of 30 minutes to an hour, I'm going to try it on batteries for a while to see. There is lettering on the battery door stating to remove the batteries if you are going to use it mainly on AC power however there is nothing about that in the manual. The AC cable stores under the large battery door and the power cable is permanently attached.In the box is the radio and a brief manual. That is all. The warranty is one year and you can register it online at the link in the warranty section. Since it can plug into AC you probably should register it in the event of any safety recall down the road.This radio has a separate on/off slider switch on the top right which is a very convenient "set-it-and-forget-it" feature meaning if you listen to the same station a lot you only need to hit this one switch and the last station plays at the last volume setting. I first liked this feature in the GE Superadio and glad it is also in this Sony. Also on top is the FM antenna which swivels in all directions and works well. On the right side from top to bottom is a thumb-wheel for tuning, a micro slide switch for Hi/Lo tone, a thumb-wheel for volume and a 3.5mm MONAURAL EARPHONE jack. Above and to the right of the slide rule tuning display is a red tuning LED which is sort of a waste if you know how to tune a radio. There is a big AM/FM slide switch on front under the slide rule tuning dial.. This radio has a handy carrying handle that folds down and clicks into a recess for table top use.It is very important for anyone buying this radio to know upfront that the earphone jack is for a mono earphone, not a stereo headset or stereo earbuds. If you plug any stereo ear gear into this radio only the left side is going to work. It is not a malfunction, it is the way it is made. Many people want sound in both ears of their stereo ear gear when using a mono radio and Sony should consider changing this, yet they probably won't. I don't wear things in my ears or over them if I don't have to, so this isn't an issue at all for me but for many people it seems to be a very big deal. You can buy a 3.5mm male mono to female stereo adapter and that will send audio to both earpieces. Mono headsets or even earphones are almost impossible to find these days. You can also just buy a set of earbuds at the DOLLAR store, plug them in and find out which one is working and then cut the other one off with scissors. PRESTO, monaural earphone! Sony even uses this same mono earphone setup on much higher end radios that are made and sold in Japan only. It is a carryover from the 1960's and you should not expect this feature to change on any current Sony model that has it.As someone who was in commercial radio broadcasting for 34 years and has bought at least 75 radios and currently has about 15, I can recommend the Sony ICF-38 as a top radio value. It is not the best AM/FM portable radio on the planet, but it is without a doubt the best sounding one for the money right now. Plus there is a full year warranty where most others are 90 days or less.Several reviewers wish it had digital tuning. I prefer analog tuning to digital for 3 reasons. 1 - Every digital radio I've ever had fails sooner than analog ones and usually it is the digital tuning section that goes haywire. Only 1 out of about 15 digital radios I've bought are still working and the rest are at the landfill. 2 - Digital radios are drawing power from the battery whether it is turned on or not for clock or memory preset functions resulting in shorter battery life making a digital tuning radio the worst possible choice for an "emergency kit" radio. In general analog radios also give much longer battery life when in regular use. 3 - It is a little known fact that radio stations DRIFT from their assigned frequency by a few cycles/Hertz through the course of a day. With a digital radio you can't FINE TUNE the station to compensate for frequency drift because you are locked into their assigned frequency. Only an analog radio can compensate for this reality. There isn't anything technically superior about digital tuning for an average radio user other than the convenience of station preset buttons. The reality is that a radio is like a car in that the more computerized it gets, the more there is to go wrong.I like both of the Sony radios I've bought in the last month and would buy both again so I can recommend them to you. I like each for different reasons. They are not the best radios made but both represent value for your money trouncing anything in the price class in one regard or another. The pocket ICF-S10Mk2 has powerful reception but sounds strident. This ICF-38 sounds almost as good as a GE Superadio at moderate volume which is amazing for the size, but the ICF-38 is no more powerful in reception. You can spend more and do a lot worse than this ICF-38. It is an ideal multi-purpose midsize radio that is handy to carry around at a very reasonable price relative to anything else that sounds as good.Closing on a funny note. Amazon's current Sony ICF-38 item description says, "Pocket Size for Portable Use...The ultra-compact design slips easily into shirt or jacket pocket or handbag for convenience and portability." Folks if you have a pocket this thing will fit in then have at it, but I have no such pockets. The Amazon item description dimensions are accurate though, I just checked them with a tape measure. I'm not even sure Captain Kangaroo's pockets were big enough for this radio. That part must have been intended for the Sony ICF-S10Mk2 pocket radio description and is misplaced. I assure you the Sony ICF-38 is NOT a pocket radio! If you want top value in a pocket radio go for the Sony ICF-S10Mk2 instead, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as pleasant as this ICF-38. The extra size and weight of the ICF-38 is a worthwhile burden for a more pleasing tone, especially for music whether FM or AM.