Bedside, portable and outdoor radios tested

Like the Zeus, the Groov-e Boston is a radio pitched to affordable buyers. It doesn’t boast as many convenient features as the Zeus, but the Boston is a more stylish and portable unit for moving around the house.

We very much liked its looks with its wood cabinet and silver fascia giving the radio both a slightly retro styled but also modern appearance. It has a handle for carrying it around, and although it weighs 871g, we didn’t find it to be too heavy. If you like your stylish radios and find the Ruark R1S too expensive, the Boston is a more affordable alternative.

It has a battery compartment that accepts four C-sized batteries (not included), a telescopic antenna for a better radio signal, and a range of buttons and dials on its front that we found made operating the Boston an easy process. A downside is the LCD screen which we found to be a) too small, b) hard to read from across a room and c) the light spill from backlit screen distracts at night.

There are 20 presets for FM stations and another 20 for DAB. Other features include Bluetooth connectivity and Dynamic Range Control that controls the loudness of the highs and lows. This is a feature we reckon you can live without enabling as it doesn’t make much of a difference.

The sound quality from the Boston is not the most detailed and the clearest, but we did enjoy its smoothness. There’s a fun sense of energy about the Boston’s delivery that gets our head bopping to songs like The Foo Fighters’ Walk. Vocals are delivered in a clear manner wherever it’s a presenters’ voice or that of a singer.

Bass is modestly described, and we do wish that the stereo effect of left and right channels was more pronounced, but on the whole, for casual listeners, the Boston is a simple unit at an affordable price.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Groov-e Boston