Panasonic RF-D30BTEB-K Smart function radio with USB
Panasonic RF-D30BTEB-K Smart function radio with USB smartphone charging, Bluetooth connectivity & DAB+, Black
USB Smartphone Charging
The RF-D30BT is equipped with a DC OUT terminal on the rear panel. A smartphone can be easily charged via a USB cable both indoors and out.
| Dimensions: | 8.3 x 26.1 x 15.4 cm; 1.3 Kilograms |
| Model: | RF–D30BTEB-K |
| Manufacture: | Panasonic |
| Dimensions: | 8.3 x 26.1 x 15.4 cm; 1.3 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
The sound quality & tone is excellent, we listen to classical music so that is important to us. The auto tune facility makes it easy to use & set up the station settings.
Great sound; great Bluetooth connectivity;
Great for kitchen or home-office.
Cons:
Quite large; quite heavy; no built-in rechargeable battery; not very portable; no pause or rewind functions.
Would I buy it again? On balance no, I’d want portability & the abity to pause/rewind a program.
Already own 2 of the Panasonic RF-D10 (the predecessor to this) which are first class DAB radios.
This is an updated and much improved version with Bluetooth connectivity and better sound – cannot fault it – Absolutely delighted with the purchase.
Nice little radio, compact, splash proof, which is great as we use this in the kitchen. Portable, so can be used in the garden as well.
Self tuning, easy to use with preset buttons, great sound
I’ve bought (and been disappointed by) portable radios in the past, but this one — recommended by Which — is a winner.
Superb DAB reception and ultra clear sound. The 10 presets per band so handy.
Did a bit of research and a nice clear sound and BT mode decent. Not the loudest but ideal for the money. No complaints..
I bought this product after rejecting a Roberts RD70. The Roberts was also an excellent radio, as expected given it is 2x price of the Panasonic RF-D30. The sound of the Roberts was their signature – ‘warm’, ‘rich’ sound. Which in practise for me meant music sounded great but speech lacked clarity. In comparison the Panasonic is crystal clear on voice-based stations and whilst not hi-fi level for music is still prefectly good quality with a decent frequency spectrum and a bass that is present but not strong. The use of 4 C-batteries in the RF-D30 also means portability with decent battery life (20+ hours).
In summary, not the most chic, not an audiophile dream but an absolutely great radio that ‘does what it says on the tin’ – deliver excellent quality sound from a wide range of radio stations.
There are a couple of niggles though :
a) There is a “Display” button which allows you to change what you see in the display. When listening to DAB stations, the default is some scrolling information. I prefer the static “program type” option (but there are others as well – e.g. signal strength). There doesn’t seem to be any system wide setting to default to the display that you prefer. So – if you want to change the display type you have to press Display (repeatedly) after every channel change.
b) There is a cover on the left which folds down to expose the DC power input, the USB charging slot and the headphone jack. The manual says that the unit is not splash proof when this is open. So basically the unit will only ever be splash proof if you run it off batteries – and I bought it to run off the mains.
Overall though it is a good radio.
On first setup I just turned it on selected DAB and auto tuned it. It found loads of DAB/FM stations and I preset the ones I liked by selecting each one and pressing and holding which preset button I wanted to assign it to. I hadn’t even bothered reading the instructions by this point! It’s that simple to use. There are 10 presets you can use to store your stations on. I haven’t even needed to have the aerial up I get great reception whichever room I’m in. The sound quality is fantastic for such a small radio and I’m a bit harsh on speakers that usually don’t sound good, but this is loud and clear, and not your usual all high end note only speaker it’s got some nice deep sounds it can produce as well.
It can be either powered by the supplied power adapter or by 4 C sized batteries. I did use the supplied adapter for a week or so but thought I’d try the batteries as I like to have it on in the bathroom and I’ve got to say the batteries have lasted for ages and it’s still showing three quarters of power left! We have been using it every day over Christmas playing Christmas tunes so I’m surprised they are still going. I did get some good quality batteries though.
There is also a Bluetooth function on it so you can basically use it as a speaker to stream music from your phone tablet or computer to it so you can enjoy your music with full sound. There is also a timer function which is handy if you like to set those. As well as all that you can charge your phone up with the USB socket on the side or plug in your own headphones.
Overall I’m seriously impressed with this radio and fully recommend it.
This is a handy little radio that is really easy to use. Plug it in, it searches for DAB radio channels and away you go. The LCD screen is great and lets you easily see what radio station is selected. The Bluetooth connection is great for playing music from your phone and the USB charging feature is really handy. It’s a really great radio and the only thing that lets it down is the audio quality which was a bit disappointing for a speaker of this size.
I have been a fan of Panasonic products almost all my life as I have used several products from them and all of them have turned out to be of great quality. This speaker had an added feature of including a DAB radio inside which was a great addition for use on holidays so I ordered it right away.
The radio cum Bluetooth speaker has a really nice compact design. It has got a handle on top as well which is handy if you want to carry it around. I have not used a proper radio for a long time now so didnt realise that it comes with an aerial and as soon as I put the aerial up it stands quite tall in size. When it comes to powering the radio you have got two options. You’ve either got the batteries in the back which takes c-size or lr14 type batteries in there or you can actually use the adapter which is included. I thought it would have been easier if it came with a rechargeable batteries through USB C which makes it much more convenient. It has got a little rubber flap which protects all of these connections if it does get wet. It also has a USB port to charge your smartphone using the batteries or the mains power directly
It is really easy to use and setup. Just switch it on using the switch on the front. It will automatically scan to get all of the channels which can take several minutes. After it finished scanning, I could see all my favourite stations in the list. You can actually scroll through the list of different stations that it’s picked up so using the dial on the side. The other main dial on the side is the volume control which starts from zero and it goes all the way up to 30. Panasonic have given the option to preset 10 stations in here which is quite handy. You actually get 10 stations for FM and 10 for dab so that’s really handy.
It has also got Bluetooth on it so you can connect it to your mobile phone and play music from there directly and it’s really nice to have a radio that can do that which means it’s not just a radio, it is a portable speaker as well
Regarding sound quality, all i can say is that the sound quality on it for a radio of this size is actually really good.
Overall, I feel this is a really good radio cum portable Bluetooth speaker. The only missing thing is rechargeable batteries through USB C cable which would have made this perfect. 4 Stars
Very good DAB radio for kitchen, bit tricky to set up but once it’s done it’s easy to use. Also you can put batteries in and take it with you to bbq party.
Setup was easy (didn’t even look at the manual), the radio picked up loads of DAB stations and we were quickly able to install some favourites in the shortcuts.
Bluetooth worked brilliantly and linked to a tablet without any fuss.
After setup it was time to really appreciate the minimalist look and that this is a well built unit of good quality . As DAB radios go this seems to be good value unit sitting between the cheaper Chinese units and true Hifi receivers.
Another winner from Panasonic.
Another great point is that it can be used to charge your phone or other device at the same time.
Great little radio , would recommend !
Good quality sound and works well as DAB radio and to hook up with my Bluetooth to play music from my phone
Here’s my breakdown:
Sound quality is superb
Easy radio scanning
Battery powered (optional)
Always on screen
Built in station memory
Built in antennae
USB port for charging
Bluetooth connectivity
Price
In summary
I think it is excellent, it has all the basic features you expect + a couple of extra ones like Bluetooth and such, but it is 88
There are a lot of options out there
Thanks for reading
Excellent portable DAB radio.
The pros:
Instantly scanned and recognised all available stations.
Easy to set stations up in memory.
Sound quality is great, with option for wired headphones too.
Classic, simple design using quality materials
Good length mains cable, but great that it can run off 4 C cell batteries for listening in the bathroom!
Clock, timer and alarm functions all great. Display can be set to be permanently backlit, even in standby mode, if you want to see the time and date all the time.
USB charging is a bonus, keep your phone on charge while listening to the radio.
Bluetooth pairing works perfectly
I can’t find any cons sorry, I highly recommend this radio!