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Reviews For: XHDATA D-808 Portable

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : XHDATA D-808 Portable
Reviews: 9MSRP: 66.68
Description:
XHDATA Portable Digital Radio FM stereo/ SW / MW / LW SSB Air Band Multi Band Radio Speaker with LCD Display, Alarm Clock
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radiwow.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0093
GRUMPY2021 Rating: 2021-11-07
Not much more than "okay". Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Mute on tuning is horrible. Memory pages are an absolute mess. Don't be seduced by the Youtube shills that tell you how great this is and to buy buy buy! Took mine to Goodwill. I feel guilty for taking it to Goodwill...I should have thrown it in the trash.
DB4UP Rating: 2021-11-07
Travelling companion Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I owned many portable radios over the years and still I like to try out some new ones. I played around with this radio for many months now and found my personal interpretation for the advantages and disadvantages.

I like its size and weight. It fits easily it in my backpack or any other travel bag. The memory segmentation in pages is very similar to other radios, though 10 memories per page are not really much. As far as I understood, choosing a page is valid for all bands, like AM, FM, SW, etc. This makes it easy to use it on different locations with different memory pages programmed. The RDS function works well, but I disabled the automatic time set because there are stations transmitting wrong time data and the clock will follow it. It has only one alarm time which can be set to music or a beep tone. Either time, temperature, alarm time, or signal strength can be displayed. So far, so good. But why does the display always starts with temperature when I switch the radio on again and "forgets" the last setting ?

The receiver is sensitive enough on FM but on shortwave hand contact may improve the reception, probably as a counterpoise. MW with the built in ferrite stub is average in best case. LW reception is not good at all. AIR band reception is mediocre and almost any of my handheld amateur radios does a better job. It offers a sqelch which acts too slow in my opinion.

Listening to AM BC is unproblematic and different bandwidth settings are available. SSB reception is possible. The receiver can be fine tuned and there are also different filters, till down to 500 Hz for CW. It really works !

On the other hand, tuning through the bands is a pain. Every tuning step mutes the receiver for some tenth of a second. This is nothing I want to see in a radio of the 21st century. Pressing a button gives a "brrp" sound in the speaker. Not very nice.

Nevertheless, it's possible to listen to amateur radio transmissions and I don't see it as a substitute for a "full size" station receiver.

The sound is not so good. Music sounds "thin" but that's probably the contribute I have to pay for the size of the speaker. Volume control is "analog", which is a big advantage over many of those controls working with digitized steps. The fixation of the telescope antenna is a bit fragile. Rotate it carefully, it's held with just one small screw ending in a piece of plastic.

Probably, many of the drawbacks are due to the fact that it's small in size. Whatever the case may be, me, as an engineer, if I had to design such a radio, I would have to think about how to compensate that factor. On the other hand, regarding the possibilities and functions it offers, it is not expensive. I think I paid ~ € 85 for it.

Taking all this in consideration, I rate it "O.K.". For a good rating it would have to be good, e.g. offering good reception also on MW, LW and AIR bands.

Again my hint: Do you have a chance to get it repaired if anything goes wrong ? Do you get a schematic for it anywhere ? I don't think so.
W1CAL Rating: 2021-07-27
Receiver just so-so, Customer Support is the Worst! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Having a small collection of portable SW receivers I am always on the lookout for the next best thing. Having heard many good things about this receiver, and under $100, I thought I would give one a try. The first one I got was dead on arrival. The return address was back to China and I had to return the first one before they would ship a replacement. Now the cost is way over $100 and Just after the second unit arrived, I discovered they had an address in California where I could have returned the first unit for short money. Now I'm really pissed off and refuse to try the receiver out. Hell, I no longer even want the receiver. I eventually gave it a try and was not impressed. I like a receiver that will allow me to slowly scan the bands without the agc muting as I go. I will end up giving this one away and be done with it.

My small collection of receivers consists of:
1) Sony ICF-2010 - A superb receiver that never leaves the house these days. Purchased new in in the late 80's & cannot easily be replaced. Only used in the backyard.
2) CCrane Skywave (the original - no ssb) - Good for FM & Weather Alerts. Bounces between the car console and the house.
3) Tecsun PL-880 - I got a good one. Close in sensitivity to the 2010, has nice selection of bandwidths and great audio. I really like this receiver.
4) Kaito WRX911 - Goes with me everywhere. An analog radio that costs under $20. Not a top performer, but a pocketful of fun for the money.
5) Belka-DX - Latest acquisition. A great receiver. Read the reviews here on eHam. The most fun you can put in your pocket.

I may pick up a Tecsun H-501x in the future, but I'm having so much fun with the Belka-DX I'm in no hurry. Will wait for a few reviews before I decide.

73 W1CAL
DXACE1 Rating: 2021-05-31
An amazing portable for price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
So, having purchased a D-808 in 2018 when they came out, I made some quick judgments about it and put it away in the closet. Recently, as part of reviewing other receivers, notably the Tecsun 990x and 501x, and the Sangean 909x2, I decided to get the D-808 out and re-assess.

In short, this is an amazing receiver for its price. Where the Sangean falls short with no variable selectivity in SSB, the XHDATA kills -- multiple bandwidths in SSB and fairly stable SSB fine tuning as well, which is, in fact, more stable and without any "warbling" than the Tecsun sets. Yes, there is a bit of chuffing when using the main encoder knob, and a bit of soft muting. But compared to some other portables with these issues, notably the Eton Exec, it's not that bad. Sensitivity on SW is excellent, the speaker is excellent, and this has quite good AIR band reception.

See my review of the D-808 at: https://swling.com/blog/2021/05/dan-revisits-the-venerable-xhdata-d-808-portable-radio/
KG6PHS Rating: 2021-05-13
Great portable, sound improves with mod Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I thought I'd try this radio after reading good reviews, and the antenna broke on my last model. It is quite sensitive, and I find it easy to use. In SSB mode, the chuffing is a bit annoying, but the signals come through fine. The audio is decent, but I tried an audio mod after reading a posting by a Mr. Mihalcz. If you replace the 2 output electrolytic caps by the speaker, the sound is greatly improved! Replace the 100 uF caps with 470 uF audio-rated ones such as Nichicons. Now it's my favorite AM/FM portable set!
N2YXW Rating: 2020-10-06
Defective display right out of the box Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered from Radiwow via AliExpress. Received 4 weeks later - upon power up the display was defective - every other line on the display was out. Also the battery charge level never registered. Swapped out batteries per their instructions - same results. Add in the poor customer service from AliExpress and this became one of the worst purchases that I've made in 30+ years of amateur radio. Sent them the photos and video evidence of the issues and they promptly resolved the issue by offering a $50 refund and I could keep the defective D-808. I asked them to issue a call tag so that I could send it back so that they could refund or replace the unit and I received another dispute resolution of $0 and then the case was closed. The only savings grace is that I used PayPal which is backed up by AMEX.
W2XS Rating: 2020-01-04
Very clear sound Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am amazed at the crystal clear sound, especially on AM. What a difference from the early DSP-chip based designs. Sensitivity on all bands seems good, I like the direct frequency entry and the fine tuning which works on AM and SSB/CW. It even has variable selectivity! I've had this only a few weeks, but so far this little box is great! I'm using my older iBuds with this radio with great results.
PJMM Rating: 2018-01-20
Good little receiver full of features Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Excellent receiver and technically well designed. There is a similar receiver in the market (Digitech AR1780) but it have a issue with the battery consumption when the radio is off as it draws around 3mA and it depletes the batteries in a few weeks if the radio is powered off. XHDATA D-808 doesn't exhibits the same issue as it only draws 90uA , very similarly as other legendary receivers as the Grundig G6.
Sound is excellent and display is very well lighted. SSB is very sensitive. Very happy with it.
PHILNIC99 Rating: 2018-01-16
Value for money, handy size and decent performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I stumbled on this radio after reading some reviews on swling.com; originally I was intending to get a CCrane Skywave SSB, but after reading about the reported quality issues, I plumped for the lesser known XHDATA D-808. Im glad I did.
Lets start with a baseline reference; for me its the GP5-SSB for two reasons. Firstly, the price and secondly the size. Ive seen comparisons with the Tecsun PL660 but I dont think this is an apples-for-apples comparison.
Firstly price - the website advertise the quoted as being 96% off; not sure I get this but its still good value IMHO.
I use my radios mainly for SW SSB - utility monitoring primarily aviation HF; the radio feels sturdy , decent aerial with simple button layout, leather carry bag, and the website advertises further features:

1. FM stereo / MW / LW/ SW SSB and Air Band radio, with high sensitivity and good selectivity, and the user-operation friendly
2. Adopt DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technique,analog high and medium frequency circuit and many frequency conversion,highly improve the receiver sensitivity, selectivity and anti image interference capability
3. FM reception range of 64 ~ 108MHz, suitable for global FM radio reception
4. Shortwave Single Side Band (SSB) minimum step is 1kHz, Upper Side Band (USB) and Lower Side Band (LSB) reception independent
5. SW external antenna jack
6. Independent speed double tuner
7. Many ways of selecting station: Automatic Search (ATS); Manually search the radio frequency (VF); Direct input frequency figures; Directly enter the stored station address number etc.
8. Can store up to 500 radio frequencies, divided into 50 storage pages
9. Timing boot regularly and Sleep timer shutdown function
10. Power supply : DC IN 5V,with Mirco -USB jack,also can be used to charge the battery .
11. 18650 lithium battery, USB charge cable, stereo headphones, external antenna, leather bag included in this radio package.

Frequency range is as follows:
FM: 87.5 – 108(64-108)MHz
LW: 150 - 450kHz
MW: 522 - 1620kHz(9k Step)
520 - 1710 kHz(10k step)
SW: 1711 - 29999kHz
AIR:118 - 137kHz

The display is clear, frequency readout, page/memory number, and then there is a display button that allows toggle between time/alarm/meter/temperature (the meter has two elements which are quirky - see the manual).

I found the sound quality to be pretty decent, better when using earphones, and the fine tune thumbwheel worked well. The reception of SSB was pretty stable and clear, off the aerial in the UK I was able to receive New York Radio on 13 Mhz mid-afternoon as well as associated mid-Atlantic traffic. When the radio switches on in SSB mode, arrows scroll across the screen for about 3 seconds before reception commences - not a deal breaker, more a quirk.
Airband I tried out, and was surprised how reasonable the reception was; I was able to clearly pick up traffic in the air over 100 miles away.

Sockets - external earphone and mini-USB socket only, no line out socket.
Memories - 500 broken down into 100 for each band, so 100 for SW, 100 for AIRBAND and so on; took me a while to figure out as the instruction book is minimal but got there. Memory entry is straight forward as is page selection.

Ease of use - after figuring out the memories, I found the radio user-friendly and the buttons were responsive; I also got used to the volume and fine tune thumbwheels quickly and the radio sits nicely in the hand. Comfortable when walking the dog in a field.

Conclusion - I would recommend this as a budget entry-level SSB radio - its not a ATS-909X or a SONY, but it was never intended to be; I like it because its handy, goes in my pocket, pretty decent reception for my needs. From what I see on the website, the price goes back to normal (whatever that is) in 15 days , which is mid-February. I like it.