ZHIWHIS Portable Radio, AM FM Stereo Receiver, DSP Small Pocket Radios Operated by AA Batteries, Digital Clock/Presets/Start Timer/Sleep Timer for Walking/Running ZWS-903

This radio has an LCD display with an orange backlight, which stays on for about 5 seconds after you press any function button or turn the tuning dial. The backlight is especially useful at night. You can also set the sleep timer to turn off the radio. Just select from a minimum time of 10 minutes to a maximum of 90 minutes, with preset intervals of 10 minutes. The display shows the current time when the radio is not in use. The reception is powerful for both AM and FM stations. I picked up many stations clearly, and others with some static. If you use the tuning dial, you can tune in the frequency precisely at .1 increments. The sound is fairly loud for the speaker size. FM music is decent and is enhanced when you plug in earbuds. The radio has a stereo earphone jack. So, using earbuds give you stereo music. This feature sets it apart from many other radios. However, do not expect MP3 quality sound since there is no equalizer or bass boost feature. Consider using earbuds that have volume control, as the radio sound through the earphone jack can be be quite loud even at low volume. There is also a mute button, which is handy when you need to stop momentarily, without having to turn down the volume. You can also preset stations. Another nice feature is the option of powering with either the USB type C port or AA batteries. The USB-C cable is included, but not the power block or the batteries. The battery option affords portability and is useful when there is a power failure. All in all, this radio is a great value for the many features it offers.

I got this little radio to use when I walk for exercise. We have a 14 foot wheelchair ramp for my husband who uses a wheelchair to get around. I use the ramp daily for my 30 minure walk session. It's close to our front door and I can leave the door open when I walk, so I can hear my husband call me if he needs me. So,I walk the ramp for 30 minutes, twice a day. I like this radio because it's compact and lightweight. I use the included wrist strap to carry it with me. This little radio gets great reception. The sound is good and clear. It gets plenty loud enough for use in a group setting. It's easy to use. It has a knob for tuning and preset buttons for saving your favorite station. It gets AM and FM radio. It also hasa sleep button so you can program it to turn off after a certain amount of time. You can scan the stations or use the tuner button to go right to a station that you know. The functionality is great. It's a great price too. The only thing that could make it better, is to be rechargeable. It does run off of a usb-c cord, but it doesn't take a charge. It also can run on 3 AAA batteries. Even though it is not rechargeable, it's still a great radio. With the batteries, it would be great during a power outage.

I picked this up on a whim… I didn’t know there was still interest in portable radios, or that anyone was actually making them in 2025. I was wrong. ZHIWHIS has done a fantastic job with this ZWS-903 AM/FM radio. It’s beautifully designed and packed with useful features, and it actually sounds pretty good. The digital tuner locks in stations perfectly, and the tuning dial on the side has a built-in scan feature… turn it slowly and it moves up or down in small increments, but give it a faster spin and it moves to the next station automatically. The digital display is easy to read, there’s a 29-station preset bank for the stations you love, a small speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack. This radio even has a sleep timer AND an alarm clock! Even better, you can power it using 3 AA batteries or using the included USB cable and a phone charger. The sound quality is pretty good considering the small size of this radio. It’s smaller than my iPhone and about double the thickness, and it weighs almost nothing. The telescoping metal antenna gives it a truly old-school feel but also poses a safety hazard; it’s delicate and could easily poke someone, but it’s also the reason the radio works so well. There are so many uses for this. At home for personal listening or during emergencies, at the ballgame so you can listen to the broadcasts… or out in the backyard when you just want some music in the background. For the price, it’s worth owning.

Owners manual was totally useless. The radio, as advertised, had some interesting operating options but to utilize them the manual’s step by step instructions that were included with the radio just don’t work and , in most cases, don’t even make sense. The Instructions should be rewritten by someone who knows how to operate the radio and are capable of writing clearer step by step instructions.

This is a cool-looking little radio and it locks onto a station well, even with the antenna not fully extended. I tried following the instructions but could get the unit to do what the instructions said it should be doing when I pressed a button. For example, it tells you to press DEL to delete a station; when I did that it put the radio into SLEEP mode. The only way I could figure out how to disengage that was to turn the radio off. When I tried to program a station, 90.9, then pressed MEMO, it didn't save the station, it went to frequency 72.3. Why? Possible the unit was a return and someone previously programmed these other stations in. Still doesn't explain why I wasn't able to override the program. With all this said, I'm 70 years old and grew up in a world where one button did one thing. Products these days provide many more features and to do that economically, they reduce the number of buttons but embed other functions within each button. If the instructions received are clear that's not a problem. With this radio, it seems the instructions did not get me what I was trying to accomplish. So maybe if you're younger than me you might have a different experience. BTW, batteries do not come with the unit and you can use the USB with which the radio will function as long as it is plugged in; there is no internal rechargeable battery. Frankly, I did not try to contact the manufacturer; I foresaw a very long dialog back and forth and I don't have the patience for that. I'd like a product to work pretty much intuitively out of the box, find an instruction video or at least have the instructions be clear enough to follow. The speaker is small, so temper your expectations of "big" sound, but I found that listening through earbuds using the headphone jack was rewarding. The signal was clear and I didn't detect any residual noise, which is impressive.

This ZHIWHIS Portable AM/FM Radio brings memories of the past to the forefront, as portable transistor radios were invented in the 1950’s and became popular during the 60’s and 70’s long before digital technology became the standard of the day. These radios were small compact devices and are now historical artifacts often collected by enthusiasts who had a passion for rock and roll, civil rights, space exploration and social change. Fast forward five decades and the small compact portable radios are making a comeback in popularity with the added comfort features of new technology that enables digital displays, preset buttons, sleep timers, and increased battery life. This ZGIWHIS Portable Radio is smaller than a 12 oz coffee cup, about the same size as a pack of cigggy’s. Light weight even with the three (AA) batteries installed. This radio still has a tuning dial, but one can also take option to have this radio scan channels and lock onto frequencies that are drawn in with its thin extension antenna (just like the portables back in the 60’s and 70’s). I found the reception and dialing in the various channels to be surprisingly good. This small hand portable radio has two Frequency Bands (Am & FM) and comes with a DSP Chip. DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Chips revolutionized the way radios operate today, these advanced chips enhanced radios performance making them capable of operating with a wider range of signals and providing better audio quality. DSP Chip radios are both powerful and user friendly to the consumer and is what brings what was a national treasure to the new era of listening to one’s favorite AM or FM public broadcast channels with portability and convenience.

This little radio is actually not the smallest, but its still very easy to fit in a pocket. it has such a straightforward user interface that that is what makes it stand out. 2 preset channels for FM, 2 presets for AM, a channel scan feature but also a handy scroll wheel (like a volume wheel) for tuning. Really kind of neat: rather than clicking buttons, you roll the wheel to tune it. The volume however is handled by clicking 2 buttons up and down. It does have a telescopic antenna when needed but i found reception good even without extending it. Unlike some, it does not come with headphones, and it uses the “older” style 3.5mm size plug. It also has a speaker which some tiny radios do not. It sounds worlds better with headphones than it does with the speaker only, however the speaker allows for sharing in power outage situation so others can hear. It has a nice box too with features listed, so it would make a good presentation as a gift. Do note that it requires 3 AA and does not have an internal charging battery. You can however plug it in via usb C to power it. I will report back if i experience any durability, manufacturing-related or functional failures, but i do not anticipate any. The writing pen is shown next to the product images(s) are for scale only (the pen is not included with reviewed product.)

I got this ZHIWHIS ZWS-903 Portable DSP Radio, AM FM Stereo Receiver because I wanted to see what you can get an AM/FM radio for less than its current price (7-19-25: <$13.50 with coupon). Not only do you get more than adequate AM/FM receiver that plays stereo through its headphone jack, 58 station presets (29 AM; 29 FM), a Digital Clock, an Alarm, a Sleep Timer for falling asleep to radio, and 2 power options (3 - AAA batteries or connecting to a 5V USB-C adapter, not included). For the price, this is a lot. The radio has good sensitivity. I can get 2 weak stations in my area that give lesser radios lots of trouble pulling them in. It does perform better on FM than AM in this respect. However, on nights where radio wave propagation is good, this little radio can pull in tons of 50,000 watt clear channel AM stations all along the east coast. The only issue I have with this radio is that the sound is just a little thin. But for the money, I can't complain at all. For the money, this is a feature-rich AM/FM radio that will not leave you with buyer's remorse. For what it is and how much it costs, it's a solid value.