I was trying to fall asleep, my feet playing the role of a third tent pole against the soggy nylon of my undersized tent, when I realised I had been wrong about radio.
I was born in the year 2000, which makes me a certifiable Zoomer. As such, beyond a brief but nonetheless rather deep infatuation with the Confessions section of Simon Mayo’s Drive Time show on BBC Radio 2 (which seemed to be playing perennially in my mum’s car), I’ve always been a sucker for entirely personalised listening.
Beginning with iTunes, before graduating to fully fledged music streaming services, I, much to my present shame, viewed radio as a thing of the past. Something that paired best with armchairs and cuckoo clocks.
But the statistics prove me starkly mistaken. In the UK, not only is radio the most trusted form of media, but Ofcom’s 2026 report on audio listening in the UK showed that, while streaming has dominated almost all other listening formats, radio has held position as the most widely consumed type of audio in terms of reach. 62 per cent of us listen to it each week, compared to 61 per cent for music through an online service.
Broadcasts remain available almost everywhere: in the home, in the car, in the local supermarket. You could probably spend an entire day, errands and all, with less than fifteen minutes unpopulated by the sound of some or other radio station.
So, why did this realisation hit me on a camping trip with the Roberts SolarDAB99 – a portable, outdoors-friendly FM/DAB radio?
Pitched up in the verifiable middle of nowhere, with the soothing tones of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Round Midnight jazz show lulling me to slumber, I was struck by the realisation that beyond purchasing a radio, access to the news, the radio plays, a fully fledged cornucopia of music shows, is completely free of charge. In an age of inexhaustible paid subscription services, that seems nothing short of a miracle to me.
Naturally, a good data connection and a smartphone will give you an even greater gamut of listening options, but I think there’s something to be said for limitations. In fact, I think they are key to the survival of the radio format.
Unlike streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal, which grant users total control of their experience, radio rolls ever onwards, saying what it will and, crucially, not always what you want it to. While you listen, you are in the hands of the DJ and their curated playlists, for better or for worse. In this sense, radio broadcasts more closely resemble human conversations, and in this way they have an innate ability to make people feel less alone.
That’s a powerful thing for a piece of technology to provide.
The irony is that radio’s greatest strength, its simplicity, can also put it out of step with modern life. Many of us already carry expansive music libraries in our pockets and expect our devices to have a vast range of functionality.
It's something that has been on my mind as I am currently testing the new Pure Bloom radio (above) – a small, budget desktop model that features FM/DAB+ and Bluetooth – and I also recently saw a new range of all-in-one systems from Roberts, which incorporate a CD player and wi-fi streaming alongside radio tuners.
The Revere range tries to cater to the various ways we listen to music now – network streaming, internet radio and Spotify Connect on their flagship Revere 500 model – while tapping into the surging popularity of CDs. That the brand continues to include FM/DAB+ tuners alongside streaming and a built-in CD player in a lifestyle-friendly design is sure to appeal to many.
Here at What Hi-Fi?, we’ve been reviewing radios for decades, and we continue to champion great-sounding products in the best DAB radios we've reviewed, from miniature, affordable offerings such as the Roberts Revival Petite 2, all the way up to more expensive, streaming-equipped options, including the Ruark Audio R2 Mk4 and Revo SuperConnect Stereo.
After all, there are many reasons why someone might not want to indulge in a fully-fledged hi-fi separates system. Whether it’s because of financial or spatial limitations, or simply not wanting so much faff in your life, these simpler one-box systems bridge a necessary gap, making great-sounding music and entertainment accessible to a wider audience.
Price, of course, plays no small part in that equation.
Whether incorporated into a premium all-in-one streaming/CD system or in a smaller portable model that also offers Bluetooth streaming for modern convenience, I think there is still a firm place for the radio in today's listening space.
Music was never meant to be reserved for a select few. The indelible strength of radio is that it adheres to that principle. By tuning in, we are given the opportunity to connect with something more communal, and ultimately more powerful than the isolated experience of endless choice.
Since my radio epiphany, most of my days working from home have been accompanied by the soothing – if not totally hi-fi – sounds of Jazz FM and BBC Radio 4. Good lord, do I miss Simon Mayo?
Mayo or no Mayo, I’ll eat my words about radio, and gladly.
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