Sony ICF-306 Portable AM/FM Radio - Black

Brilliant little radio, easy to use, clear and audible. Bought it to use outside whilst gardening and am really happy with this model from Sony. Have also got other models of Sony's portable radios for use around the home and out in the boat and all are little treasures - you wont go wrong with one of these, battery life is amazing.

Radio is excellent compact and lightweight. I bought the radio for my dad who is not good with technology. This radio is easy to use and is similar to the ones he has had over the years excellent product.

The Sony ICF-306 is not a bad little radio for the price – currently around thirty pounds from Amazon – but you are probably paying a bit more for the Sony brand name and many Chinese generic radios offer a lot more features for less. However, if you like Sony products then the ICF-306 is worth considering for certain uses – I am using mine in the garden during lockdown to listen to the AM service of Radio Caroline on 648 and this Sony works OK for doing that. On the plus side the battery life is very good (2xAA required) but as there is very little bass the radio doesn't have to work too hard driving it's rather small speaker – however, the rather tinny volume doesn't annoy the neighbours when used outdoors! This radio is quite attractive, as you might expect from a Sony product, but the controls are not really ergonomic and are rather poorly laid out. The band change slider is also the on/off switch and the tuning and volume controls would be better if they changed position, with the volume control made to turn the radio on and off too. There are two LEDs – green for battery status, change the batteries when it goes dim – and red is the tuning indicator – there is a 3.5mm headphone socket for personal listening and a foldable carrying handle for portability. The Sony ICF-306 is a reasonable-enough little battery powered radio, but not one of Sony's classic models – perfect for the bathroom, garden, garage or workshop where battery power is required – there is no mains option here. Four stars, but check out the similarly priced models from Panasonic as well.

Small,neat and compact with good volume control

Very handy size, good reception, good battery life. Very pleased with purchase.

I use it in the kitchen. It has a great sound quality and very easy to use. I'm still on my first battery and it's on during the day, and have it for 3 month now. It's nice, simple and compact.

Ignore the 'Sony' brand name. It's not the quality Japanese product it was. It's a cheap Chinese radio.Volume is limited, I suspect that's because it's got a cheap speaker, so no use if you want a loud sound.Aerial is cheap so breaks easy.Expensive because of the brand name but there is better quality amongst unknown names.Of course they are all made in China and I guess the Chinese make what they think we want. This probably costs 50p to make. Yes it is that bad.

I bought this radio for my very old mother while she was in hospital. It was hard to tune and she found the "on"/"off" too difficult.I now have it, which is ok for me. The tuning is difficult but at the end of the day, it's an ok radio considering how cheap it was. I keep it in my bathroom and leave it on my favourite station.