Roberts Radio Ecologic 4 DAB Radio Review 

This radio follows us around the downstairs of the house and we listen to it at various time every day. It is a great design and sounds super. I hope your birthday is not too far away. Peter

Hi Micky, I don't think this radio has a Bluetooth capability. Peter

Hi Sookoon, Mine still works today as well as it did when I bought it. I am also still using those same rechargeable batteries. Cheers. Peter

Hi Liam, That is a good idea. I have both Roberts and Pure digital radios and I recommend both. Peter

+Doug J Thanks Doug. Ours has batteries in and is moved around a lot. Enjoy your listening. Peter

Hi Ian, Many thanks. Peter

+Nick Hickson Hi Nick, The failure of the on/off switch has been reported time and time again and it is a great pity. I do not know whether the on/off function works but it is clearly not a toggling mechanical switch otherwise your radio would have worked again after turning the mains back on. There is a chance that the contact that does the flip/flop that you describe just needs to be cleaned with Electrolube. This might be possible and if you could only find a suitable repair person. Good luck. Peter

Hi Richard, I am listening to mine right now (Desert Island Disks with Gareth Malone as guest) and it is brilliant. I have had no trouble with this radio at all and it is still just as new. I use it for about 3 hours a day. Peter

Thanks for sharing!

+chesterfield44 I can only tell you that I use my radio all the time with lots of on/off activity. It is on at breakfast, coffee time, then lunch, afternoon tea (you would think that no work gets done here) and then in the evening during supper. The radio is the same today as it was when I bought it. I am delighted. Peter

Hi Jim, Just keep an eye on the title of the videos! Peter

Alex Burnside You are welcome Alex. Peter

Hi Peter, Yes, I think yours will have Bluetooth which is handy. Cheers. Peter

Interesting. Cheers. Peter

Hi Darren, No but all you need to do is use a crocodile clip from your external antenna to the telescopic antenna on the radio. Peter

***** Hi Justin, Mine is doing well despite it getting the odd knock. The Ansmann batteries are brilliant. I was visiting a professional photographer a few days ago and on his desk he had 3 new packs of Ansmann AAs. He said that they are the only ones that he buys. Peter

Hi Carl, Yes, I have a couple of Pure radios as well and they are excellent but my Roberts is still going strong and is used for several hours a day. Peter

Hi Mikey, Unfortunately not and that is something that I fed in to Roberts when I bought the radio. That said, My rechargeable batteries easily last a month per charge and they then just charge over night ready for the next 4-5 weeks of use. Cheers. Peter

+1965Scotia It was too many to worry about...I use the radio every day for about 45 minutes at breakfast, 15 minutes during coffee, 90 minutes over lunch and then twice more in the afternoon (say 15 minutes each and then about 45 minutes in the evening. So, about 3 hours 45 minutes a day. The Ansmann batteries last about a month. Peter

Hi Andy, I have a collection of 3 Ansmann chargers - two are just for AA and AAA and the larger one does all type. They all seem to be very good. Peter

Hi Glen, That is true and I have sent an email to Roberts suggesting that they consider doing this with future radios. Despite this, I am finding that the radio will last up to 6 weeks on a single charge (using the Ansmann batteries). This is despite the radio being on a lot throughout the day. The batteries recharge over night and so it is no big deal. Peter

moochincrawdad I am not sure - I did suggest that they should at least build a charger into the radio so that people could add their own rechargeable batteries. Many thanks for the kind words. Peter

I much prefer separate rechargeable batteries. It means I don't ever need to connect my radio to the mains and with two sets, I can be charging the old ones whilst listening with the new.

You will need to check the manufacturer's web site as the models change quite frequently. This one was bought ages ago. It is still working very well but I have recently bought the Roberts Revival iStream 3 which is terrific. Peter

@@NewBritWorkshop thanks Peter, I’ve got the chance to buy a “used twice” one for 40 pounds but not sure whether it’s worth me paying more for a newer model. How many stations have you got on yours? Roughly?

That sounds like good value if it is genuine. Check that the on-off switch is okay as in the early days of this video people reported that they sometimes went wrong. Mine is fine. As for the number of stations, it will depend where you live and the signal strength. We have tons of channels. Peter

Sorry to hear that

Yes you can - it says so in the manual. Peter

Hi James, It says so on their web site and on the box. Peter

There have been several people wondering about the quality of Roberts Radios but I can only judge things from my own experience. My Roberts radio is still going strong with no issues whatsoever. My Pure radio, which is a lot older, is also doing really well too. Peter

Of course, personal experience is the best! Mine was used every day for 105 weeks without a problem, then it died, let's hope yours goes for longer than mine :)

Frank Burns This is stereo and works well. Peter

New Brit Workshop Thanks. I love DAB radio but it still has a lot of problems reception wise. I listen to 4Extra and in the middle of a drama the radio makes a 'gurgling' sound and up comes on the screen the words 'OFF AIR.' Then it's a case of moving it around the room to another socket in the hope that it will 'kick-in' again. Not so with my Sony analogue.From reviews I have read it seems to me that the brand 'PURE' is the one to go for. They have a model which pumps out 30 Watts RMS? Impressive!!

Hi George, Well I have had those same batteries for several years now and they are still brilliant. Peter

Hi Joe, I cannot help you and suggest that you speak to your local repair man - it should not cost too much as the insides of these radios are quite simple. Peter

Doug Sinden Hi Doug, It is all about understanding adjectives and the nouns that they apply to - you are right, I am no spring chicken. Peter

I really enjoy listening to the radio in the workshop. I may even put digital radio into my ear defenders. Peter

+New Brit Workshop (Peter) Sorry, my experience is problems with the on/off switch. I was initially delighted with the set until it was about 2 months out of warranty. Then it started acting up. I am not going to pay Roberts £40+ postage to get this fixed. Looking on the web it seems there is a problem with a foreign sourced logic chip. If I can't fix it myself then the set will be in the recycling bin. I will not be buying another Roberts product.

I wonder whether there has been a bad batch of these radios as mine is still perfect. Peter

Hi Paul, It may vary with the usage pattern, My usage is a series of short bursts with considerable space in between. Also, I do not have the volume up very high as the radio is next to my chair. Peter

Ok Thanks Peter for the reply....I will try that...

Hello John, I have already bought mine and have been using every day since the beginning of November. I have not experienced any problems at all and have not heard of on-off switch issues of any sort. Peter

great radio but the on off switch with this model is a known fault, be lucky if you get two years.real shame great radio.

Luckily I bought it from John Lewis then. Peter

Peter Ainsworth Hi Peter, Yes it is a great radio but I will be jolly annoyed if the on/off switch fails - if it does I will let everyone know straight away. Many thanks. Peter

New Brit Workshop Hi Mine lasted a lot longer than many others. Im furious I spent over 70 pounds for what? I think theres a case for the radio not being of merchantable quality and I shall look into this.

Peter Ainsworth Please keep us all informed. Peter

Peter Ainsworth hi Peter my on/off knob failed after 14 months. I contacted Roberts who totally denied the systemic issue and wanted to charge £40 to fix it with only 6 month warranty. I''l never buy a Roberts again until they admit the fault and mend their ways! What a shame the directors of a British company can be so unconcerned about people they are supplying.

Peter Ainsworth I had this radio given to me as a gift. I must admit I hardly used it. Have had it just over 18 months and recently it started to switch itself on of a night time which freaked me out the first time it did it. The only way I could turn it off was to pull the plug (mains power). A couple of days later I tried it and it reluctantly turned on after some time. A couple of hours later whilst listening to it I smelt something electrical burning. I went to the radio and found that it had some major elec fault going on. I pulled the plug again and since then it will not switch on. Its useless, and possibly has the potential to cause a fire ? So I now see the store from which it was purchased has withdrawn them from their shelves. This is in Australia by the way. No more Roberts for me either !

DAB + is written on the radio and also on the box. Since the review is Dec 2013 it might just be DAB +. Roberts states 2014 as dab+ enabled.

Hi Leslie, I have had Roberts radios for years and I have never had one fail. Peter

HI Peter, I've had three Roberts FM World band radios that broke down on me and a Record R that just went dead a couple of days ago after just 3 years of fairly light use.They are good products while they last but it can be a bit expensive. Having said that I have a five year old Roberts Sports DAB 5 personal radio that's had a lot of use and is still going strong even after dropping it a couple of times.

Hi Leslie, I have a small Pure personal DAB radio which is stunning. Peter

David, I cannot get any sense out of what you have written. Peter

Mine is still going strong with no problems at all. I use it every day - 2 hours in the morning, 1 and 1/2 hours at lunch time and about an hour in the early evening - 7 days a week. Peter

Peter, it lights up. Tunes in,.But NO speaker noise. BUT if you add a external speaker it works . What is the issue?

Hi Paul, I don't know. I am not a radio technician. In the old days there was a man at the end of the high street who could fix something like that for about £2. Peter

send him to leeds , or can post :-)......or bin it ! Cheers P

The chap at the end of the high street disappeared a long time ago - we live in a throw away world and people who can do repairs are hard to find. Peter