Tecsun PL-880 Pros & Cons - A Short Review

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Pros and cons of the Tecsun PL-880 after a few weeks of use. Is it worth the nearly £200 asking price or should you look elsewhere?
Tecsun on Amazon - geni.us/pl880
The short answer is no. It's overpriced for what it is. Although Tecsun seems to be a respected brand in this field, you can probably get a radio that performs equally well for under half the price. it does have a few nice features though in a tech field that is becoming increasingly dated and left in the 1990s.
There's not much innovation in this sector so it's nice to find a radio that does some things without feeling like you're using a ZX Spectrum.
I've genuinely tried to make this video as short and concise as possible. Do you like this format or do you prefer something a little more in-depth with demonstrations of the problems I'm referring to? I actually can't believe it still came out at over seven minutes!
#tecsun #pl880 #review
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Опубликовано:

19 май 2024

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Комментарии : 94

@tdcattech 2 года назад

Tecsun PL-880 on Amazon - geni.us/pl880 --- If you'd like to support the channel, please use this Amazon affiliate link for anything you might want to buy. Thank you!

@normanbloom Год назад

I did buy from Amazon but I don't always buy everything seem to be made in China so I'm not too impressed but the radio I have is good I have to say.

@marybaker8582 Год назад

I have this radio and it’s absolutely brilliant. Great battery life, and many useful features.

@hiddenwaves4772 Год назад

This is the most realistic review of this radio I've seen on youtube. It will be decisive for my future purchase. Thank you.

@gary-kr7dm 7 месяцев назад

If you look inside the radio, you will know where your money went. SSB is superb too.

@andrewmcphee8965 Год назад

Owned my PL-880 for a couple months now and love it. Love the non-muting 'analog' tuning, this is a really nice 'browsing the bands' radio. Love the big display, battery life is great, and is good enough on AM for my purposes. Rarely listen to FM but its good, dont care about RDS. I disagree with you about build quality - the radio feels solid and has a nice 'heft' in the hand, not too light or too heavy, just right imho. The only two gripes I have with it are that it falls over too easy and theres not enough treble (even with the switch on treble) altho it has just the right amount of bass. Bought mine for AU$300 from Tecsun Australia and consider its worth every penny. Get one!

@emiliehervieux3776 Месяц назад

If you agile with electronic. Open up and put tar roof tape in the speaker box(if you don't have it multiple layer of duck tape, but is less efficient). Ad old pieces of clothe stick with glue spot( make sure you not interfere with the speaker and resonator mouvement and space( don't over fill it)). Make sure, when youclose the boxe is air tight (seal) This setup reduce low and mid frequency, remove accoustic air and wall resonace. But don't affect high (treble). The music and voice would be more define (your ear need fews minutes of training). But when you taste it, right and tight...You don't turn back. if is not enough, ad a little tweeter with a first order crossover. But, I don't hink you need to go that far. If you have a fm transmiter you can play the same music as refernce. The best for bass, voice, high(snare) Peter Gagriel So (Mercy street), and Us (only us, mostly the first minutes) and music scenes Whiplash. But the best thing you can ear is the call from the Lord Jesus KJV. And keep his 7th day Sabbath. See Walter Veith of Clash of minds And other video of him like Twisting the ten commandments. God bless

@manishbhoola 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for the honest review. Which radio would u recommend for goof DXing

@lasanguinaire4331 5 месяцев назад

For some reason I have been obsessing over buying an 880 or 660 tecsun but after watching your videos I will stick to my xhdata d 808.

@tomm7029 2 года назад

Was interested in this but thanks for your honest appraisal. Which model would you suggest as an alternative? I am mainly interested in useability and sound quality rather than sensitivity.

@svalchemy Год назад

I just got one for our cruising boat and like it quite a bit so far.

@thedude4395 2 месяца назад

Did you use the included antenna?

@RedPillAwake 4 месяца назад

As reviews go, this one was pretty great. You have a very cool style.

@unohu88 3 дня назад

Sassy

@limelightmuskoka 2 года назад

My Dad bought me this and i think its great kit for late night signal roaming.

@normanbloom 2 года назад

I am still considering in buying this radio. I do like the radio as I have heard positive reviews on this model. I like the idea of Stereo Fm and the dial light when tuning radio stations at night. I haven,t made up my mind as yet. Does anyone know what the equivalent to the Pl 880. I may order the radio form Walmart which would set me back $400.00 if I do but it.

@rodt9380 6 месяцев назад

Maybe I missed it, but what short wave radio checks all the boxes for a similar price, what's the go to radio?

@palgotzoona 8 месяцев назад

I have the PL-660. For me, actually the PL-880 (and -990)’s rechargeable battery is a negative. With a portable radio like this I want it to be a reliable device for a survival situation over the long term, and for me that means batteries that you can find anywhere. The PL-660 runs on 4xAA cells, which I’ll easily be able to get my hands on for a number of years, even when holed up overnight in an abandoned, zombie-surrounded convenience store.

@lasanguinaire4331 7 месяцев назад

Don't overthink.😆 but incase you can't help it like myself, get an xhdata D 219 and some duracell batteries and pack them up in your backpack.

@johnharris1846 5 месяцев назад

I have the PL-660 and like it but mine just goes through the batteries really fast, even when its turned off?

@palgotzoona 4 месяца назад

@@johnharris1846 That's weird. I have Ni-MH rechargeables in mine and after a couple months on the shelf, it's still reading 2/3 charged. Could your battery setting maybe be set for the wrong type of batteries so it's using them wrong? Alkalines in Ni-MH mode, or vice-versa? Here's the part of the almost-English manual where it shows how to switch modes: ---- INTELLIGENT CHARGING FUNCTION With radio off, install 4 x UM3 (AA) rechargeable batteries to activate the built-in charging function. Use the external adaptor to connect the radio for charging. The [battery indicator] symbol will advance from the bottom to top during power charging. It stops when batteries are fully charged. For Alkaline batteries, please switch off the rechargeable function. (Press the [BATTERY] button until the [battery indicator] is disappear at the top left corner of LCD when the radio is at off mode) ----

@johnharris1846 4 месяца назад

Its in the charge off setting for regular AA batteries. I'm going to purchase a charger and rechargeable batteries. by the way how many hours would you say you get on actual use? @@palgotzoona

@Tsch6373 2 месяца назад

Higher quality flashlights use the 18650 battery. They have a very long life in this application. I have several along with this pl-880 radio. Happy with the radio, would have liked a back-lit keyboard but the lack of squelch isn't a deal breaker.

@DOYOUKNOWTHEPRINCEOFPEACE 9 месяцев назад

WHAT RADIO WOULD YOU STRONGLY SUGGEST WE BUY???? ALSO THANKS FOR THE GREAT VIDEO!!!

@user-yc1ke9bc6v 7 месяцев назад

do you have an answer for your question?

@lasanguinaire4331 5 месяцев назад

Get an Xhdata D 808. It does everything well with a reasonable price.

@bobwhitenstall3148 Год назад

I like the PL-880 but some of the cons not mentioned here is the distortion on USB signals above 25MHz. The signals sound "bubbly" and sometimes difficult to listen to. The radio is also prone to signals imaging especially on higher frequencies. There are a lot of "birdies" on the whole frequency range, mainly on upper and lower sidebands.

@normanbloom Год назад

I still have the Tecsun Pl 660 I still have the batteries in it it takes four pen light batteries it's not a bad radio made in China of course but this is a little bit better model pretty sensitive and picks up a lot of the FM and AM stations all over the FM says stereo it's not multiplex stereo like the seat clean SSB that I have but the FM on the pl 660 is stereo as FM is but not multiplex at least I don't think it is and there's no switch that I can add to it I haven't played around with the shortwave much because I don't think short ways any good North America anymore like it used to be 20 years ago that's my opinion I'm a radio collector and I have many good standard radios and multiband analog type transistors on display

@SB-mi2ii 2 года назад

Not only is it overpriced, it's deaf on LW/MW and unstable on SSB. I sent mine back. No such thing anymore as a decent SW portable.

@VELOPERS 2 года назад

So sad to here what in your opinion would be better?

@zvjezdaniput6121 2 года назад

What? Deaf on LW and MW?! Impossible! :( Il rather take the 990x but the problem with that 990x is bad syncronous detection :(

@sigint99 Год назад

It's downright awful on SSB. Full of distortion and AGC pumping. The noise floor is also way higher than it should be compared with the PL-600/660/680 . LW and MW are also below par. Only FM and SW AM are good but that's not saying much. The big problem is the terrible SiLabs DSP chipset - it's garbage and is riddled with artifacts that make sw listening a pain.

@hotcoffeedude Год назад

@@sigint99 Going to agree with you and SB here. Ultimately it's just too expensive for what you get. Gave it a week and found the mediocre performance does not justify the price.

@gary-kr7dm 11 месяцев назад

@@zvjezdaniput6121 Both the 990 & 880 are poor on sync detection.

@FrozenMilkOnACloudyDay 6 месяцев назад

Great review

@yukonjohn9480 3 месяца назад

Direct & too to point. 👍

@jjcoolaus Год назад

You summed it up well. I've seen this selling as much as $400 in Australia which is a rip off

@Columbocops Год назад

You say "you can probably get a radio that performs equally well for under half the price" but WHAT are these radios?

@nuri_world 7 месяцев назад

XHDATA D-808 beats tecsun on MW, SW, and also it has airband and RDS

@GrotrianSeiler 4 месяца назад

PL330

@somejackball Год назад

love this radio, have had mine about 2 weeks. only problem i have is tuning in SSB stations on the CB band, example on 27.385 LSB, all the voices are distorted and sound garbled, but this doesn't happen anywhere else, like 80 or 40m, only on the CB band. doesn't matter how precise i get them tuned in, people are still garbled and distorted. is there any fix for this issue, or something i'm missing?

@stab74 Год назад

Maybe set the antenna switch on the side to local? Some people are broadcasting on CB way over the legal 4 watts.

@alanyoung261 4 месяца назад

Can you name any new shortwave radios that have been released 2010 up to know, thanks alan.

@realstreetuk 10 месяцев назад

Hi I am torn between the pl990x and pl880... if I'm not bothered about the Bluetooth, sd card for audio and the speaker( as I believe the audio on both are not that dissimilar) would you tell me to go for the pl880? I do like the look of the 880 but can afford the pl990x. Any advice would be appreciated thanks

@mohammadrihan3886 10 месяцев назад

Don't go for pl880 it is very overpriced, XHDATA 808 is better in comparison

@frano19626 2 года назад

Hi thanks for the review - will save some more money and get a Yaesu or Icom - Francis

@dannyfubar3099 7 месяцев назад

I like the case.

@tylercherneski1805 Год назад

How do you guys find signals on USB and LSB with this thing? Took me all night to find two guys talking about mushroom picking in oregon

@Luisa-ft6or 7 месяцев назад

😂

@adambirchenall Год назад

I have this model too, and Yes MW/LW is poor and the only thing bad about it, however Using the Tecsun AN-200 Loop makes a huge impovement but on MW only, sadly it doesn't work on LW

@normanbloom 2 года назад

It was a good review but I want a radio like this that has sensitive and better Am reception. Thats what I listen to the most is talk shows. Is there a better radio from Tecsun the equivalent to the Pl 880.? Some one tell me as I am still deciding to buy this radio.

@wolfmanradio Год назад

Check out the Sihuadon D-808 (same as the XHData D-808). It does everything: SSB/SW/MW/FM, it sounds great, and is under $100. I’ve been eyeing this PL-880 for a while, but I’ll just stick with my D-808 for now.

@richsherman3673 5 месяцев назад

Very useful review, thanks., I don't wan't to over pay for stuff I won't use. I am almost decided...

@alafenetre81 Год назад

What would you recommend as a good all around SW MW LW FM SSB receiver?

@rimasmeleshyus9486 Год назад

Short wave extremely important to listen a news from many countries in the world 🌎

@mahdim6500 3 месяца назад

فيديو قصير فيه كل شئ عن الراديو. يعجبني tecsun h-501x.. هل هناك فرق كبير بينه وبين pl880 ؟

@jimgordon1563 2 года назад

Hi. Thank you for this. I've been a SW listener for 50 years or so. Its a good SW radio. MW/LW is good too.

@guardianobserver6593 Год назад

50 years? Big big Big difference on what one "can" hear now on sw.

@jimgordon1563 Год назад

@@guardianobserver6593 You are very right indeed. The end of the cold war and the Internet reduced the demand for shortwave. However, there are still some interesting stations left and the radios have certainly improved. Here some links to my channel. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-deovKFJeh40.html

@jimgordon1563 Год назад

@@guardianobserver6593 Here's another link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o8qqwa2SCD8.html

@skivvywaver Год назад

I like it better than my Eton Elite Executive which does have some of the features you miss on the Tecsun. I paid $169 for it while I paid $200 for the Eton. 200 British pounds comes out to about $250 US dollars and it's really not worth that much since shortwave seems to be a dying technology. It's over 100 years old. Most governments have given up on shortwave propaganda which to me is very sad.

@lonnieclemens8028 3 месяца назад

I would be curious about trying this radio, because it does have good reviews. But I am also concerned about the 18650 Li-ion rechargeable battery. I am accustomed to using AA batteries. Does anyone have an opinion on the Tecsun battery?

@Tsch6373 2 месяца назад

I was looking for a radio that used the 18650 battery and the PL-880 doesn't disappoint. It's long-lasting in this application and reliable. Better-quality flashlights use this battery. I have several of both the flashlights and their batteries. Happy with the radio as it is, nothing will be perfect...

@carltonbirds 11 месяцев назад

Very lovely 👍

@jonkarle8670 Год назад

Need help trying to tune this to see if it works

@kamalzoro Год назад

i have this radio ,bad on mw ,lw ,synchro,but it s exellent on sw and fm

@soldierloz Год назад

Hmmmm … I’ve seen more positive than negative reviews on this model and the 880 has the biggest following of the Tecsun range. Take the 990 for instance … now that’s over priced! It is basically the same chassis but with pointless Bluetooth. The 880 is currently available for £145 if you know where to look.

@tdcattech Год назад

I have to say that, although undoubtedly convenient for some, I don’t like unnecessary radios being put in a radio. It’s a massively dated product as it is and I know that when buying. Bluetooth just ain’t needed. 👍🏻

@bangersnmash4856 2 года назад

Been looking at this radio for my first toe in the water .Think my money will be going elsewhere now for a first radio, any suggestions anyone?

@tech29X 2 года назад

XHDATA D808; Over all best bang for the buck. There is no such thing as perfect radio.

@user-jc2zh2yu7r 4 месяца назад

Can a 5-element FM antenna be connected to this Tecsun? If so, how will it work?

@GrotrianSeiler 4 месяца назад

This is an overly harsh critique of what most feel is a great radio. You were expecting too much and don’t realize these high end portables are not cheap.

@robertshaw4833 Год назад

my thoughts are you are expecting alot from an inexpensive radio ,I have had good sucess with mine ,as always you get what you pay for. thanks for the review

@Tsch6373 2 месяца назад

Happy with my 880.

@colescuckooclockshop754 Год назад

Has anyone had problems with the battery cover breaking? Seems a little flimsy. Should I buy spares?

@andrewmcphee8965 Год назад

Why do you need to ever remove the battery cover? Its rechargable via usb...

@colescuckooclockshop754 Год назад

@@andrewmcphee8965 swap one out, check for leakage etc.

@drippinglass 6 месяцев назад

Thanks. It sounds crappy. You saved me money! 😀

@djaj423 Год назад

tecsun 880 or the ats 14732 ats25

@whiskeyvictor5703 6 месяцев назад

Is there a radio that is deemed superior to the Tecsun PL-880? (Hopefully, affordable enough that I won't have to donate any organs!)

@truehope287 9 месяцев назад

They didn't send the case anymore

@Tsch6373 2 месяца назад

Got a case with mine and it was a recent purchase.

@alternative3d87 Год назад

I just bought this radio, based on the positive reviews and hate it. Never had a radio with so many bugs, and glitches that this thing has.

@p.oneill6943 11 месяцев назад

Has anyone noticed the Price's on ALLI AN Antenna comprising of a Hundred Feet of thin (BELL) Wire is selling for between 50 and 130 Dollars fucking Madness the wire is only worth about 19 Dollars Top End ALLI CAN SHOVE IT

@Tsch6373 2 месяца назад

Thinking that we should be able to build our own.