LOGITECH SQUEEZEBOX RADIO MUSIC PLAYER WITH COLOR SCREEN (BLACK)
- Listen to infinite music, news and sports from every corner of the globe with this
easy-to-use, all-in-one Wi-Fi music player–all without a computer - Start listening to free World wide web radio stations, on the web music services, and your personal iTunes collection in minutes–connects easily to your home network via Wi-Fi
- Bring full, high-quality sound to any room with an ultra-compact design that fits easily on your night table or kitchen counter
- Just turn the dial to browse radio stations, music tracks and even album art, displayed on the full-color screen
- Recommend music to Facebook friends instantly right from your Squeezebox
Logitech Squeezebox Radio brings a world of music—free World wide web radio, subscription services, or your personal digital music collection—to any space in your home, over your Wi-Fi network.
List Price: $ 179.99
SALE Price: $ 179.99
Rating: 
about 1 year ago
Great functionality and sound but needs some work,
I am a long time owner of Squeezebox products and was pretty excited to find out about the little table top Squeezebox Radio model. I picked one up and thought I would share my thoughts.
The first thing you notice is how much heft this little player has. It is really well built and the fit and finish is superb. It has plenty of weight and solid rubber feet so that it won’t skid around on your night stand or table top. The screen looks great and all of the buttons have a nice solid tactile feel. Compared to many other cheap wireless network streaming radios, this device feels an entire order of magnitude better in its construction quality. The only disappointment here is the lack of back lit buttons, for using the radio in low lighting. It’s also worth noting that the entire radio has a high gloss finish that will be a magnet for fingerprints. Looks great though!
The biggest challenge for most consumers with this device will be the initial set up. You need to create an account at [...] in order to set up your new Squeezebox Radio. The device uses this connection to play free internet music services as well as download software updates, etc, to the Radio. I already had a Squeezebox account so this was not a huge challenge for me, but it might be for some people who might be confused that they need to set up an account before they can use the device. There is an option to set up the account from the device itself. Don’t do this (it is slow and tedious)! Go to the website and set it up in a few seconds and then just type your login and password on the device.
Other than the laborious task of entering my full email and password for [...] the rest of the setup is very easy. The Squeezebox Radio supports push to connect wi-fi set up which is common on many newer model wireless routers. It’s similar to programming a garage door opener. Simply point the Squeezebox Radio at your wireless network and for 120 seconds it will try to connect with the push to connect functionality. Then just push the connect button on your router and it’s automagically all set up.
Once set up the Radio will update its firmware and reboot, a process that takes a few extra minutes. After that you are good to go.
In addition to the many built in free online services, you can also play your own music through the Squeezebox Server application. I run the Squeezebox Server application on my HP EX495 Windows Home Server but you can also run Squeezebox Server on any Mac, Windows PC or even Linux box (there are even installable distributions for many Network Attached Storage units). This allows the Squeezebox Radio (and any other Squeeze players) to access all of the music on my home network. It’s absolutely wonderful to be able to take the little table top radio anywhere in the home and listen to your entire music collection.
Sound quality is very good, easily enough to fill a small to medium sized room. It gets quite loud with little to no distortion and the controls are easy to use to change tracks, change volume, etc. Wireless strength is superb. I get a full signal anywhere within about 40 feet of my router, and the radio works anywhere on my suburban property with no audio hiccups or dropouts.
In addition to the intuitive controls such as “home”, “play”, “stop”, “back”, etc, the unit also features six programmable “preset” buttons similar to what you have on a car radio. Setting these up is a bit more of a challenge than you would expect. You are supposed to be able to hold these down on any song, album, playlist, etc, that is being displayed in the radio menu and have it added as a preset. Unfortunately some items don’t add correctly and must first be programmed as a “favorite”. It turns out that you can only add favorites for some items (such as playlists) from the Squeezebox Server web based menu, which is quite inconvenient. I don’t doubt that Slim Devices (the arm of Logitech that makes these devices) will fix this soon enough.
Other minor glitches include some weird alarm behavior (it will show the time of the alarm when it is going off but strangely won’t show the current time, which is annoying if you have hit the snooze button a few times and need to know what time it is), some auto dimming issues (the auto dimming works great but gets almost TOO dim in a dark room to see the radio) and a few other very minor nits.
Slim Devices have a long history of enhancement and improvement of device firmware, so I would expect a lot of these issues to be worked out in the coming months. Additionally there will soon be a battery pack and small infrared remote for the Squeezebox Radio available as a $[...] add on purchase. Personally I think at $[...] the Radio should include these items, but considering the great sound of the radio, the high quality screen and the superb fit and finish it is…
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|about 1 year ago
Buggy!,
I’ve had the Squeezebox Radio for just over a week but that’s long enough to decide what I like and what still needs some work. First, set-up was a snap. The radio found my wireless network instantly and I was able to enter the password and connect quickly. The radio them updated its own software so I was working with the newest release.
What do I like? The radio seems solid. It’s heavy enough that you can press the buttons with the radio on a nightstand and not have it slide. The front is angled back which helps even more. I’d call the sound quality – though not stereo – excellent. There’s no comparison between how this radio sounds and the Sony clock radio I replaced it with. It has a very clear, crisp sound.
What don’t I like? I had the radio only three days when it lost all it’s presets. I re-entered them and all has been well since. This is a well known bug. I am using [...] and NOT using my PC so the problem is likely there. Presets should be stored locally, not on a server. I saved all my presets as favorites so they MIGHT be there the next time this happens (then again, maybe the favorites list will be erased, too). I’d like to see an easier way to set the sleep timer. You have to use the menu and it should be a simple button press. Why not use the power button and cycle through sleep settings? i.e. ON … 45 … 30 … 15 … OFF? There also needs to be a simple way to snooze. Maybe the big button in the middle?
The auto-dimming setting gets awfully dark at night! I should be able to set a minimum brightness level that suits me.
And I’d love to see the apps include weather radar. Yes, this is a radio but it’s got a great color display and being able to watch live weather radar on the screen would be super. A general weather app that makes use of this display would be a plus! Come on Logitech, get with it! This radio has more possibilities than, well, radio!
Later: I’ve had the radio for a month now and am no longer quite so excited. I reduced my initial 4 stars to just 2 stars. This radio is buggy! My initial loss of the presets has now been followed by a loss of the volume control. There was absolutely no way to get it back besides a “factory reset” which removes every setting I so carefully made. You should be able to simply sit down and enjoy a radio, not beta test a product.
I am returning it within Amazon’s 30 day window. I’ve had enough.
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|about 1 year ago
Better than expected,
When the Boom came out, I wanted to purchase it right away, but the $300 price tag and the inability to truely make it wireless detered me. Now that the Radio is out with a lower price tag, battery capability and a color LCD, I was totally sold. I’ve had the Radio for about a week now, and I simply love it. Even the wife was jamming to it when I got home from work the day after I bought it.
So far I have only had one issue with it…I can not find a setting to set the Album Art size to full screen on the Now Playing screen. It says in the manual that it is under the Screensaver settings, but when I go there it doesn’t exist. I sent an email to Logitech support, but have not heard back from them yet. [Updated] Logitech just released a new software version that will correct this issue.
Another cool feature that I didn’t realize existed, was the ability to control the Radio from the web.
As far as sound quality goes, it is far better than expected. There is virtually no distortion even at maximum volume. I even plugged a set of Computer Speakers into the Headphone Jack and it didn’t make that much of a difference. The Base levels aren’t that deep, but they are there. I can put it in my livingroom and pump it up near max volume and hear it clearly throughout the house.
I haven’t tested the Wireless strength extensively yet, but I was able to hook it up in the garage (1 Floor below and 50 feet from the router) and the signal strength was near full.
Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase and can’t wait to get the battery pack so I can just carry this thing around anywhere.
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