Squeezebox Radio Review

Company Info: Logitech
Category: Gadgets
Supported OS: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista; Linux/Unix
Price Paid: $149.99 @ Amazon
MSRP: $199.99
Rating: 4.5/5.0

Reviewer: Wayne Eggert
Date: November 20, 2009

Background
If you've read any of my other reviews of the Squeezebox product line you'd know I'm a long-time fan.  I'm not affiliated with Logitech or Slim Devices at all and I admit I may be slightly biased since I haven't tried out a Sonos system, Roku or any of the various tabletop Internet Radio devices that have been popping in the last few years.  What I do know is since 2004 I have been using Squeezebox devices and recommending them as a great way to organize & listen to your digital music library at home.

When I bought my first Squeezebox back in 2004, there were very few affordable choices for home music servers & even fewer that came anywhere close to meeting my requirements.  I wanted something simple that other people could easily learn to use in a few minutes.  Additionally, it had to allow for multiple ways to access the music.  I didn't want to be tied to the computer but I also didn't want to have to search for music with a remote all the time.  At the time I also wanted to be able to run the server software on a dedicated Linux PC to remove the overhead of a Windows OS and also to seperate my regular desktop where I might be rebooting or doing cpu intensive tasks from the server that was playing music.  That's how I stumbled into [the then] little-known product called Squeezebox developed by Slim Devices.

Logitech's Involvement
A few years ago Logitech bought Slim Devices and has helped extensively with marketing the product, refining the product packaging / manufacturing and actually getting it on retail shelves.  Soon after Logitech took over they released the Squeezebox Boom, Squeezebox Classic, & Squeezebox Duet.  This year they unveiled the Squeezebox Radio (portable all-in-one radio like the BOOM) and the Squeezebox Touch (touchscreen interface).  I find it pretty neat to see how far the product has come in 5 years and to think I can actually find a Squeezebox in a retail store rather than having to buy directly from the manufacturer's website.  Anyway, this will be a review of the Logitech Squeezebox Radio.

Technical Specifications (from Logitech's Squeezebox Radio site)

Speaker and amplifier

• ¾-inch high-definition, soft-dome tweeter and 3-inch high-power, long-throw woofer
• Bi-amplified class D design with digital electronic crossover
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack

General

• 2.4-inch 24-bit color LCD
• Ambient light sensor to adjust display brightness according to environment
• 6 preset buttons allow one touch access to favorite radio stations and playlists
• Alarm clock with 7 days of settings
• Line-in via 3.5 mm stereo jack

Audio

• MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Apple Lossless
• Other formats supported through transcoding
• Some formats may require additional software installation
• Support for MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC and WMA formatted Internet radio streams

Network

• True 802.11g wireless networking
• One-touch setup (with compatible WPS-supporting routers)
• Support WPA Personal, WPA2-AES, and 64/128-bit WEP encryption
• Ethernet port connects to any 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network (with Auto MDX)

There's more details on Logitech's specification page.

Let's take a look at the differences between the Squeezebox Radio & the BOOM (which it most resembles)...

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