Logitech Squeezebox Radio > Reviews (2)

So I've owned the Logitech Squeezebox radio for about 18 months and use it as a bedside radio and it's still something I really enjoy using. With the price currently at just over £100, you might think this is a little excessive when you can buy a clock radio for under £10 from Argos.

So what's so special about this radio? Well, there's no DAB or FM tuner, it's just an internet radio. And what's great is, you can listen to almost any station from anywhere in the world. If you live abroad or a long way from home, you could wake up to a local radio station from where you grew up, or one of the millions of niche music stations available. Of course, all your standard stations, (BBC etc) are there too. Finding stations is easy, you can search by country, city, genre, or name and store them under the six preset buttons next to the display for quick access.

Connected via your wifi network or ethernet cable, there are many other internet services which can be accessed too. If you subscribe to Last.fm or Spotify (monthly subscribers only) you can stream music direct from your account. These services are accessed through 'apps' which you can download to the device. Other 'apps' available include a podcast service, Flickr and Facebook.

With regards to Facebook, have you ever thought it might be nice to wake up to the face of your ex, or an old school friend, or perhaps your mum? Well with the Facebook app for the Squeezebox, every day can bring an alarming surprise as your facebook photos, or friends' profile pictures play in a slideshow on the device via it's 6cm colour screen while music is playing (or always when on standby if you wish). When I tell people about this little feature, you can just see the look of "what has the world come to?" on their faces.

As well as playing music from internet stations, you can stream music from your own mp3 collection over your home network. If you have a PC or Mac turned on and install a small program called "Squeeze center", you can browse and play all your iTunes playlists and audio files. You can also remotely control the radio, which has many uses. Say you were in the kitchen on your laptop, and wanted your son to get out of bed, how about blasting the sound of a power drill at high volume through the radio's speaker? (sound effect app available to download free). You could even alert people from the other side of the world as long as there's an internet connection.

In terms of the design, it's a very smart looking device with a high build quality. The dimensions are 13 cm x 22 cm x 8.5 cm, has a black front with the outer shell available in black, white and red, although I've only ever seen black in stores. The casing has a very high shine, which means it gets dusty constantly, which is just one small annoyance. There is one mono speaker, which sounds good even at a high volume. There are two main dials, one for navigating the menu system and the other is the volume. One reason I like this as a bedside radio is because the volume increments are very small so it's easy to get precisely the level you want.

One slight downside is, that you'll need a good internet signal where you plan to use the radio. Sometimes the sound cuts in and out if the connection is weak.

The Squeezebox radio is just one of several compatable products available, so it's possible to have a network of speakers all streaming the same music in different rooms of the house.

I like this product, though sometimes it's hard to take it seriously. I guess it all depends on the way you use it. Not everyone wants Facebook or remote control, but the infinite choice of music available means it's unlikely you'll tire of the Squeezbox radio

(please note there is no included remote control as mentioned in Specific Criteria)