Roberts Gemini RD-49 Reviews: DAB and FM

+ excellent radio, good sound

- on/off button is easily switched on accidentally

+ It is compact, sturdy and well designed. Good use of batteries eg life and charging.

- Difficult to work out how to change to the "alternative" service on a station.

+ Rechargeable batteries. Mains connection. Neat size and easy to use.

- Can't think of any.

+ Very portable, ease to carry and use, fine quality product and excellent in design .

- none observed.

+ Ease of use, re-charge facilty without removing batteries, portability.

- Could do with a 'lock' button so that it cannot be switched on accidentally.

+ Easy to set up. Lightweight. Easy to use. Easy recharging of rechargeable batteries.

- Too much background noise for headphone listening. No handle to assist carrying. Probably not enough pre-sets,but enough for me.

+ Small size, clear reception (for its size) and good quality construction. Good for use in a bathroom, caravan or motorhome.

- Uses small batteries therefore it consumes them at a high rate. Best to use on mains if possible.

+ The radio has a very useful built in battery charger. When fitted with rechargeable 2500mAh NiMH batteries the radio plays for about 5 hours before recharge is necessary. Sound quality is very good for a small radio.

- No rechargeable batteries supplied with the radio.
A faster onboard charger would be nice.

+ Super easy to use and fantastic that it has integrated recharger, just use good quality batteries with a high mAh, at least 2800. Sound is crisp and clear.

- None worth mentioning, perhaps if it could go a little louder.

+ Attractive to look at, lightweight, good sound, easy to tune, a good all-rounder at a competitive price.

- Cannot find any!

+ To coin a phrase it does exactly what is says on the tin

- None so far

+ Built-in battery charger

- Turns off if it falls over

+ quality radio, good sound for size.

- on/off button

+ Everything except battery life! Beautiful product, beautiful sound! I bought it for my husband for Christmas and he loves it! Thank you!

- The battery doesn't seem to last very long until it needs to be charged up again.

+ reception, size, price

- no carrying handle

+ Integral battery charger

- Only 1 watt speaker. Fine in the bathroom, but not a lot of good on a building site!!

+ Neat tidy design & easy to use. Crisp reception. Lasted 6 weeks with ordinary alkaline batteries with 20-40 minutes a day.

- It would be nice if it displayed the time. Otherwise can't think of a bad point.

+ In-built rechargeable battery unit which saves on the cost of buying batteries all the time. Small enough for ny husband to carry back and forth his allotment and he can now listen to Planet Rock!

- None

+ Not that much buttons to press and it is very small; good for My desk at work.

- I'm sure, like me, most people hate looking at manuals. It took a while to figure out who to save a preset station. I still do not know what the 'Full' option is.

+ very small, compact, excellent quality, easy to set up and use. Like the rechargable battery feature

- none found

+ Compact design,easy to use,very good reception,perfect portable.

- None.

+ size, build quality, style

- none

+ small, neat and compact. Also good to look at

- it ran out of batter sooner than I thought it would

+ ease of use, displays what is going on, on the station tuned to, light, good sound, can use mains or battery - love it!

- none

+ Both DAB & FM

- Didn't sit perfectly level - a bit wobbly!

+ you can hear the radio on it :)

- cost

+ Small and compact, takes rechargeable batteries and has a built in charger.

- no battery level indicator.

+ compact

- Reviewer left no comment

+ It takes plain NiMH AA rechargables, and sits charging on the kitchen worktop waiting to be carried to anywhere in the house or garden. Seems more sensitive than my other two DAB radios (does not need to be on the window cill in this marginal reception area. Pretty good sound for the size, too.

- On FM can get a temporary 'digital' sounding interference (from display driver circuit?) when disturbing the signal by walking around the room.

+ Neat size and shape
Will recharge your batteries for you (Digital radios seem to be hungry compared to conventional fm/am)
Decent sound quality
It's a Roberts :-) (build quality)

- Reviewer left no comment

+ This is the second Roberts Gemini we have brought, what could be a better recomendation!!

- None we have found.

+ A VERY GOOD RADIO, GREAT SOUND ETC

- There are two thing not good with this radio, 1, it is very easy to swith it on accidently, 2, it will not take any rough treatment, the parts inside break.

+ compact, easy to use and good quality reception.

- No recharg batteries supplied

+ its all simple to use and see

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Simple to use, good sound for such a small radio, charges batteries without need for a seperate charger

- None found thus far.

+ Inbuilt battery charger, and takes small AA batteries (most digital batteries take heavier C type).

- Would prefer to have inbuilt batteries too. White was only choice - OK so far, but have to be careful about treating it, especially outdoors.

+ Simple, easy to use. Does what it says on the tin with very clear voice quality sound.

- No stereo speakers for when you listen to music, however I was very much aware of this before I purchased, main use is to listen to sports talk and BBC news, so I comprimised. Overall a great set.

+ Well constructed. Good sound quality for a small radio. You can use rechargeable batteries which the radio charges when it's not in use.

- I use this radio at work, and when it gets knocked over, it turns itself off (because the power switch is on the front).

+ It holds the stations even when the batteries go down

- No indication that the battery is dying

+ An all round performer, batteries ( although expensive in relation to the price of the receiver ) last quite awhile before requiring recharging from the built in charger.

- I find that the volume cotnrol knob is too sensitve and it is very easy to turn the sound down when holding and tuning. On many occasions I thought there was no sound from a station only to find that the volume control had been activated accidentally and turned the sound right down.It needs to be stiffer to operate.

+ looks high quality

- none

+ The built-in battery charger. When you run it on batteries, you don't have to look at the glaring orange display panel !

- None

+ Tunes in easily.Good sound for a mono speaker.Very good reception.

- I carry the radio in a case and a lock on the controls to prevent accidentally switching on would be good as on/off button is proud of case.

+ Good quality sound. Very nice design. Compact and portable. Facility to recharge batteries excellent. I love my radio.

- None

+ stylish, easy to use

- batteries last about 6 hours and can cost £3.00 per day. DAB reception is very poor. I have used this radio in several parts of the uk and if you are outside, its brilliant(the reception), but indoors is terrible.

+ Esae of use and looks

- None

+ size, style, sound quality, rechargeable

- batteries not included

+ Neat size. Good sound. Inbuilt charger

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Its small, compact and light, and with the rechargeable batteries recharging off the mains, really simple to use. Great reception, and easy to work.

- It would be nice if it came in a choice of colours!

+ Design and ease of use

- None

+ Design, mains recharging when switched off

- Batteries used up faster than conventional radio

+ the product is just what we needed, giving good sound and ease of usage.

- no bad points at all

+ A joy to listen to trouble free reception of programmes on the radio. A good looking case , too.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Easy charging system compared with other DAB radios I've purchased.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Easy to use, with preset for your favourites stations.
Very clear reception and intelligently manufactured.
i.e very good look and feel, and when not on mains the backline turns off to save power
Recharging the batteries within the radio make is just great.

- A handle would have been useful.

+ A good lightweight small portable. Good value

- Would benefit from an aerial socket for fringe areas.

+ presets are very useful for my 88yr old dad who I bought it for. The tuning is still a challenge though for him at least.

- reception -the digital signal is not strong enough really but that's the transmitter strength not the radio

+ Superb radio with great sound quality for size of unit. Very good digital and FM reception. The built in battery charger is the best part of this radio, it allows you to charge a normal set of rechargeable batteries, without the need to remove the batteries or have a separate charger. Buy a set of 2500's or more and the set will last for around 2 to 3 days on a full charge.

- Not much really:- Yellow display is not as clear in the daylight as some others, but works great during the night. On / Off button sticks out slightly and it is easy to accidentally turn the radio on or off when moving it.
A few more presets would be nice, but overall I am very pleased with the radio.

+ General ease of use and handy size.

- There is no adjustment for tone. There is a pemanent background noise like tinnitus. Although 10 presets
are claimed, there are 5 on dab and 5 analogue which Ilook on as misleading.

+ Reviewer left no comment

- very poor battery life

+ Very good sound quality. Clever "charging while off" facility.

- None

+ ease of use
display
value for money
battery charger

- no handle

+ Clear sound

- very light - so you have to hold the unit when pushing the buttons !! Struggles to find stations on DAB sometimes unless aerial is fully extended

+ well built,love the inbuilt charger.

- none

+ Best reception of BBC stations of any we own - have purchased two more for friends since our original purchase

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Built in battery charger

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Reviewer left no comment

- No warning of cut-off from battery power-loss

+ Simple to use. Good reception. Sensible in-built battery charger. Uses AA size batteries.

- Could do with a better grip or handle for portability. Attractive-looking plastic case is a bit slippery. Sound quality is OK but lacking both treble and bass. I appreciate the necessary design compromise but it would be quite nice if Roberts offered an optional extension speaker.

+ Sound Quality, battery life ease of tuning

- colour

+ Being able to recharge the batteries without removing them from the radio.
A great radio apart from the points below. Must be good this is my second one.

- No carry handle. On/off button too vulnerable to accidental operation especially when the radio is packed in a bag or suitcase.

+ Love the Radio

- The plug is too big a bit obtrusive

+ Design and ease of use and setup

- Display could be larger

+ Good quality sound, easy to set up and use

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Good sensitivity. Simple to use. Good sound quality

- None that come to mind

+ Built in battery charger Clear display

- Aeria seems very vulnerablel

+ Well designed very good quality

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Very easy to use.
Battery charging in situ
Portable
Good sound quality for its size

- It doesn't make tea!!!