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Apple iPod Radio Remote

Great addition to your iPod

Written by DW from Oxford

14-Jan-2006

Since getting my iPod w/video, I've wanted a good remote. I also really miss the radio sometimes. When Apple announced this accessory last week I made an immediate order. I hope this review helps describe its features in more detail.

It simply plugs in to the dock/USB port on the bottom of your iPod. The headphone lead is a bit shorter than usual, to reduce the cable clutter.

As a remote, it works very well. It uses exactly the same control set as the iPod Shuffle, plus a 'hold' button. This allows my iPod to stay tucked away when I'm walking about - no more fumbling with pocket/sock/click wheel. You can easily navigate through the current playlist, album, artist, etc,. It seems to me that the volume is notably improved listening through the remote; I'm sure I don't need it turned up so far.

As an FM radio, it's also great. On the iPod, 'Radio' appears as an option in your menus once connected. You can scan to a specific frequency, or have the iPod find the nearest clear signal (this occasionally misses weaker stations). Individual stations may be marked for navigation using the remote, which can also turn the radio, and iPod, on and off. Available RDS signals are displayed (usually the station name). The signal is good; it worked consistently well on a bus I got home last night.

Finally, it doesn't have too deleterious an effect on battery life. Each use of the remote turns on the iPod backlight, which must contribute to power consumption, but I haven't run down the battery noticably faster whilst using it, is all I can observe.

In all, it was exactly what I was looking for and perfects my iPod's functionality. I can strongly recommend it.

900 of 1352 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

A recommended accessory for all iPod users

Written by PT from Bristol

25-Jan-2006

The signal is very good and much better than what I expected, and the interface is lovely and very easy to use. The remote control design is subtle and easy to use and the clip is just right.

My only grumbles are that: you cannot toggle between your music and the radio via the remote; you cannot charge the unit at the same time because the dock port is in use (I use the radio in the office); it's not available in black.

697 of 1161 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

iPod Radio Remote

Written by AF from Wakefield

15-Mar-2008

Got this three weeks ago, and wow! I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I got my iPod 80gb classic as I thought it was a bit quiet, lacking in dynamics distorting with the bass, this I am told is due to EU legislation limiting the headphone output. Well all is forgiven when you get the iPod Radio Remote as the volume increases and you get a more dynamic sound with fuller bass and a more realistic midrange, and it does subtlety too, add in the convenience of having radio function with your iPod, it locks on to stations pretty well and this is still the same on the train. you also get the remote function which means you are not having to get your iPod out when altering the volume or changing tracks. For all intents and purposes it looks to the untrained eye like a white shuffle, I have had someone ask me where to get a white shuffle having seen it. Buy with confidence.

377 of 612 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

A complete disappointment

Written by GH from Lancaster

20-Apr-2008

I bought this product specifically for the radio and I can't receive any programme, just crackle. It has been a complete and annoying waste of £35.
It also has an amazing length of wiring, which considering the excellent design of the ipod itself, surely isn't necessary. Nor is another set of earphones, which no doubt puts the price of the product up.
I don't understand why Apple, with all their skill in design and technology, can't include a radio as standard on their ipods.

280 of 461 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Perfect addition - but silly cables...

Written by SJ from Malton

10-Oct-2008

It seems strange that iPods don't have radios built into them by default considering most mobile phones do.
But anyway, I love the radio, especially the charts on Sunday and I thought this would be a great accessory to have, even though many people don't seem impressed with it.

I found my radio already set to the Europe regional setting so I didn't need to change this as others have suggested (also reading the instruction booklet helps!!).

I managed to tune straight to my local radion station and got excellent reception. I couldn't pick up any other station until I went upstairs and I managed to tune it into every single FM station I can normally get on all my other radios.

The reception does fizz sometimes if you move about a lot with it so maybe not so great for jogging with and some places don't have any reception at all but then, mobile phones don't always have reception either and everyone still has them!

It works great as a remote for your normal iPod music too with functions for Next, Back, Play, Pause and Volume Up and Down and a Hold Switch.
These controls also work for the radio.

My only complaint is - why are the cables for this so stupidly long?! It isn't nessecary for the cable between the iPod connector and the radio to be nearly 1 metre long! It should just plug straight into the bottom with the only cables being from the headphones.
The radio does come with a set of earphones with a shorter cable but this still doesn't stop you having 1.5 metres of cable trailing all round you.
My advice - leave the connector cable wound up with the plastic wire tie it comes packaged with.

98 of 107 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Great idea, pity it doesn't last

Written by JI

23-Feb-2008

I got one of these during the summer just after buying an 80Gig iPod. Not only was the radio a neat and easy to use add on for the iPod, but having the in line remote meant I could avoid having to dig the iPod out of my pocket when I wanted to skip a song on shuffle.
My only qualm is with durability. Within a few months the clips holding the back of the in line remote had weakened so that the back would pop off if it snagged on anything and now the connection to the iPod base is loose, causing the sound to crackle / stop if the iPod jiggles in my pocket.

269 of 454 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Excellent but pricey

Written by AB from Montpelier

14-May-2008

I got this as a present (lucky as I wouldn't have spent the money on it myself) but am so glad I did. I started with a first gen ipod that had a remote on the headphones (why did they stop doing that) so really missed them when it was stolen.

This is great to have as a remote and means than I can still listen to radio stations, which I've missed being able to do. The reception is a little dodgy at times but I wouldn't want to be without it! It also comes with another pair of headphones that are shorter - always handy to have a spare!

171 of 265 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

BAD RECEPTION? CHANGE COUNTRY

Written by AA from LONDON

01-Apr-2006

I read the reviews before trying this product myself. Unfortunately it lived up to its disappointments. The idea of a radio is great and it would have been nice to have this feature the day I opened my iPod box.

Despite my disappointment at the poor reception, I decided to stick with it. I could only pick up about four radio stations and the tuning could only scroll through odd numbers. For example you could get 99.9 FM and 100.1 FM but not 100.0 FM.

Playing with my iPod as I do, I noticed a new option under the settings menu, RADIO REGION. It was set on USA. I changed it to Europe and lost all my preset radio stations (only four). However, the reception improved dramatically. I was immediately able to pick up ten times more stations. I now have twenty presets. Much much better. And I can now manual tune to even numbers such as 100.0 FM

To all those people who returned this product... try it with the right country setting. It makes a world of difference!

I have now bought this product for two other members of my family. I give it four stars instead of five because Apple Europe need to put a BIG STICKER on the box that says SET RADIO REGION TO EUROPE. Without emphasising this crucial information many loyal iPod customers are suffering in silence... or in the white noise of poor reception. Also, it is a little over-priced. £21-£25 would have felt right.

82 of 89 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Pros and Cons

Written by BO from Lispole

01-Mar-2009

Good product with very clear signal, etc.

However, when I purchased it for £35 (which is a bit much in fairness), I was told it works with all iPods (I bought it in the Apple Store in Regent Street). I had an iPod Nano at the time and all was fine, but I got an iPod Touch at Christmas and now the remote OR the radio doesn't work...

All in all, I think the next software update for iPod Touch should include compatibility with the remote and radio.

88 of 105 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Appalling Reception

Written by BC from CORK

14-Nov-2007

Have tried everything to improve the reception to no satisfaction. Will be returning the product.

166 of 266 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

great..but why not in black?

Written by DA from LONDON

20-Jan-2006

this looks really good, and its about time the ipod got its claws into radio- but i have a black ipod which in my opinion is far nicer looking than the white one..and now i have to get a white radio remote. come on apple, dont discriminate ;o) plus the white headphones and cables get filthy and lose their sheen quickly.

Another point- could you PLEASE stop including headphones with your remotes..only people who like their sound quality way below par use your earbud headphones- and they break ALL the time. You shouldnt be upping the price of your stuff by forcing people to buy things they dont need and wont use just to make a bit more money.
A good product, dont get me wrong, but again apple are ripping us off..what happened to the days where my ipod came with a dock, charger, remote a REAL case and all the trimmings? not a furry envelope and a usb cable for my troubles. You cut the price of the ipod and then take all the accessories away and end up making more money than ever..dont make me buy a creative zen ;o)

79 of 101 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

The perfectly pointless gadget, you have to get it.

Written by AL from Wednesbury

03-Aug-2006

This product is one of those gadgets that suck’s you in until you have to buy it. Then you get it and it does what it says it does, looks like you thought it would and then leaves you thinking, now why exactly did I want this.

It’s cool, but strangely pointless. If you are reading these reviews you will end up at some point buying this product, or putting it on your Christmas list and thinking that’s something I’d like. Then you’ll open the little box and plug it into the bottom of your iPod –meaning you can’t close your nice new protective case. Look at your main menu and get all excited about the new Radio selection. Get ready to be amazed at the channel selection screen which looks great. Lock your favourite station in and look in disbelief as details of what station it is and the DJ that’s now playing and other information (I think this is called RDS). Use the little remote to go up and down, up and down the channels, wow. Then switch the radio off and use the remote to play your music, volume up and down, up and down.

Now this is the point at which you think, quite a bit of cable here, it’ll be ok I’ll put it in my pocket. That chunky plug in the bottom of my iPod is a bit of an eye sore, its ok, I’ve got a remote control and radio. If you really, really think about it you just know this little thing is going to end up in some draw colleting dust if you don’t force yourself to listen to the radio.

Make a space in a small draw first, then buy this product. You know you have to.

59 of 64 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Dissapointing :-(

Written by MW from tregear

30-Oct-2007

There is a sound quality drop listening to your stored music throught the remote. The FM tuner appears to output mono not stereo and i cant change it, Reception is quite good but the cord seems a litte too long for my taste. Overall for the price i cannot give this little gadget more than 2 stars way too many negative points!!

110 of 167 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Not designed for every day use

Written by WM from SOUTHAMPTON

26-Jun-2006

I bought this product when it was released back in january and was initially impressed, clear sound good quality and nice to look at. However 6 months later i have encountered a few problems with the radio and with the headphones. I use my iPod for about 10 hours a day so it is safe to say that i have put this product through its paces.

The first problem i had was after about a month the clip came away from the body of the radio itself, not too happy with that but nothing a bit of superglue wouldn't fix.

The second problem was with the headphones, I thought i'd give the apple headphones a go after using my own ones since i purchased it and after about a week the left earphone packed up so i had to revert back to my old ones which was a bit of a shame as the apple ones look far nicer.

Finally... last week on my way home from work i was listening to the radio and it kept cutting out, the only way to get the radio back on was to switch it off and switch it back on again but this would only solve the problem for a few minutes and then would keep re-occuring. In the end i had to disconnect the radio and plug the headphones directly into the iPod itself.

I have now exchanged it for another one, Maybe it was just a one off but for £35 plus £5 postage I would expect a lot better quality for my money.

49 of 54 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

And about time!

Written by RR from london

14-Jan-2006

Ok its taken its time but was it worth waiting for? Um yes.Took me an hour to set up though as I couldnt figure out why when I scrolled through the channels it would only give me odd numbers such as 105.7 105.9 etc. Then the penny dropped and I realised it was set to the US. To change it to the European setting go to settings and you will find an option to change the region. Well worth the money and you can still use your own headphones with it! Enjoy!

49 of 54 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

good (but becareful!)

Written by JS from Sheffield

24-Mar-2006

I bought this item as a birthday present for my dad (he has a nano), the delivery was next day (which compensated for the £4.00 postage cost). When it came to opening it on his birthday it would not work on his so I tried it on my 20gig photo ipod and it didnt work on that either.
I took it to the apple store and they tried it on theres it too did not work on theirs either.
Myself and the sales assistant then found out you have to have version 1.1 software on your ipod and when you get your ipod nano its 1.0- so it needs the free upgrade you get fron the apple website. We also found that it does not work on ipod 20gig photo it only works on the new video ones! whish they told you that on the description.

the price is a bit steep but once we got it working its absolutly fab and i highly reccommed it. just a shame like another reviewer said they dont do a D.A.B radio - but oh well cant have everything!!

50 of 59 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Makes my iPod complete

Written by AT from LONDON

23-Feb-2008

Since getting this over 18 months ago. I have rarely listened to my digital music. It's not perfect, reception isn't it's strong point but is generally ok. The display is nice and clear ( iPod Video) display on classic is even nicer. Problem with mine is that it's now got a loose connection in the dock connector so I need a new one. At £35 it's expensive. If only Apple put this cheap bit of circuitry insider the iPod to begin with this would make the iPod complete for me. My phone has a radio but I can't use in-ear headphones with it. I want the iPhone to to come with a radio or be compatible with this device. Come on Apple. Please.......

144 of 250 people found this useful

Apple iPod Radio Remote

worth every penny

Written by AF from POOLE

17-Dec-2007

i work on a building site and move around a lot and go from roof to basement, behind concrete walls and never get any problems with reception i do now and then loose sound, but only for split seconds .. i love this product its on my nano but i have bought a itouch and it is not compatible so i need to keep both, this issue does peeeeeeeee me offfffffff .( apple please make it compatible )

126 of 214 people found this useful