Roberts Gemini 45 DAB FM RDS Digital Radio – Black

L. Amer

at 8:53 am

This is an nifty little DAB radio. We have it in the kitchen and the reception is extremely good on all the major stations (plus a few extra ones I do not really listen to!). It can pick up all of the BBC stations; sport is especially well catered for on all of the Radio 5 stations (crystal clear, without the Medium Wave crackle and pop), 6 Music is a brilliant alternative station for people who are serious about their music.

The sound from such a small radio has a nice tone and it can be turned up to a surprisingly loud volume without distortion. The display panel is limited but still informative e.g. it displays programme title, programme information, “song now playing”, news and, if your tuned into sport, it even displays the cricket scores and football results!

For the price, I would highly recommend this as a first DAB radio or one for the kitchen/bedroom.
Rating: 4 / 5

Brian Newbould

at 12:45 pm

I purchased this for the bedroom. I required a compact DAB radio that would sit comfortably on a small bedside cabinet. Its dimensions fitted the bill to a tee. I also needed DAB access without having to switch the (Freeview) tv on.

The initial set-up and controls are simplicity itself and most appreciated by someone who wishes to plug-in and play without a detailed cover to cover study of the manual. Controls are simple and effective, aerial rotates, rotary volume control is super-smooth, accurate and progressive, another big plus for a ‘bedroom’ radio. Whilst our tv/fm reception is strong the digital signals are ‘not as’. Our new-ish mini hi-fi in our kitchen can only receive talksport on DAB so I was rather concerned about this aspect. I need not have been. Yes, positioning of the aerial is critical but once you have spent a bit of time sussing it out it’s perfectly okay. BBC Radio 6, 7 and World Service the main stations I listen to on DAB are fine as is the ‘usual’ fm.

The tone of the radio whilst slightly varying staion-to-station (because of the various microphones used?) is good. I expected a Roberts radio to provide a ‘neutral’ mellow and refined sound biased towards speach in such a ‘smaller’ radio. The RD-45 certainly achieves this whilst also coping surprisingly well with higher (not high!) volumes of music too. Considering its modest size and thus limited parameters the balance is spot-on.

It has a recessed carry ‘grip’ at the rear in addition to the battery compartment which I guess I will never open and the usual phones and line out jacks.

The design and soft curvatured shape is pleasing to the eye whilst at the same time being suitably restrained though strongly and wrongly it must be said suggesting a twin speaker radio. I wonder how many will fall for that ‘suggested’ assumption?

To sum up; this is a pleasing DAB radio in a traditional vein being presented in a stylish yet consevative modern case. Its absolutely ideal for Question Time, The Moral Maze, Money Box, The Comedy Controler et al but also puts in a most respectable performance when listening to music be it your local MOR BBC staion or Classic FM. It is a little expensive for what you get but as with all quality items in life its perhaps best to pay that little bit more for something that ‘bit better’?

Rating: 5 / 5

Mrs. L. Jeppesen-thomson

at 2:23 pm

Bought this for my mum’s Christmas so have only briefly tried it. Easy to set up though & seems to do the job well
Rating: 5 / 5