Tecsun PL-880 Pros & Cons - A Short Review

[@tdcattech]

Tecsun PL-880 on Amazon - geni.us/pl880 --- If you'd like to support the channel, please use this Amazon affiliate link for anything you might want to buy. Thank you!

[@normanbloom]

I did buy from Amazon but I don't always buy everything seem to be made in China so I'm not too impressed but the radio I have is good I have to say.

[@marybaker8582]

I have this radio and it’s absolutely brilliant. Great battery life, and many useful features.

[@hiddenwaves4772]

This is the most realistic review of this radio I've seen on youtube. It will be decisive for my future purchase. Thank you.

[@GrotrianSeiler]

This is an overly harsh critique of what most feel is a great radio. You were expecting too much and don’t realize these high end portables are not cheap.

[@eddie-o5u]

This radio is brilliant. Love using and listening to it.

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Owned my PL-880 for a couple months now and love it. Love the non-muting 'analog' tuning, this is a really nice 'browsing the bands' radio. Love the big display, battery life is great, and is good enough on AM for my purposes. Rarely listen to FM but its good, dont care about RDS. I disagree with you about build quality - the radio feels solid and has a nice 'heft' in the hand, not too light or too heavy, just right imho. The only two gripes I have with it are that it falls over too easy and theres not enough treble (even with the switch on treble) altho it has just the right amount of bass. Bought mine for AU$300 from Tecsun Australia and consider its worth every penny. Get one!

[@emiliehervieux3776]

If you agile with electronic. Open up and put tar roof tape in the speaker box(if you don't have it multiple layer of duck tape, but is less efficient). Ad old pieces of clothe stick with glue spot( make sure you not interfere with the speaker and resonator mouvement and space( don't over fill it)). Make sure, when youclose the boxe is air tight (seal) This setup reduce low and mid frequency, remove accoustic air and wall resonace. But don't affect high (treble). The music and voice would be more define (your ear need fews minutes of training). But when you taste it, right and tight...You don't turn back. if is not enough, ad a little tweeter with a first order crossover. But, I don't hink you need to go that far. If you have a fm transmiter you can play the same music as refernce. The best for bass, voice, high(snare) Peter Gagriel So (Mercy street), and Us (only us, mostly the first minutes) and music scenes Whiplash. But the best thing you can ear is the call from the Lord Jesus KJV. And keep his 7th day Sabbath. See Walter Veith of Clash of minds And other video of him like Twisting the ten commandments. God bless

[@geez-hd6dn]

If you look inside the radio, you will know where your money went. SSB is superb too.

[@barzanmahmood429]

what do u mean? please

[@rodt9380]

Maybe I missed it, but what short wave radio checks all the boxes for a similar price, what's the go to radio?

[@ditto1958]

No one has answered this, so I’ll try- for around the same price, as the PL-880, around $180, there are the Eton Elite Executive and the C. Crane CC Skywave SSB 2. For around $100, the XHData D-808 has pretty much the same features and gets really positive reviews. Also for $100, the older Tecsun PL-660 can still be found.

[@rodt9380]

@@ditto1958 Thank you, I'll take a look

[@peterbaugh51]

Tecsun PL-330.

[@thedude4395]

Did you use the included antenna?

[@tomm7029]

Was interested in this but thanks for your honest appraisal. Which model would you suggest as an alternative? I am mainly interested in useability and sound quality rather than sensitivity.

[@svalchemy]

I just got one for our cruising boat and like it quite a bit so far.

[@RedPillAwake]

As reviews go, this one was pretty great. You have a very cool style.

[@unohu88]

Sassy

[@peterbaugh51]

Tecsun PL-330... I am still looking for cons... Maybe too small? The controls and logic are so good, I can operate it in the dark... By feel... The layout is that logical. Intuitive, if you know radio and electronics. I have found functions and features that are just barely covered in the manual. A very powerful operating system. Wish my Windows Workstation was so well thought out! The PL-330 has features I wanted 25 years ago that did not exist. Don't need AIR, or RDS. To each his own. But advanced memory banks, saving ssb, am, lower sideband, upper sideband, all with the same frequencies on the same bank? And allowing scanning of either side band or regular am from the same memory locations? WOW. Separate memory banks for each hour on shortwave? Editable with direct entry? OK I got sold. And the speaker sounds great also. Sounds much bigger and performs much better than its size. Try to keep up, PL-880 😊. Thanks for the video.

[@manishbhoola]

Thank you for the honest review. Which radio would u recommend for goof DXing

[@limelightmuskoka]

My Dad bought me this and i think its great kit for late night signal roaming.

[@Columbocops]

You say "you can probably get a radio that performs equally well for under half the price" but WHAT are these radios?

[@nuri_world]

XHDATA D-808 beats tecsun on MW, SW, and also it has airband and RDS

[@GrotrianSeiler]

PL330

[@peterbaugh51]

PL-330. Amazing value. Great design, performance all over. Advanced memory and scanning functions. Long battery life.

[@lonnieclemens8028]

I would be curious about trying this radio, because it does have good reviews. But I am also concerned about the 18650 Li-ion rechargeable battery. I am accustomed to using AA batteries. Does anyone have an opinion on the Tecsun battery?

[@Tsch6373]

I was looking for a radio that used the 18650 battery and the PL-880 doesn't disappoint. It's long-lasting in this application and reliable. Better-quality flashlights use this battery. I have several of both the flashlights and their batteries. Happy with the radio as it is, nothing will be perfect...

[@normanbloom]

I am still considering in buying this radio. I do like the radio as I have heard positive reviews on this model. I like the idea of Stereo Fm and the dial light when tuning radio stations at night. I haven,t made up my mind as yet. Does anyone know what the equivalent to the Pl 880. I may order the radio form Walmart which would set me back $400.00 if I do but it.

[@DOYOUKNOWTHEPRINCEOFPEACE]

WHAT RADIO WOULD YOU STRONGLY SUGGEST WE BUY???? ALSO THANKS FOR THE GREAT VIDEO!!!

[@miguelparra-t4b]

do you have an answer for your question?

[@lasanguinaire4331]

Get an Xhdata D 808. It does everything well with a reasonable price.

[@criticalrebel6622]

X H DATA 808 anyone any day 🎉

[@aperson1181]

thank you for your honest review, which radio would you recommend that would also have an airband?

[@bobwhitenstall3148]

I like the PL-880 but some of the cons not mentioned here is the distortion on USB signals above 25MHz. The signals sound "bubbly" and sometimes difficult to listen to. The radio is also prone to signals imaging especially on higher frequencies. There are a lot of "birdies" on the whole frequency range, mainly on upper and lower sidebands.

[@normanbloom]

I still have the Tecsun Pl 660 I still have the batteries in it it takes four pen light batteries it's not a bad radio made in China of course but this is a little bit better model pretty sensitive and picks up a lot of the FM and AM stations all over the FM says stereo it's not multiplex stereo like the seat clean SSB that I have but the FM on the pl 660 is stereo as FM is but not multiplex at least I don't think it is and there's no switch that I can add to it I haven't played around with the shortwave much because I don't think short ways any good North America anymore like it used to be 20 years ago that's my opinion I'm a radio collector and I have many good standard radios and multiband analog type transistors on display

[@sandasturner9529]

5935khz 19:00-0:700 5850khz. 19:00-07:30 4840khz 19:00-07:00 5085khz 19:00-? 5050khz. ?-?(Audible in Tennessee Nashville area) 9983khz. ?-? (Time -evenings) 7245khz (nighttime) 5890khz (nighttime) 5025khz (nighttime - not English) 5010khz (nighttime) 5000khz-world time channel There's more that I haven't discovered yet but the diversity or variety of content seems to be lacking between shortwave radio stations......

[@sandasturner9529]

I forgot 4050khz that's a channel that talks sports and is possibly a 24/7 channel (found this channel in Louisiana- my hometown of New Orleans)

[@sandasturner9529]

Military utc time minus 6hours

[@sandasturner9529]

7490 khz in the morning 9450 khz during the day 9570 khz during the day

[@alanyoung261]

Can you name any new shortwave radios that have been released 2010 up to know, thanks alan.

[@mahdim6500]

فيديو قصير فيه كل شئ عن الراديو. يعجبني tecsun h-501x.. هل هناك فرق كبير بينه وبين pl880 ؟

[@palgotzoona]

I have the PL-660. For me, actually the PL-880 (and -990)’s rechargeable battery is a negative. With a portable radio like this I want it to be a reliable device for a survival situation over the long term, and for me that means batteries that you can find anywhere. The PL-660 runs on 4xAA cells, which I’ll easily be able to get my hands on for a number of years, even when holed up overnight in an abandoned, zombie-surrounded convenience store.

[@lasanguinaire4331]

Don't overthink.😆 but incase you can't help it like myself, get an xhdata D 219 and some duracell batteries and pack them up in your backpack.

[@johnharris1846]

I have the PL-660 and like it but mine just goes through the batteries really fast, even when its turned off?

[@palgotzoona]

​@@johnharris1846 That's weird. I have Ni-MH rechargeables in mine and after a couple months on the shelf, it's still reading 2/3 charged. Could your battery setting maybe be set for the wrong type of batteries so it's using them wrong? Alkalines in Ni-MH mode, or vice-versa? Here's the part of the almost-English manual where it shows how to switch modes: ---- INTELLIGENT CHARGING FUNCTION With radio off, install 4 x UM3 (AA) rechargeable batteries to activate the built-in charging function. Use the external adaptor to connect the radio for charging. The [battery indicator] symbol will advance from the bottom to top during power charging. It stops when batteries are fully charged. For Alkaline batteries, please switch off the rechargeable function. (Press the [BATTERY] button until the [battery indicator] is disappear at the top left corner of LCD when the radio is at off mode) ----

[@johnharris1846]

Its in the charge off setting for regular AA batteries. I'm going to purchase a charger and rechargeable batteries. by the way how many hours would you say you get on actual use? @@palgotzoona

[@Tsch6373]

Higher quality flashlights use the 18650 battery. They have a very long life in this application. I have several along with this pl-880 radio. Happy with the radio, would have liked a back-lit keyboard but the lack of squelch isn't a deal breaker.

[@SB-mi2ii]

Not only is it overpriced, it's deaf on LW/MW and unstable on SSB. I sent mine back. No such thing anymore as a decent SW portable.

[@VELOPERS]

So sad to here what in your opinion would be better?

[@zvjezdaniput6121]

What? Deaf on LW and MW?! Impossible! :( Il rather take the 990x but the problem with that 990x is bad syncronous detection :(

[@sigint99]

It's downright awful on SSB. Full of distortion and AGC pumping. The noise floor is also way higher than it should be compared with the PL-600/660/680 . LW and MW are also below par. Only FM and SW AM are good but that's not saying much. The big problem is the terrible SiLabs DSP chipset - it's garbage and is riddled with artifacts that make sw listening a pain.

[@hotcoffeedude]

​@@sigint99 Going to agree with you and SB here. Ultimately it's just too expensive for what you get. Gave it a week and found the mediocre performance does not justify the price.

[@geez-hd6dn]

@@zvjezdaniput6121 Both the 990 & 880 are poor on sync detection.

[@alafenetre81]

What would you recommend as a good all around SW MW LW FM SSB receiver?

[@rimasmeleshyus9486]

Short wave extremely important to listen a news from many countries in the world 🌎

[@somejackball]

love this radio, have had mine about 2 weeks. only problem i have is tuning in SSB stations on the CB band, example on 27.385 LSB, all the voices are distorted and sound garbled, but this doesn't happen anywhere else, like 80 or 40m, only on the CB band. doesn't matter how precise i get them tuned in, people are still garbled and distorted. is there any fix for this issue, or something i'm missing?

[@stab74]

Maybe set the antenna switch on the side to local? Some people are broadcasting on CB way over the legal 4 watts.

[@realstreetuk]

Hi I am torn between the pl990x and pl880... if I'm not bothered about the Bluetooth, sd card for audio and the speaker( as I believe the audio on both are not that dissimilar) would you tell me to go for the pl880? I do like the look of the 880 but can afford the pl990x. Any advice would be appreciated thanks

[@mohammadrihan3886]

Don't go for pl880 it is very overpriced, XHDATA 808 is better in comparison

[@normanbloom]

It was a good review but I want a radio like this that has sensitive and better Am reception. Thats what I listen to the most is talk shows. Is there a better radio from Tecsun the equivalent to the Pl 880.? Some one tell me as I am still deciding to buy this radio.

[@wolfmanradio]

Check out the Sihuadon D-808 (same as the XHData D-808). It does everything: SSB/SW/MW/FM, it sounds great, and is under $100. I’ve been eyeing this PL-880 for a while, but I’ll just stick with my D-808 for now.

[@tylercherneski1805]

How do you guys find signals on USB and LSB with this thing? Took me all night to find two guys talking about mushroom picking in oregon

[@Luisa-ft6or]

😂

[@wesfoulds47]

Hi what you recommend instead of this radio

[@User-DX-radio]

Tecsun pl-330

[@peterbaugh51]

Tecsun PL-330 for sure. More features than you will realize from reading the manual. Do some trial and error, you will be surprised.

[@wesfoulds47]

Bony Amoy

[@soldierloz]

Hmmmm … I’ve seen more positive than negative reviews on this model and the 880 has the biggest following of the Tecsun range. Take the 990 for instance … now that’s over priced! It is basically the same chassis but with pointless Bluetooth. The 880 is currently available for £145 if you know where to look.

[@tdcattech]

I have to say that, although undoubtedly convenient for some, I don’t like unnecessary radios being put in a radio. It’s a massively dated product as it is and I know that when buying. Bluetooth just ain’t needed. 👍🏻

[@LimSSEric]

Can it recieved volmet singapore?

[@jimgordon1563]

Hi. Thank you for this. I've been a SW listener for 50 years or so. Its a good SW radio. MW/LW is good too.

[@guardianobserver6593]

50 years? Big big Big difference on what one "can" hear now on sw.

[@jimgordon1563]

@@guardianobserver6593 You are very right indeed. The end of the cold war and the Internet reduced the demand for shortwave. However, there are still some interesting stations left and the radios have certainly improved. Here some links to my channel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpbSp358f8qbapI

[@jimgordon1563]

@@guardianobserver6593 Here's another link kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWnUoqqXZ7h2epo

[@ditto1958]

I’ve never held or seen a PL-880 in person, so I can’t speak about it. But I do have an XHData D-109WB, and it works really well on FM, MW, and SW. It has good sound, and I got both the radio and a retractable wire antenna for less than $50. The XHData D-808, for about $100, also seems to get very positive reviews. I have to wonder then- it seems likely to me that the PL-880 is in fact overpriced.

[@bangersnmash4856]

Been looking at this radio for my first toe in the water .Think my money will be going elsewhere now for a first radio, any suggestions anyone?

[@tech29X]

XHDATA D808; Over all best bang for the buck. There is no such thing as perfect radio.

[@richsherman3673]

Very useful review, thanks., I don't wan't to over pay for stuff I won't use. I am almost decided...

[@FrozenMilkOnACloudyDay]

Great review

[@jonkarle8670]

Need help trying to tune this to see if it works

[@tschurarjipiruschka1998]

My favorite is still the Xhdata D 808. RDS,squelch and cheep price with best reciving chip on the market

[@marina-r3s]

Can a 5-element FM antenna be connected to this Tecsun? If so, how will it work?

[@wesfoulds47]

I love the pl-880

[@colescuckooclockshop754]

Has anyone had problems with the battery cover breaking? Seems a little flimsy. Should I buy spares?

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Why do you need to ever remove the battery cover? Its rechargable via usb...

[@colescuckooclockshop754]

@@andrewmcphee8965 swap one out, check for leakage etc.

[@jjcoolaus]

You summed it up well. I've seen this selling as much as $400 in Australia which is a rip off

[@MaxxBraun]

The shortfall of all available SW Radios is the lack of software support to program them using software.

[@drippinglass]

Thanks. It sounds crappy. You saved me money! 😀

[@adambirchenall]

I have this model too, and Yes MW/LW is poor and the only thing bad about it, however Using the Tecsun AN-200 Loop makes a huge impovement but on MW only, sadly it doesn't work on LW

[@dannyfubar3099]

I like the case.

[@frano19626]

Hi thanks for the review - will save some more money and get a Yaesu or Icom - Francis

[@yukonjohn9480]

Direct & too to point. 👍

[@carltonbirds]

Very lovely 👍

[@kamalzoro]

i have this radio ,bad on mw ,lw ,synchro,but it s exellent on sw and fm

[@robertshaw4833]

my thoughts are you are expecting alot from an inexpensive radio ,I have had good sucess with mine ,as always you get what you pay for. thanks for the review

[@Tsch6373]

Happy with my 880.

[@djaj423]

tecsun 880 or the ats 14732 ats25

[@whiskeyvictor5703]

Is there a radio that is deemed superior to the Tecsun PL-880? (Hopefully, affordable enough that I won't have to donate any organs!)

[@truehope287]

They didn't send the case anymore

[@Tsch6373]

Got a case with mine and it was a recent purchase.

[@zkc-np9iz]

德生喇叭低音好

[@skivvywaver]

I like it better than my Eton Elite Executive which does have some of the features you miss on the Tecsun. I paid $169 for it while I paid $200 for the Eton. 200 British pounds comes out to about $250 US dollars and it's really not worth that much since shortwave seems to be a dying technology. It's over 100 years old. Most governments have given up on shortwave propaganda which to me is very sad.

[@alternative3d87]

I just bought this radio, based on the positive reviews and hate it. Never had a radio with so many bugs, and glitches that this thing has.

[@Silvertarian]

I swear this radio has a birdie every 30khz. Quite annoying.

[@andrewpaulson2877]

My failed Wrote customer support 3 times with no response. I'll never buy another one

[@tdcattech]

Good for you. I cannot stand poor customer support.

[@twohandsandaradio]

Yep...5 times with XHData... I feel the same about that company. And MFJ. I digress.

[@jerseyjeeper1575]

Wahhh 😂 😭 lol.

[@lasanguinaire4331]

For some reason I have been obsessing over buying an 880 or 660 tecsun but after watching your videos I will stick to my xhdata d 808.

[@vahanyazarian5582]

If you like music it,s no contest for the 880with it,s ported speaker.

[@tylercherneski1805]

Case should have been black. That color looks like a woman's purse