Tecsun H501x portable shortwave radio: Unboxing and a quick review of the main features

Hi there, here's the unboxing video for the H501x and coming shortly are a couple of initial reception videos. So far, I've been really impressed with this radio.
Thanks for watching. Keep safe. 73

[@draff1662]

I’m really glad you purchased this. I value your opinions. I have this radio and love it - it’s cool that so many years later we can get a new, larger radio with excellent sound. I too am awaiting the re-engineered E1 and hope it will be available in 2022. The 501x is worth the money if you are addicted to radios like I am, not so much if you are counting pennys. What I get on the 501x I can get on the PL880, PL990, DH-808 but it’s the addiction thing had it since I bought my first Sylvania SW radio in the 1960’s and continues into old age - you know how it is. I love your amateur radio videos but glad you are still doing SW portables. Thanks, Clint I appreciate and watch your latest videos.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks for your comments my friend. Eton are the reason I bought this radio because it's taking them sooooo long with the E1! Keep safe and 73

[@maryrafuse3851]

One of the best features of this radio is the wide bandwidth feature on broadcast band AM. AM bandwidth is a respectable 9KHz giving this a sound to most human ears, not my cat, almost as good as FM but without multipath distortion. Wonderful for an oldies or country station on the AM dial. 😊

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Agree!

[@roeslan1969]

Beautiful radio.. If it has Air band & RDS (provided good reception for SW, VHF etc), I would probably buy this.. My USD70 XHDATA D-808 has all of these... The twin speaker, microSD slot, mp3 player, treble/bass knobs & world map are great..

[@b.2221]

Congratulations on your beautiful new radio 📻 Sir I hope you have a lot of good reception coverage with it. I balked a bit about the price , but but fair is fair you get what you pay for. Someone has already done a strip down of one , and it looks very nicely made indeed inside with lovely quality speakers. Have to agree with you it just reeks of Grundig which is no bad thing in the design department. Don’t think you will be disappointed cause 198 BBC was simply awesome on LW.👍 Tam.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thank you Sir. Audio is quite superb I have to say. Keep safe and 73

[@azamatkarasaev9933]

@Oxford Shortwave Log , thank you for the review. I'm curious: What's the 3 little cutouts on the front panel in the left bottom corner? 🤔 Thank you.

[@patrickfitzpatrick4823]

Thanks for the initial review Clint, and I look forward to more. I don't think you mentioned DC power, extract from the manual below. If you have an adapter, it would be interesting to see if it causes any noise. 73. 2) DC powered: When there is no battery inside the radio, connect a DC 5V/1A power adapter to the micro-USB type-B “CHARGE” socket on the right side of the device. Note: Connecting an external power supply causes interference when listening to radio frequencies. If experiencing reception difficulties, disconnect the DC power supply and use a battery instead. Attention! If you use a power adapter, assure that is appropriately certified and meets the safety standards for an adapter in your region.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

I don't have one and probably wouldn't use one Patrick, but a good point. 73

[@shawnj6279]

It’s a nice radio but has flaws like any radio. The 990x is cheaper and is very similar. I think the biggest flaw these 2 radios has is no rds for fm

[@ashab1]

Not sure about the DC but what does seem an interesting option is to leave battery bay two empty and switch to that and use a 20000mah external power bank.

[@terence2e0ipk14]

I have one of these, lovely sounding radio

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Definitely great audio

[@deepwoods_dave7368]

Nice radio. I had a Sony ICF-2010 many years ago. Recently got a PL880, love it. Not sure if this is worth double of the 880 though.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It's definitely not worth it - it's not as good as my PL-880.

[@yogimew]

It comes with an micro SD card preinstalled. That is a very nice touch.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It does - and yes I agree. 73

[@sandrucristian1983]

8:01 nice sound ! I think the first important thing is how the speaker sounds on the radio

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks!

[@tonymagnier9846]

Thanks for the vid, Clint. I'm not planning to buy this for while anyway but good overview, pity they didn't include Air band and RDS at this price point. I hope that's not internal noise on 252.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Agree on airband and although expensive, it is a great radio. 73

[@davidsradioroom9678]

Gilles from the Official SWL Channel did a review on this radio. He loves his. I think you will love yours, as well.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks my friend. 73

[@PaulNakroshis]

Just took the 501x and 909x2 for a walk. I’d say the 501x is more sensitive on the whip antenna.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks Paul, that doesn't surprise me at all...

[@PaulNakroshis]

Comparing the 501x, the 909x2, and the grundig 800, i still would put the grundig as top quality (especially with its brilliant sync) and the sagean and tecsun are similar. Will be interesting to see if a new E1 actually will arrive.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

I can't wait for the new E1 - as long as it's the same as the original version!

[@leadballoon06]

Looking forward to it

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks!

[@r0naldzuccala198]

Well hello. What I really find interesting about tecsuns last 4 radios recently released it appears that the pl 330 has the best sync out of all of them and it's the least expensive. I'm still using the little Eton sat. And have really enjoyed it. However the only feature that is not very good is the sync. I really like the pl 330 very much. For the money it's the beat portable going. Take care. Ron. Z.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

SYNC is the one spec. most modern radio manufacturers get wrong. Sony ICF-2001/D...the best SYNC ever IMHO. Thanks

[@o00scorpion00o]

Believe it or not but the PL-330 is the best sounding Tescun "DSP" radio on SSB and the 4 Khz filter actually works, just a shame about the muting while tuning. Not perfect of course, still some distortion on SSB. But the audio is a lot clearer on the 330 than the 880/990x and S8800.

[@dusantomic9983]

Surprised that they haven't included RDS on FM, especially at this price?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Agree with you.

[@aureliusprimus]

Very fine ! Two small speakers are better or the same think than a big PL880 one ? 😀

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

I think the audio is slightly better than the PL880 but not as makes any difference really. 73

[@darrinpearce9780]

Very interested to see how this bit of kit reviews. Good point about comparing to Sangean 909X2, which I've read mixed reviews about.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Cheers Darrin. 73

[@electriceyeslide5959]

Great straight to it review! Now that you've had it for a while, how do you like it? How would you compare it to the Tecsun S-2000/Eton Elite 750/Grundig Satelit 750? I really like how it snapped to 693 straight away without much fiddling with the tuner.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Hi it's just ok. Sensitivity on MW is not great and battery consumption horrendous! It performs well on shortwave, but I feel for the money it should be a better performer all-round.

[@greggaieck4808]

Oxford shortwave your Tecsun H 50,1x shortwave radio Receiver is cool

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Yeah but it's not a brilliant performer I've discovered...

[@tonymagnier9846]

@@OxfordShortwaveLog hows that Clint?

[@maryrafuse3851]

Funny what seems expensive. I've spent a small fortune on radio's in my young and foolish years. The list includes the Sony ICF-2010, Hammarlund SP-600 JX-17, and many many more. Everything I read about this radio is good and it costs so much less than I paid for my Kenwood R-5000 and Hammarlund HQ-180.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

That is true - but the SSB audio is poor.

[@claudio6493]

Great! Review! Thanks a million, only one point: over next months is planned the closure of a few broadcasting stations on the LW MW and SW bands .. very sad....but we still love our great hobby!

[@nathanpetrovski7525]

Which ones are closing?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks my friend. 73

[@claudio6493]

Hi... I heard that by next autumn 2022 all MW stations from the Italian Rai will be closed also rumors about the BBC stations on MW...

[@JerryMassey]

Did you end up buying the Eton E1?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Hi Jerry, no I didn't - too many bad reviews!

[@o00scorpion00o]

On SSB though the Audio is still terrible and while that might not mean a lot to some having SSB on a SW station allows ECSS which means you can filter out a lot of noise or interfering station by pressing USB/LSB and this works a lot better on the PL-660, 680 and funny enough the little PL,330. SYNC, no the 501 does not have SYNC all it does is enable SSB and it sounds terrible. S2000 sounds a lot better as does the PL-680.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

I totally agree with you - I was listening to The Buzzer a couple of evenings ago on USB and the audio was sh*te compared to my IC-R75! Overall I'm not too impressed with this radio any more. 73

[@o00scorpion00o]

@@OxfordShortwaveLog I will not buy a DSP portable again because most of them use the same flawed DSP chip and SSB was an afterthought, once you hit SSB those otherwise good radios turn into complete s**t. and it's a shame too because we'll likely never see a new radio from Tecsun again and they ruined the PL-880, S8800 the PL-990 and their last "flagship" the H501. It should have been so much better, even if it was pure analogue with no DSP this would have been a lot better in my opinion. It's funny how they can make the 330 sound a lot clearer on SSB, still far from perfect but I would have been happy for the 880 and 990x to sound as clear on SSB it's just a shame the 330 has that tuning mute but it performs amazingly well with my Bonito MA305 even at night where as the 315et would s**t itself!. I bet Clint that the 4 Khz filter still does not work on the H501 like the others ? except the little 330, the 4 Khz filter on this actually works on SSB I mean. I think am going to get the S2000 again, while it won't be a patch on the IC-R75 it was a good radio with really good sound on SSB but a shame it didn't have SYNC, it was a good performer from what I remember too.

[@shawnj6279]

I got the Chinese version few years ago and really like this radio but my curiosity got to me what's the differences between factory and final version

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Not sure Shawn. I'm not super-impressed with it TBH, but it's ok

[@skivvywaver]

This is a PL-880 with an extra knob or two. Tecsun does make some great radios and I am sure this one is great, but it is an 880 with a bass and treble knob. Not worth upgrading.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It's not as sensitive as the PL-880 on MW for sure. Definitely not worth upgrading and I wish I hadn't!

[@wu2u]

Agreed!

[@alafenetre81]

Nice piece of kit, but I heard there were very few stations on SW nowadays. If so, is it worth the money?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

There's still a lot to listen to and yes it's worth buying 100%!

[@ericdreizen1463]

This is an impressive portable, but this radio & the PL880 come w/ no ac adapters like the Elite Executive. They run on batteries? Is this a disadvantage? I prefer to run them on ac if I can. If there's an advantage in powering them w/ batteries only, I'd like to know about it.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

You're right Eric, but the thing is, on mains power, the signal to noise might be adversely affected. Always better to run on batteries if you're looking for DX. 73

[@ericdreizen1463]

@@OxfordShortwaveLog Well, I believe these radios can get their DC power from a USB connection. Is that right?

[@simonwinwood]

❤

[@bianchispurs]

Hello, I purchased one of these off ebay, It is not the X version. The seller said I didn't need the X in USA. It gets the worst reception of all my shortwaves, Does the X make a difference or could it be counterfeit? Thanks

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It's probably not counterfeit - they're just not that great...unfortunately

[@bianchispurs]

@@OxfordShortwaveLog thank you,is there a great brand?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

The PL-880 is superb...and also a Tecsun. 73

[@johnlagreca6288]

Thanks for the video, nice job, quite informative. The dual battery feature is great. I would leave one slot empty and switch to that slot when I am putting it on the shelf for more than a week to keep the battery from draining. I don't like that the clock is always active on these radios in the off state. The leakage current though, is probably higher than the clock current :). I wonder if you can leave the battery switch in the 'middle' position to keep both batteries disconnected when not using the device. Edit: It would also be nice if it had a carrying handle on top like the Grundig 500. It doesn't appear to have a lanyard slot either.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thanks John. I don't love this radio - in fact I sort of wish I'd never bought it!

[@johnlagreca6288]

​ @Oxford Shortwave Log Sorry to hear that. Would you recommend an alternative in this size of a receiver?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Yes - a Sony ICF-2001D!!!

[@MannyScoot]

what's the difference between the H-501 and the H-501x ?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

The 501x is built for x-port!

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Can't remember what the differences are. The language the manual is written in for starters though!

[@RadioRich100]

What kind of connector is under those plastic plugs for AM and FM?

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

3.5mm socket

[@greggaieck4808]

Oxford shortwave the sangean ATS 90 9x 200,00

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It's good apparently

[@sigint99]

SSB distortion and slow AGC attack makes all these Tecsun DSP portables useless for ham and utility monitoring.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

I agree with you on that. I'm selling mine if anyone is interested!

[@Albert-zl3zd]

good review clint nothing more nothing less i think its not a top radio. albert the netherlands📻🇳🇱

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Thank you Sir.

[@marccarter1350]

I know its an old review, just wondering how you have found it a year on? Is it any better than the S 8800 which i have? I know its not as good on MW as my CR crane

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

It's ok Marc, but I can't DX on medium wave - it just doesn't work on that band very well. 73

[@notaYEC1955]

Buy a Tecsun AN 200 passive loop and it dx’s just fine on medium wave.

[@Altoid777]

No Aircraft Band...

[@alanp2953]

Clint ? I do understand you are a SW listener. Is it true the British Gov intends switching FM off in 2034....

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Hi Alan, yes I am. I hadn't heard about the switching off of FM...

[@Rassian639]

Какой у него dsp чип? На h501

[@user-md7gu8ll7r]

🎉

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Ta!

[@ry491]

Nice radio with good performance but terrible battery life . I only get about 5 hours out of each battery. This is not acceptable . My s2000 lasts months on one set of D,cells . Has anyone managed to obtain higher capacity batteries . The fact that Texun have fitted two batteries means that they know about the issue . I now regret my purchase .

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Agree with you 100%. Terrible battery life, SSB audio not great, low sensitivity on MW. Not the best...

[@ry491]

​@@OxfordShortwaveLog One thing I found was the springs in battery compartment are rather weak . I stretched them slightly and also cleaned all contacts with contact cleaner . This has improved things a little . I read about this online. It's a known fault . Doesn't cure the battery life issue but helps a little. I also find that having the bass turned up on FM causes warbling at higher volume and shortens battery life even more . Shame because in many ways its a nice radio .