ZHIWHIS ZWS-604 AM/FM/WB/MP3 Radio Recorder

This is my review of the ZHIWHIS ZWS-604 AM/FM/WB/MP3 Radio Recorder. I bought it at Amazon for $23.59 plus tax. Please note that I made a mistake when describing the time & date feature. I should’ve said 11:17pm EST, but the 0417 UTC time was correct.

[@LeeLocke]

Wow, amazing review to start the year from you 👏. I especially like you attention to detail. Your score system is interesting too. 🌟 🤩 ⭐ 🌠 💫 📻 🎙 📡

[@tvradio1972]

Thank you Lee. I got inspired by a couple of KZbin channels to do radio reviews. Only one of them are still around though.

[@Karl63601]

Happy New Year, Michael. I do wish they'd shield the display. Most of the RFI these radios suffer from comes from the display.

[@tvradio1972]

Happy New Year Karl. Have a great 2022 and thank you for watching.

Yes, yes, yes. Makes 90% of these radios unpleasant to use. How much would shielding cost? Maybe it's lack of engineering knowledge? Anyhow such a small radio has tremendous problems with grounding anyhow

[@jimsradiocheck936]

Happy New Year Mike that's not too bad of a radio I've had a lot of radios like that where the upper frequencies aren't as good as the lowers it reminds me a lot of the v115 I used the v115 for recording stuff and then I transfer them over to USB thumb drive hope we have a good year for new radio releases

[@tvradio1972]

Hi Jim. A few other radios also have this problem. My Tiemahun yellow emergency radio also has a problem near the end of the AM band above 1660. Have a Happy New Year and a great 2022.

[@LeeLocke]

Nice silver model. What a name . I thought radiwow was funny. Gwizz. Love your style. Happy listening buddy.

[@tvradio1972]

Thank you Lee. ZHIWHIS is a funny name for a brand. Thank you as always for watching. Happy New Year and happy listening.

[@bamboozled9120]

Really wished they came up with simpler better naming schemes 😂 Next, the GeeWizz DCPLWW-603445

[@tvradio1972]

Me too. 😂

[@lbkblade]

Happy New Year! How is the antenna on this radio? I had a Kaito KA110 but returned it because the antenna screw was stripped.

[@tvradio1972]

Happy New Year to you too. The antenna looks fine to me and screwed in well. Do you remember how long the antenna was on the Kaito KA110? The one on the ZHIWHIS ZWS-604 is 18" while the one on the Retekess V-115 is only 15".

[@cygnusrider]

Happy New Year Michael. Nice review. This radio seems okay. I am just not a fan of these BL-5C batteries. The one in my V-115 bloated. It's (the V-115) a good sounding radio for FM but not very good for AM and SW as the internally generated noise overwhelms weak signals.

[@tvradio1972]

Thank you. It's not a bad radio by any means although the AM band above 1500 is flawed. There seems to be less internally generated noise on the ZWS-604. The ZWS-607 has the SW band, but I passed on it because I live so close to powerful 50kW AM/MW stations. Those stations may cause overload on the SW band. Have a Happy New Year and a great 2022.

[@charlesewoodworthjr9082]

How do you charge the thing.? I plug mine into two good 5 V power supply and it didn’t charge. I know my favorite power supply was working because I have a voltmeter and amp meter. The voltage was good but no current

[@tvradio1972]

I returned that radio, but if you have a Retekess V115 then it should be able to charge the same way as the ZHIWHIS ZWS-604. I used the included micro USB cable and plugged to a separate 5 Volt wall charger. It worked. If that doesn't work then there's probably something wrong with the radio's USB jack.

[@RadioWhiz]

Happy new year Mike 2022 It's almost here

[@tvradio1972]

Yes it is. Happy New Year to you too.

[@jeffking4176]

Excellent review. Got a question: When you record on these radios, just how good is the recording ❓ [ obviously it won’t be in stereo] - quality-wise. 📻🙂

[@tvradio1972]

Hi Jeff. It has three recording settings, which are simple (64k), quality (96k) and super (128k). I pick super quality to get the best sound even though it takes up more space than the lower settings. Have a Happy New Year and a great 2022.

[@jeffking4176]

@@tvradio1972 HAPPY NEWYEAR‼️🎉🪅🎊🎈🕛🏮💥💥💥💥💥 📻🙂

[@antibrevity]

Actually, the recordings may be in stereo as they are with the Retekess V115 and they are basically the same hardware. The speaker is mono, but the tuner should be stereo.

[@johnbeckham1483]

​@@tvradio1972The HanRongDa K-603 has 320 mp3 recording for better sound quality!

[@ScorpionRegent]

TVRadio1972 - It looks like it can do a lot off things, but is it built to last? I would be really interested in a long term review on how well it holds up to regular use. That same applies to the Retekess V115

[@tvradio1972]

There won't be a long term review of the ZHIWHIS ZWS-604. I returned that radio because of the weak AM reception on the upper part of the band. I still have the V115 though.

[@ScorpionRegent]

@@tvradio1972 "I still have the V115 though." So how's that working for you? It has everything I'm looking for except a clock, but I can overlook that as the price is right.

[@drsysop]

What is the bit rate of the mp3 when you record?

[@tvradio1972]

It depends on the setting. There are 3 recording settings, which are simple record (64 kbps), quality record (96 kbps), and super record (128 kbps).

[@johnbeckham1483]

That ZWS 604 Am/Fm/Wb 📻 radio w./ Mp3 Player/Recorder seems average & it reminds me of the Retekess V-115! Thanks for the review! P.S. I can relate with you regarding weak AM radio reception! I have a Prunus J-401 that has a major AM lack of reception perhaps due to an internal shorting of its ferrite antenna?

[@tvradio1972]

You're welcome John and thank you for watching.

[@FN32DXer]

Hmmm I may buy it.

[@SanabiaLCConnecticutNewYork]

Good. Because I like the radio you have

[@tvradio1972]

Cool!

[@Jasiwardas]

came to find out how to program channels, but you did that already it seems. (my instructions are in Japanese)

[@tvradio1972]

Thank you for watching and have a good daym

[@januszkowalski3504]

No Bluetooth! No shortwaves!

[@tvradio1972]

The ZHIWHIS ZWS-603, also known as Hanrongda K-603, has bluetooth and shortwave instead of the weather band. That radio is only available in black, but you can look in Amazon or eBay for that radio.

[@januszkowalski3504]

@@tvradio1972 I have my HanRongDa K-603 with Bluetooth and SW band. I live in Europe, where WB band not used. The reception at SW not awesome, but it's enough for receiving stations from China (distance 4000-7000 km).

[@tvradio1972]

@@januszkowalski3504 The SW band isn't very good on these type of radio recorders. My Retekess V-115 has the same problem on that band.