Customer Reviews

Jwin JXM14 Am/Fm/Sw 9Band World Band Radio

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The jWin JX-M14 is a pocket sized radio that features AM, FM and 7 shortwave bands. It retails for around $30. Amazingly, it can be had for around $10 with a little shopping.

The radio is in a stylish silver tone. The case has rounded corners and molded reliefs giving it a nice look. The front of the radio contains the speaker grill, LED lights for AM, FM and tuning, various controls and a digital readout. The antenna is fully positionable. Tuning and Volume are controlled by thin thumb wheels. On/Off is controlled by a little slide switch. There is also a jack for an adaptor (not provided) and an earphone (accepts a stereo plug, but delivers only mono). There is a little wrist strap and the back contains a flip-up tab to tilt the dial up when the radio is lying flat on its back.

Power: Power is provided by 2 AA cells which should last a long time. If desired, an aftermarket adaptor could be used, but is probably unnecessary.

Sound: The radio has a built in speaker and sound is consistent with a pocket radio. It is a bit better than the sound from a Grundig Mini 100 and a bit worse than a Sony S10MX2. The differences are small. This radio often comes with ear buds, but mine did not. Listening using an inexpensive Sony headset resulted in very pleasant audio (in mono).

Ergonomics are strange; many things operate in a fashion that is backwards from what you would expect. One annoying fact is that the radio always reverts back to FM when it is turned off. The thumbnail controls are thin and the tight tuning knob tends to dig into your thumb.

The radio also features a clock that seems to keep time reasonably well. The clock can also turn the radio on thereby turning the radio into a simple clock radio.

There are no other features such as a dial light, bandwidth control or memories.

Build seems to be a bit better than what I would expect. Quality control seems to be on par for a cheap radio.

Tuning is analog, but the display is digital (using a simple digital counter). The last digit is missing when tuning shortwave, so a station at 6.155 will appear as 6.15 or 6.16. This is still vastly better than a slide rule dial.

Reception:

Note: Reception was done at my home which is about 35 miles west of Chicago. I'm also a few miles away from a couple of local broadcasters.

MW (AM): MW reception was decent. The biggest problem was the jWin's wider than normal selectivity. With that said it performed well for an inexpensive pocket radio, but not as well as the AM/FM Sony S10MK2. Local stations came in fine and I was able to log many stations from other states including: Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Colorado.

FM: FM was also decent. I was able to listen to most Chicago stations. Stations like WFMT at 98.7 came in loud and clear. WBEZ (NPR at 91.5) came in with some fiddling but I could hear another station softly at the same time. Here again the Sony did a better job, but I have definitely had pocket radios that did much worse.

SW: The radio tunes the 49, 41, 31,25, 22, 19 and 16 meter international bands. Strangely, it often cuts off the lower portion of the band and extends past the upper portion. Despite using a single conversion design the radio is reasonably free from extraneous noises such as birdies, dit-dahs and the like. You will hear images of shortwave stations, but they are not too objectionable. I didn't hear a lot of bleed over from local MW and FM broadcasters into the shortwave bands, a surprising and welcome fact. The radio has enough of a dynamic range to allow the connection of 5-10 feet of wire (via alligator clip) to the whip antenna. This significantly increases the radios sensitivity to weak signals. In my radio it didn't overload the radio. Selectively is what you would expect in such an inexpensive radio, but it is acceptable.

I was able to tune many shortwave stations (using 10' of attached bell wire).

I heard numerous foreign language station and numerous religious/right wing stations. In two days of casual listening I was able to listen IN ENGLISH to stations from the following countries:

Sweden

England

Holland

Germany

Slovakia

Czech Republic

Russia

Israel

China

Taiwan

Japan

Thailand

New Zealand

Cuba

Canada

US

In the around $10 category there are not too many contenders. I personally know of the Coby 12 band and the Bell and Howell 9 band offerings. I can tell you that the jWin works better than either of these radios. The Grundig Mini World 100 is considered a good radio in the super cheap category. It retails for about $40 but it is often sold for $30. I wondered how this $10 radio would stack up. Listed below are the "wins" from each radio:

Grundig Mini 100:

- Wins at sorting out a weaker FM station next to a stronger FM station

- Wins at being able to receive FM stereo

- Wins with size (slightly smaller and lighter)

- Wins with a plastic belt clip on the back of the radio (dubious value)

jWin:

- Wins with digital frequency readout instead of analog

- Wins with more stable horizontal style

- Wins with fully adjustable telescopic antenna

- Wins with the addition of a digital clock

- Wins with the addition of a wake to radio function

- Wins with ability to pick up more MW (AM) stations

- Wins with ability to pick up more SW stations in a given band

- Wins with slightly better sound via the onboard speaker

- Wins with having a power adaptor jack

- Wins with visual indicators for bands, AM/FM and tuning

- Wins with separate on-off switch

- Wins with more shortwave bands (22 meters not on the Grundig)

- Wins with a street price that is 1/3 the price of the Grundig

- Wins with a tilt up bail on the back of the radio

Let's face it, if you want a serious shortwave radio you have to pay the price. A nice starter is the Grundig S350 (street price $100). If you want a more sophisticated portable the Sony ICF-SW7600GR is quite nice (street price $170). Naturally, a high grade table top will cost thousands.

But there are times when a multi-band radio would be nice, but you don't want to use an expensive piece of equipment. A trip to the beach or park would be one example. Camping also comes to mind. This radio would be great as a travel companion as it is small and it can also serve as a clock radio. At its throw away price it would also be great as a gift to a college student who is studying abroad (they can listen to the Voice of America to get the latest news). Solders in the Armed Forces would also find this radio handy. How about for a kid who has expressed an interest in radio (when they lose it, you won't be too upset at $10).

Normally, I think of jWin products as being inexpensive, stylish but sub-par to terrible in performance. Despite its oddities, the JX-M16 does a fine job at an amazing price (if you shop around).

Well it had to happen eventually. Someone would put together some pieces from the current-generation dirt-cheap bin of radio components, slap a digital frequency counter on it, and presto, a world band radio with digital display for twelve bucks. Enter the JX-M14.

And it's an idea whose time has come - needle-and-dial tuning might have been cool in the early 20th century, but in the early 21st, with hundreds of broadcasts spread over a dozen different bands, it just doesn't fly. Ask anyone who's tried to find a specific shortwave frequency on an dial-tuned radio, it's frustrating. This is the crux of the little JWin; you can sit down with a list of shortwave programming, tune to a frequency, and (conditions permitting) there it is.

Granted, it's still a twelve dollar radio. Using the whip antenna alone produces the same results as any other inexpensive radio you've ever used. But here's a little secret unique to the JX-M14 - it handles a LARGE antenna with ease. Hooking up a rooftop mounted antenna by means of a loose wire connected to the antenna's coaxial cable, I could listen to Vatican Radio and Voice of Iran way out here in SoCal. Very impressive.

The unit has it's foibles. It always selects the FM band by default when turned on, so if you plan on using it as a travel alarm clock, you'd better like FM. And you might be a little late - the clock is usually a few minutes slow by battery changing time. The small speaker can be remarkably loud when turned up, but it reproduces the fingernails-on-chalkboard high-pitched whistles and whines from distant stations and interference more notably than any other portable radio I've owned. The small inset tuning wheel is unusually stiff, enough so that comfortable long-term listening is pretty much out of the question.

But the big sore spot against it, the one that, for me, sent it from the five-star blessing to the two-star curse, is that after several months of average everyday use, the band selector switch has become worn and loose. Apparently how well the tuner holds a frequency is determined by the switch position, so that once it becomes eroded, the result is bizarre random drifting and very vague spot-on tuning. Enough so that tuning is impossible and the radio is unuseable.

So here's two stars for the features and the idea of a very inexpensive world band radio with a digital readout. An idea JWin (or someone else) can do better the second time around.

Can't it beat for the price. Frequency is dead on with WWV. Good coverage and sensitivity. Works well with telescoping antenna but of course outside long wire is better(just don't over couple too much signal, overloads receiver front end). No BFO, so no SSB, but hey what do expect for this price!! Good deal.

3-stars: Shortwave Listening (SWL & AM-DX) should have MEMORY!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
9-Band (AM/FM/SW1-7) Highly-Sensitive Digital Multi-Band Radio
Features:
AM/FM/SW1-7 9 World Band Receiver
High Sensitive AM/FM Tuner
Digital Display
AM/FM Tuning LED Indicator
Real Time Clock Display
Alarm Clock Function
Built in Wide Range Speaker
Built in Telescopic FM Antenna
Built in Strap for Easy Carrying
Two Way Power with AC/DC Operation

Built in 3V DC Jack
Required 2 "AA" Batteries (not included) (Rayovac IC3 MiMH best)
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Frequency Range:
FM 87-108 MHz
AM 530-1710 KHz
SW1-SW7 5.95-17.9 MHz
This baby can easily fit in your travel luggage, AND
you can "afford" to give it up to a mugger w/o remorse.

RADIO HAS GOOD SOUND HOWEVER THE ON/OFF SLIDE SWITCH DOES NOT OPERATE SO IN ORDER TO TURN THE RADIO ON AND OFF YOU MUST REMOVE THE BATTERIES. THIS IS VERY TROBLESOME AND NOT VERY GOOD. POOR DESIGN THE SWITCH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A MORE DURABLE TYPE OF SWITCH.

This is the best radio I have had in a long time. Very good sound and easy to change channels. Also, digital so you can actually see the channel you are looking for.

This is a small radio with AM, FM, and some of the shortwave broadcast bands. Basically, its circuit is the same as an old-fashioned needle-dial-tuning knob radio, but with a digital frequency counter grafted on. That means that it lacks most of the features of a fully digital radio tuner (memories, slewing buttons, etc.) On the other hand, the digital display tells you just what frequency you are on. Needle-dial types are much less precise.

The speaker is small and sounds tinny to me. But the radio works well enough to be useful, and that makes it a bargain. For pete's sakes, people, it's a shortwave receiver that only costs chump change, and the silly thing actually works! You can't argue with that.

A Sangean SG622 lacks the digital display, but it covers more of the shortwave bands and performs better. But it costs considerably more, too. Anything better than that, and you're getting up into the $100 range.

The sight of this compact radio does not reveal the quality of the reception and the quality of the sound and it tunes digitally too. One would expect to pay a heap more. High quality, low price, convenient. The only other thing I would have liked would be memory presets, but for the price no complaint.

I bought the Jwin JXM for ten dollars because I read a review that claimed it's better than the Grundig S350. I was skeptical but intrigued, so I bought the JXM and surprised at how clear the reception is on both AM and FM. This is easily the lightest radio I've ever held. Like holding a feather. The reception is strong. Don't waste time or money with an AC adaptor, which will cause interference, just use two double A batteries.

Weaknesses: tuning. It's hard to tune to the exact station number and once you do, the station drifts. The only good thing is that the drift doesn't seem to adversely affect reception.

This is not a perfect radio by any means. I didn't expect it to be for ten dollars, but I keep it in my brief case and use it at work when a baseball game is on and my office interference impedes reception of my "plug-in" radios.

This is an good radio for kids and travelers. The sound (monorail only)is clear and can be improved with earphones or ear buds. Short wave reception can be improved by attaching a long wire (with an alligator clip on one end) to the built-in antenna.

It makes a good travel radio alarm clock too. The clock and alarm, like everythig else, is easy to set. Manufacturers of more expensive radios (like China's Kaito)could take a lessen in ergonomics from the JX-M14.

Watch out for shipping and handling charges. I purchased my radio for under $10.00; but GOLD CHIP INVESTMENTS, LTD (located in Florida) charged me over $11.00 for shipping & handling. The chart provided to predict shipping charges indicated only about half that amount.