Panasonic RF-SW70 ShockWave Headphone Radio

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [918kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006I5LQ
• Item model number: RF-SW70
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 22, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Keep yourself going when jogging or exercising at the gym with this lightweight, highly durable pocket-sized Panasonic RF-SW70 AM/FM radio in blue. It has a stylish, rounded V-shaped body with a rugged ABS plastic exterior that's water resistant--great for training in inclement weather. This ergonomically designed radio fits comfortably in your hand and it features a hole at the top for threading a lanyard through, enabling you to wear it around your neck. It weighs just 2.6 ounces (without battery). It features 20 total presets (10 FM, 10 AM), a lap timer function (1, 5, and 10 minute laps), large LCD screen, Panasonic's XBS extra bass system for a fuller sound, and a Normal/City FM selector for optimal reception. The RF-SW70 is powered by a single AAA battery (not included) for up to 25 hours of battery life. It comes with ShockWave headphones with in-ear drivers for superior sound and stability.

What's in the Box
RF-SW70 portable radio (blue), ShockWave headphones, printed operating instructions

Product Description

Digitally Tuned AM and FM Radio / ShockWave Sports Design / Water Resistant / Up to 25 Hours Play on 1 AAA Battery / BLUE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Sound Quality, Confusing Bells and Whistles, April 7, 2003

By 

Groovy Vegan (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)   

This review is from: Panasonic RF-SW70 ShockWave Headphone Radio (Electronics)

The Panasonic RF-SW70 has a lot of bells and whistles, but the sound quality is about a "C" with the bass turned on, and unpleasantly tinny with the bass turned off. The plastic earphones were uncomfortable and kept popping out of my ears. There's an annoying beep every time one changes the station.

Of all the portable walkabout radios I've tried, this was the least intuitive/most complicated to use. I had to sit down with the instructions to figure out how to use the bass function. I worked with the instructions for 10 or 15 minutes to try to pre-set some favorite stations, and was still unable to figure out how to do this. Likewise the lap timer was confusing. It's a stop watch one can have beep every 1, 5, or 10 minutes, but I wasn't clear on how to work it. Many people will not need this feature. There's also a "city function" to receive better reception on FM broadcasts from weaker stations. Ironically, I was able to pull in these stations only when this function was turned off.

Other features include:
* a secure belt clip
* tapered shape for holding in the palm of the hand
* light-weight (3.6 ounces including headphones)

Overall I was not terribly impressed. With mediocre sound quality and confusing functions, I find other radios to be better buys.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good little radio, July 28, 2004

By 

Joseph Brown "Jack of all trades" (RI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic RF-SW70 ShockWave Headphone Radio (Electronics)

Ok, people. First of all, the city function on this puppy (like all radios with this capability) is designed to make the radio LESS sensitive to radio signals, rather than more sensitive. The idea is that in a large city, there are going to be lots of radio stations, and the city function allows you to filter out the weaker ones that might be competing for the same frequency that a stronger station is using. Make sense?

Anyway, this is actually a pretty decent radio. I bought it on clearance at Strawberries for a measly seven bucks, and for that price I have nothing to complain about.

Reception is decent to very good, and the amplifier has enough power to drown out a lawnmower, which is what I bought it for.

The extra bass function is a little too enthusiastic, in my opinion, but I guess that is why they invented off buttons.

Overall, I would highly recommend this unit if you can find it for anything close to what I paid for it. I'd start getting a lot pickier if I had to pay list price (approx $45.00, or so) since for a little more you can start looking at MP3 players. For example, I bought a basic Rio S10 at Sam's Club for about 55 dollars.

For a little radio, this one performs very well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ShockWave Will Be Missed, But Not Replaced, July 7, 2004

By 

David Palsgrove (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic RF-SW70 ShockWave Headphone Radio (Electronics)

The size, shape of the radio are perfect for shoving in your pocket and forgetting about. It has a hold function to keep the buttons from being push, but unfortunatly atleast once a day I would succeed in turning off the hold function from within my pocket. The best feature is by far the battery compartment and the 20 plus battery hours it gets on a single AAA battery. The reception is pretty good, although it picks up disturbances from nearby cell phones. There are a whole list of bad qualities with this radio. The first are the headphones, which are the most uncomfortable one I have ever had the displeasure of putting in my ears. I threw them out within thirty minutes and replaced them with an old set that only had one speaker working; a much better tradeoff. It is unbelievable difficult to remember how to use station preset function. I figured it out twice only to forget it a few weeks later. It also has this city function that keeps all stations from coming in at all. I really don't understand what the purpose is of that unless you want to listen to white noise to fall asleep.
Last week I finally lost my ShockWave radio, though I will miss it, I plan on trying my luck on something a little better. I could have swore that in the late 90's when you paid between $40-$60 dollars for a walkman you used to get something of slightly better quality. Now all you get in this price range is garbage. Is this progress?