Customer Reviews

Panasonic RFSW200R Shockwave Metal AM/FM Silver and Black Arm Band Radio

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first tired it using my friend's item and I loved it. Now I finally got my own unit and I could not put it down. The design of this radio is great. It fits to your arm better than the Sony radio with the arm band, because it has a better designed curve to go around your arm. It is very, very light and thin, so you don't really feel it on your arm while running. There are 20 pre-set stations (10 FM, 10AM) compare to the 10 in Sony's radio. You definitely have more choices.

The reception of the radio is the best, very powerful. There is also XBS for extra bass and boosts the low frequecy range. The headphones are very light weight as well and comes with the adjustable headphone cord. Also, it only needs 1 AAA battery for 25 hrs play. The pakage comes with 4 batteries! It is water resistant, digital easy tuning. I just can go on and on about this little thing. Overall, it is the best portable radio I ever own that looks so cool and works so well! Love it and it is worth it!

This radio is great. Working out is a lot more fun while listening to music, and this radio doesn't get in the way because it just attaches to my arm. Also, it looks cool, I get good reception, it stays snug on my arm, it's light-weight, and it has a lock switch that prevents me from accidently draining the battery. The only problem is that the headphones are extremely uncomfortable. The plastic pieces that go in your ears are too big for me. I had to go out and buy some Sony headphones that were more comfortable.

I love this radio. It is great to use when working out, whether you actually use the arm band on your arm or to attach it to the machine you're using.

Positives: 10 FM Stations!!!! This was one of the few armband radios that I could actually find that would allow me to program more than 5 FM stations. It also allows for 10 AM stations, which I could never in a million years fill. Reception is good, features are good (Hold is feature that I like, that forces the radio to keep its settings no matter what buttons are pressed - keeps the radio from being accidentally turned on in a gym bag). The radio is lightweight and compact and batteries seem to last quite some time.

Negatives: Headphones are uncomfortable. No worries, I'll buy new ones. Reception is good but not great. If you're moving around, you sometimes lose reception a little too easily. Moving between preset bands (1 & 2) is a little difficult.

Panasonic's Shockwave Arm Band Radio is clearly the best sports-related radio out there, but it's still not perfect. I've previously owned Sony's SRF88 and SRFM78 Sports Walkman Radios, and the Panasonic Shockwave Arm Band Radio is far superior versus either of those two models. Here are my humble suggestions for improving the Panasonic Shockwave Arm Band Radio:

1. To put it bluntly, the headphones absolutely suck. Panasonic should check out Bang & Olufsen's Ear Phones and then design something that is more state-of-the-art and comfortable.

2. Sony's arm band is much more user-friendly and easy to adjust than Panasonic's.

3. The volume button is difficult to adjust while on the move. There simply must be a more practical way to design this key feature.

4. The on/off button should be resequenced so that FM comes on first since that's what most people listen to while working out, jogging, etc. In today's world, AM is an after-thought.

I hope that Panasonic reads this and makes the unit even smaller and better in its next incarnation. Despite my constructive criticism, it's still great and much better than the competition.

If you are a gym junkie and always in need of some tunes during the workout, then this bad boy is for you. Gets wonderful reception, long lasting on batteries, and fits snugly around your arm. A great item for the gym bag.

I bought this radio about 3 months ago, and it was the best investment I have made in a portable unit yet. This radio works everywhere with little or no distortion. If you are an active person who wants to listen to some tune while you work out, or just want to listen while you wait on the bus, this is the radio for you.

Rated as a radio, the FM performance of this unit is quite good. But AM sensitivity is poor on all but the strongest stations. My old Sony Walkman easily bested it on AM. The radio has many presets for stations and is very lightweight. It all depends on whats important to you.

Bought this radio to use while jogging, the radio itself is very lightweight and tough. I love the fact that it plays 25 hours on one AAA battery. I am disappointed at the headphones, which are very uncomfortable - I wonder in whose ears they fit. The radio is not the cheapest, but i'm convinced that Panasonic makes the greatest products. One thing i did notice was that the radio lacks the "mono/stereo" button, which is present on other radios. I wish it was on this radio because there is one radio station in town that would come in much clearer with that setting. The radio comes in three color combinations, Blue/Black, Silver/Black and Red/Black.

Love the radio....great reception, easy to scan for stations, love the 20 presets. But why on Earth did they include such poorly designed headphones? They feel fine when you first put them on, but after a two hour walk, my ears were aching! I'll have to use different headphones, but I'll keep the radio.

A long-time user of The Sony SRFM78, I lost it again, so went in search of new alternatives, and ended up buying this when the Sony was out of stock.

It's light, with a nice velcro arm-strap. On the downside, the headset kept slipping forward off my head as the ear pieces allow it to easily pivot forward when in your ears. Also--the battery quickly is drained, even when used without XBS [extra base option] on moderate volume. The preset buttons are a shiny plastic some grooves, but harder to swat at when running that the rubbery Sony ones.

Something I hadn't seen before is that the radio can only be tuned in .2 increments, e.g. 101.1, .3, .5 etc. which doesn't always correspond to what you need when TV's are programmed at my gym for stations that don't end in an odd number.

Reception on the Sony isn't great--but it was significantly better on a number of stations than this Panasonic.

Overall--I don't recommend it, unless none of my objections matter to you, and you just want a small radio to walk around with.