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View Quest Retro WiFi Radio review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £144
inc VAT

It’s got some great features and support DAB+, but this multi-functional radio is let down by its lack of support for VBR MP3 streams

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Although there was already a list of stations present, we had to re-scan for DAB stations before we could correctly tune them in. We encountered a different problem with the radio’s ability to deal with files on our DLNA share. It was easy to connect to our share and – although we were annoyed by the way in which files are listed alphabetically rather than in track order – it was easy to navigate through our audio collection, too. However, although all the files in our collection were shown, the radio couldn’t play them all. Files in WAV format were shown in the list but wouldn’t play and – more annoyingly – the same applied to our Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoded MP3s.

View Quest Retro WiFi Radio

This is a pity, because the radio looks and sounds great. A pair of 10W speakers put out clear, powerful sound. High notes are crisp while mid-tones are powerful and well defined. There’s a bit of bass, but not much – this is a rather traditional radio after all. Despite this, we were pleasantly surprised by the sense of space that was particularly present in electronic dance tracks. You can get plenty of volume out of the radio, but above about three-quarters volume high notes started to become harsh and brittle, although the bass sounded a lot more powerful.

View Quest Retro WiFi Radio

If you’re after an attractive and easy-to-use radio with a few streaming features, this is a good choice, but the lack of support for VBR MP3s is a pity – we just hope that it’ll be rectified in future firmware updates. If you listen to the radio on the move, the combination of battery power and DAB+, which is increasingly popular across Europe, will definitely appeal.

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Basic Specifications

Rating***
Media Streamer typeaudio streaming device

Audio Compatibility

Audio MP3 playbackYes
Audio WMA playbackYes
Audio WMA-DRM playbackNo
Audio AAC playbackYes
Audio Protected AAC playbackNo
Audio OGG playbackYes
Audio WAV playbackYes
Audio Audible playbackNo
Other audio formatsnone

Video Compatibility

Other video formatsN/A

Image Compatibility

Image BMP supportNo
Image JPEG supportNo
Image TIFF supportNo

Network Interfaces

Wired network portsnone
Wireless networking supportYes

AV Interfaces

Minijack line outputs0
Minijack headphone outputs0
Stereo phono outputs0
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs0
Optical S/PDIF outputs0
Total SCART sockets0
HDMI outputs0
Component outputs0
S-video output0
Composite outputs0
Other connectorsFM/DAB radio, iPod dock

Physical

Size160x280x90mm
Power consumption standby4W
Power consumption on5W

Server Compatibility

Software includednone
UPnPYes
iTunesNo
SlimServerNo
SMBNo

Buying Information

Price£144
Warrantyone year RTB
Supplier
Detailswww.viewquest.co.uk

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