(Pocket-lint) – Don’t tell Spotify, but radio is far from dead. Even though people are flocking to streaming music and podcast platforms in their multitudes, millions of people each day still tune into radio shows to get their fix of news, music or chat shows. 

• Best Bluetooth speakers: Top portable speakers to buy today

The fact is, the radio still holds us captivated sometimes, and having a nice speaker that can access it – preferably through the DAB standard without needing an elaborate antenna setup – is a real home comfort for many people. 

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting and is a near-global standard for broadcasting digital radio, although it’s not used in North America. Here are our favourite DAB radios for your listening pleasure. 

Our pick of the best DAB radios to buy today

Roberts

Roberts Stream 94i

squirrel_widget_184741

Roberts is best known for its retro-look radios, but we’re actually most impressed by its more modern devices, in particular the Stream 94i, which takes our top spot. It’s a great radio that boasts both Bluetooth and Spotify Connect to make it borderline a smart speaker with radio built-in. 

Those two front drivers are augmented by a subwoofer on its back, making for excellent sound, while the carrying handle makes it a doddle to move around with, especially if you add an optional battery pack to make it portable. For the combination of functions it offers, and its clean design, we think this is the best radio you can buy right now. 

Pure

Pure Evoke H3

squirrel_widget_349560

Pure has a big range of digital radios of all sizes, and we’ve got another more sizeable one down below, but our top pick from the brand is the Evoke H3.

We think it’s the best combination of feature-rich and appropriate sizing. You’re most likely not looking for a radio that can fill an entire house with booming audio, so a diminutive but rich-sounding little unit is a great option. 

As with a few on this list, the wood construction gives the H3 a timeless quality, as do its big dial controls and low-key information display. It’s the sort of radio that will work for you but also for your Grandma, and that’s saying something. It helps that it sounds great for its size. 

Ruark

Ruark R1 Mk4

• View offer on Ruarkaudio.com

Of a similar size to the Evoke H2 we picked earlier, Ruark’s R1 Mk4 is another really impressive small radio. Unlike that other model, it has Bluetooth to bring to the party, too. That makes it a great adaptable speaker. With its control unit mounted on the top of the speaker, it’s also one of the very simplest to use on this list.

It isn’t exactly cheap for its size, but it’s also really nice to look at and boasts really impressive sound. 

Sony

Sony XDR-S41D

squirrel_widget_184742

If you’re looking for something a bit more reminiscent of a portable radio from the 70s or 80s, Sony has a really interesting and impressive little radio that fits the bill with some obvious updates to the 21st Century’s standards. Light enough to be really portable, and available in a range of jazzy colours outside the black pictured above, it’s battery-powered.

That means you can move it around with you or throw it in a bag for when you need it. It won’t exactly blow you away on the sound front, but if you’re looking for a simple radio that can be used in a variety of settings, Sony’s made just that in the XDR-S41D.

Roberts

Roberts Radio Revival Mini

squirrel_widget_3667690

As we said above, Roberts’ modern sets are super impressive, but we couldn’t completely ignore its delightful retro efforts. We think the Revival Mini is the best radio for most, given that even this smaller model is pricey for what you get.

Its looks are just gorgeous, though, particularly in this lovely blue version, and the sound is really classic and well-balanced. It’s easy to use and likely to satisfy both new users and those with more old-fashioned tastes. 

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.