What is Reddit's opinion of Sangean ATS-909X2 The Ultimate FM/SW/MW/LW/Air Multi-Band Radio?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Many of the companies that make portable multiband radios with shortwave make models that use rechargeable batteries, either NiMH or Li-ion. There are models available that will charge the batteries inside the radio by USB cable or a household power with a wall wart power supply.

As a survivalist I want a radio that will keep going and going off the grid or during a long power outage. You can't charge rechargeable batteries without access to the power grid or your own generator. That's where good old-fashioned non-rechargeable alkaline batteries like Duracell can shine. Buy a box of them for under $209 and you are good to go to power many items including LED flashlights and radio. Alkaline batteries may be found in almost every store on the planet. Many Li-ion batteries are hard to find locally and need to be ordered online.

My Sangean ATS-909X2 is without a doubt the only radio made that checks all of these rechargeable battery boxes.

-4xAA battery power can use either alkaline or NIMH chemistry

-Charges batteries inside the radio

-"Smart" charging tech speeds charging and extends battery life

-Each cell individually monitored. The radio will identify and warn you when a cell is worn out or defective and should be replaced.

Sangean ATS-909X2

Seriously, these radios offer the most advanced features of any portables today. They work well as desktops radios with quality speaker audio and perform well with built-in and external antennas.

Listed in order of shortwave performance:

Sangean ATS-909X2

Tecsun H-501x

Tecsun PL-880

Not a portable radio and needs a computer to operate. It offers shortwave performance that will blow anything listed above out of the water. Airspy HF+ Discovery

A lot of people ~~like~~ love the Eton 750 / Tecsun S-2000 for its tabletop size and faux military cosmetics. This radio has been around for a very long time. But a word of caution: any of the radios listed above will easily outperform it on shortwave if not other bands as well.

The radio I use most often is the Sangean ATS-909X2. It's about $250 on Amazon. I am a big fan of outdoor wire antennas. I have posted videos of 909X2 performance here.

The Sangean ATS-909X2 retains the RF gain control. This radio was introduced earlier this year.

The Sangean ATS-909X and the ATS-909 also have the manual RF gain. These radios are discontinued models.

The flagship Sangean portables (and the Radio Shack and Roberts rebranded versions) have featured manual RF gain controls for well over 25 years.

I'm with you. I use external wire antennas and find an RF gain control to be an essential tool for shortwave listening. No need to have the S-meter slammed all of the time while tuned to strong stations. Keeping the S-meter from pegging at the top of the meter eliminates any distortion from the AGC.

The Sangean ATS-909X2 is available at Amazon. Like many Amazon items the price will fluctuate from day to day. For most of the year the price has been near US $270. Expect the price to drop to near $250 in 2022 or 2023. Sometimes the price drops for holidays for limited periods. The previous model 909X usually sold for near $225 with brief sales just below $200.

This Sangean is a good radio, just like the earlier Sangean flagship models. Due to the build quality Sangean radios have never been cheap. I have several reception videos of my 909X2 in action here. To each their own. Fanboys aside, here is plenty of room for more than one brand of shortwave portable.