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National Council wants to save FM beyond 2026
by Florian Bodoky
DAB+ radios tested by "saldo": Only one is good
12.9.2025
Translation: machine translated
"saldo" and "Kassensturz" have listened very carefully to digital radios for home use. Almost everything in their test centred on the sound quality. And this leaves a lot to be desired, according to the sobering conclusion.
What would you prefer for your kitchen radio: analogue (FM) or digital (DAB+)? The latter is the bessere only choice for good reception or reception at all. Sooner or later, the Swiss FM network will be shut down and there will be nothing left. The switch-off is planned for the end of 2026, but the National Council wants to delay this against the wishes of the Federal Council. The vote of the Council of States is still pending.
The political component does not play a role in the digital radio test conducted by «Kassensturz» and «saldo». Sound quality is primarily important there. And all of the devices tested have a lot of catching up to do. Let's take a closer look at this.
DAB+ on the test bench
The two Swiss consumer protection organisations sent ten DAB+ radios for home use to a specialised audio laboratory in England. So-called kitchen radios with a mains cable, battery compartment or rechargeable battery, which cost between 80 and 130 francs. In addition to DAB+, they all receive FM stations, and some also play CDs or cassettes.
The focus of the test, however, is on the playback of digital radio stations. The test criteria and their weighting:
- Sound quality (70 per cent): How good do the digital radios sound? In a special listening room, five experts assessed the sound quality in comparison to a reference digital radio. They listened to identical music and speech samples on all test devices.
- Handling (20 per cent): Is setting up the radio stations simple and self-explanatory? Is the information on the display easy to read? How big are the control buttons and are they easy to reach?
- Radio reception in a windowless room (10 per cent)
The disillusionment
Since sound quality is the most important aspect of the test, let's start right away. Not a single digital radio received a good Swiss school grade here. The device from JBL scored best (4.5). But the best sound in the test is of little use if, according to the experts, the handling (4.2) is lacking. Therefore: «Sufficient».
The radios from Pure fared slightly better in the final ranking. They compensate for the slightly poorer sound with very good marks for user-friendliness. The model «Evoke Spot» is the only radio in the test to receive the rating «Good» (4.8). «Classic H4» comes a hair's breadth ahead of JBL, without standing out from the «Sufficient» pile.
«Enough», as far as the Auge reicht ear can hear
Yes, it really is a mediocre bunch with scores between 4.6 and 4.4. And so six of the ten DAB+ radios tested have to be content with a «Sufficient» from the expert jury. Including the devices from Philips, Technisat, Panasonic and Hama.
Rattled through because they want too much?
«Unsatisfactory» is the verdict for a second model from Philips, as well as those from Interdiscount and Migros. «Shrill, thin and nasal», that's how the experts describe the sound of these radios, as «saldo» writes. The devices have problems with clean, powerful bass reproduction.
What stands out: All of the inadequate radios also have a CD player built in, and the one from Interdiscount also has a cassette player. Which leads the «Kassensturz» to the following, probably not so far-fetched conjecture:
«The bulky plastic housings obviously impair the sound quality.»
What makes a good DAB+ radio?
I honestly don't yet know exactly whether and what conclusions I will draw from this digital radio test by «saldo» and «Kassensturz». That I have to dig deeper into my pocket for really good sound quality than for a kitchen radio? Hopefully everyone realised that beforehand. And quite honestly: what demands are justified for devices in this price segment?
In our kitchen, for example, we have the JBL model with the best sound quality, which came third in the test. For almost five years now, it has been providing me with reliable sound or information while I load and unload the dishwasher, switch on the prepare my daughter's snack box or clean up after cooking. I can hear and understand everything that comes out of the little device clearly. I don't expect anything more. Or am I too undemanding?
Header image: Patrick Vogt
I'm a full-blooded dad and husband, part-time nerd and chicken farmer, cat tamer and animal lover. I would like to know everything and yet I know nothing. I know even less, but I learn something new every day. What I am good at is dealing with words, spoken and written. And I get to prove that here.
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