Review: Pinell Compact

A small radio that you can take with you anywhere is both practical and useful. With a decent battery life and reasonable sound quality, you can listen to what you want, where you want.

Unfortunately, the sound quality is often not exactly top notch, to say the least. Most small radios are primarily small and don’t have many other qualities.

But that’s not the case with Pinell’s little Compact. A portable radio that more than lives up to its name. It’s just small enough to be handy to carry around the house, out in the garden, on the terrace or wherever you want to listen to the radio.

Or podcasts. The small radio has Bluetooth, so you can stream podcasts from your mobile phone. Or stream music from Tidal or Spotify. It also has DAB+ and FM radio, and if you want, you can connect an external audio source via the Aux input on the back.

It doesn’t have a headphone output or Bluetooth streaming for your earbuds, but that’s not very common for radios this small.

The rechargeable battery lasts up to eight hours and you can charge it with any USB charger. The radio comes with a USB-C charging cable that you simply plug into your mobile charger, for example.

Colour screen and presets

A small colour screen shows you what you’re listening to. The buttons on the front allow you to scroll through radio stations, select the audio source and the two radio stations you listen to the most can be saved on two quick buttons on the front.

Simple and straightforward. The radio is not waterproof, but it is water-resistant. This means it can withstand a little rain before you need to take it indoors. It can be left in the bathroom as long as it is not submerged in water.

So far that sounds great, but what about the audio? You get a small full-range speaker on the front and a bass port on the back. It doesn’t sound like much, and the radio is in no way a party speaker. A small Bluetooth speaker, such as the JBL Grip, plays louder.

Clear sound quality

But Pinell is known for making radios with good sound quality, and the Compact is no exception. You wouldn’t expect such a small radio to combine clear music reproduction with bass that skilfully drives the music forward. But it does.

Radio programmes or podcasts, where conversations are the main element, sound clear and crisp. It’s easy to distinguish between participants in the programme and the speaker is more than loud enough that you don’t need to have it close enough to hear what’s being said or played.

The music in the radio has sufficient bass weight and the mids give vocals and instruments plenty of space. Compared to other small radios, the Compact radio stands out with greater clarity; in short, the sound is clearer and more open. This benefits both speech and music, making the small radio sound bigger than it is.

What is DAB+?

It’s wireless digital distribution of radio using DAB+ transmitters. DAB+ can also be used for images and video, but the current protocol is for digital radio broadcasts. The sound is compressed so that it doesn’t take up much space in the transmission network. Compressing the signal results in data streams of up to 384 kbps, but it is rare for DAB+ to transmit at over 160 kbps. In comparison, a CD has a data rate of 1,411 kbps. The most common is 64 to 128 kbps, as we know from MP3.

Conclusion

Pinell Compact is a portable radio with Bluetooth, DAB+, FM and Aux input. It has a rechargeable battery and plays for up to eight hours, a colour screen and two quick buttons for favourite stations. The sound is clear and crisp with good bass and midrange, making it superior to other small radios.