![]() Though vocals take up much of the focus, there are appreciable levels of detail and definition to instruments in Mr. At around 50% volume it’s clear and crisp with the spoken word, with no sibilance noted listening to Bloomberg, Absolute Radio, or any of the BBC Radio channels. A rummage through DAB and FM stations and there was only one where I felt that the Zen Plus started to hit the ceiling with its volume (Greatest Hits Surrey). Push the volume to its loudest and it doesn’t sound strained, though your mileage may vary depending on the station and what’s playing. It’s clearer and detailed than the bigger Groov-e Zeus and strikes a more natural tone across DAB and FM stations. Sound Qualityįor a speaker of its size, the Roberts Zen Plus sounds much better than expected. All-in-all it’s a fairly simple means of traversing the menus. To come out it’s a hold on the menu icon. ![]() Hold the same button to enter the menus and then use the arrows for navigation, with the ‘Select’ button to click through and venture deeper. Tap the icon that looks a little like a lemon with three dots to cycle through the Zen Plus’ modes (Sleep Sounds, Alarms, DAB, FM, and Bluetooth). When working as it should, the menu settings and navigation are relatively easy enough to grapple with. Oftentimes it works fine, but on a few occasions it lacks responsiveness, leaving me prodding at the screen, and at other times it flashes repeatedly for reasons I’m not sure of. The Zen Plus’ interface can look complicated at first but spend some time and it becomes relatively familiar quite quickly. ![]() Some of the 13 picks include ‘Gentle Stream’, ‘Ocean Waves’, ‘Rainfall’, ‘Pink Noise’, ‘Record End’ (for the vinyl lovers out there) and ‘Kitten Purring’, although the last one sounded fairly aggressive to my tired ears. Sleep Sounds are noises to help you sleep, set for a duration of twenty minutes. Hit the snooze button and you get nine minutes before it beckons your input again.Ī tap shows what’s already been set with repeated taps cycling through to switching the alarms off completely. Here you can choose the frequency of the alarm (‘daily’, ‘workdays’, ‘weekends’ etc) what mode/sounds to associate with it (DAB, FM, Sleep Sounds) and volume. There’s the capacity for setting two alarms by holding the ‘Alarm’ button (top left). Enter settings and select ‘Save preset’ to add a station, or rifle through the ones already created with the ‘Recall preset’. There are cheaper radios such as the Groov-e Zeus that have thrice as much, but then 60 presets seem like overkill. In terms of presets, 10 are afforded to DAB and 10 to FM for a total of 20. The main differences between them are that the Zen Plus carries a DAB tuner, Bluetooth streaming, more presets, and Sleep Sounds. Image Credit (Trusted Reviews) FeaturesĪs this radio is called the Roberts Zen Plus, you’d be right in assuming there’s a standard Zen model. Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)Īround the back is a USB input for charging devices such as a smartphone, with a Sleep Sounds Memory Card space (more on that later) and a Backup Battery for time/alarm/setting backup, the life expectancy of which is said to be several years. On top is the ‘Select’ button to put the Zen Plus into standby. On the side of the clock/timer are smaller icons relating to alarm, snoozing, sleep timer on the right, while the left reveals the Zen Plus’ current mode. The LCD screen features two rows of icons at the top that relate to alarm/sound modes and volume/tuner/select options. The backlight can be altered between Auto, High, Medium, and Low – and left on the first option, after a few minutes the screen will auto dim, convenient if the light spilling from the Roberts distracts. It glows in the night in its standby mode which makes it easy to know the time if you’ve found getting 40 winks troublesome. The front-facing side features a touch screen with a large clock/timer face. The Roberts Zen Plus comes in three colours: white, black and duck egg. It’s a stylish effort with a neat textured fabric covering wrapped around the top half of its body, its compact size ensures it takes up less space on a bedside table. It also looks a bit like a tooth if you stand it upright, and whenever I hold it in my hand, my mind gravitates towards Magic 8-balls. The Zen Plus looks not too dissimilar to Amazon’s Echo speakers, and perhaps its look is meant to deliberately invoke those modern smart speakers even though it bears no actual ‘smarts’. Is the Zen Plus a calming influence, or is this DAB radio a nightmare to use? Design This digital radio supports Bluetooth and features wellness features such as ‘Sleep Sounds’ to help put you to sleep. Roberts is popular for its attractive and retro-styled radios and the Zen Plus is another one of its quirky-looking efforts.
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