Turn on, tune in ... but you'll soon want to drop out
Written: Jan 07 '03 (Updated Jan 08 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clear reception. Comes with a carrying case that can be used for other accessories.
Cons: Too expensive. Headset is hard-wired to the receiver. Does not utilise handset for user interface.
The Bottom Line: You can get almost similar radios for $5 from a mail-order catalogue. Maybe that's where Ericsson went to find a supplier of cheap radios that they could re-brand.
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| knilaus's Full Review: Sony Ericsson Hands - Free Fm Headset - Hpr - 11 |
I am the happy owner of an Ericsson T39m mobile phone, which - like most recent Ericsson handsets - has the advantage of being extensible in functionality by means of various accessories and gadgets.
The first of these which I purchased was the HPM-10 digital mp3-player and hands-free headset. I was extremely pleased with the merits of this unit, so much in fact that I decided to test whether the superior design and convenience applied to other portable audio accessories available for my phone.
This led me to look at its cousin the HPR-11 FM Radio and headset, which was available for the modest price of 30 euros at a British on-line retailer by the name of mobilefun.co.uk.
After three days of waiting the unit was delivered to me by registered mail. I was eager to open the package, which I soon found out was much smaller than the box in which the HPM-10 was delivered.
Contents
Opening the package revealed a very small radio unit - roughly 3 cm x 2 cm x 0.8 cm - with a headset attached to it. In addition to the headset, the box contained a clip that can be used to carry the headset ear buds as well as a black carrying case with neckstrap and the usual instruction manuals and disclaimers.
Appearance and Robustness
The HPR-11 is encased in a two-colour (light gray and opaque blue) frame made of thin plastic, which feels very cheap when you touch it: Tapping the frame produces a sound, which makes you think that something inside has come loose, and the blue part of the frame is in fact only very loosely connected to the gray part. One gets the impression that it the unit would come apart if subject to only a slight amount of stress.
The interface for integration with the mobile phone extends from the top of the unit. On each of the unit's other sides I found a slider to manually control the radio's operation (i. e. right side = volume; bottom = on/off switch; left = tuner).
The cord of the hands-free headset extrudes from within the casing on the left side of the unit. There is no jack plug available to replace the headset that Ericsson chose for this model. This was a major disappointment to me: My ears have a certain dislike for ear buds and I thus planned to use another headset, which you would not need to stick inside your ear. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Additionally, as I have no radio tuner wired to my hi fi-stereo, I was hoping to be able to connect it to the HPR-11 through a jack -> phono convertor cable, which I acquired when I wanted to hook up my HPM-10 to the stereo. This however, is not possible either. Ericsson apparently wants me to sit with my phone right next to me and the ear buds firmly stuck into my ear whenever I want to use this unit. I think this choice of design renders the HPR-11 very inflexible, which certainly detracts a lot from my overall perception of the radio.
The carrying case is a convenient way of storing your radio when not in use (which may be most of the time). It will also accommodate the HPM-10 MP3-player but only barely, if at the same time you store the radio in the case. The matter is excaberated by the fact that you need to carry two headsets since the radio - as stated before - will not share its headset with any other accessory.
Installation and operation
The unit easily plugged into the base of my mobile phone. I expected the handset to automatically detect the presence of the radio, but after a little confusion it turned out that the unit should be turned on manually through the little black switch located at the bottom of the radio.
This enabled me to access a new menu item labeled "FM Radio" under the "Accessories" sub-menu. I expected that by accessing this item I would be presented with some sort of sub-menu allowing me to configure and operate the radio. I was disappointed, however: The only visible result of my action was that "HPR-11" appeared in the mobile phone's display along with a sequence of incomprehensible letters and numbers, which I later learned were version numbers and batch codes.
I was thus reduced to operate the radio using the sliders placed on every side of the unit. This caused some frustration as well, as the sliders are small but unfortunately quite non-responsive. Every time I wanted to pull a slider in a direction against the handset, I was forced to hold the phone in both hands, as I feared that the pressure I needed to apply would cause the radio to detach from the handset. Also, the volume control is only adjustable through the right-hand side lever on the radio itself - unlike the HPM-10 player, which gives you the opportunity to control the volume using the slider conveniently placed on the top loft of your handset.
The HPR-11 features a digital tuner: There is no dial for you to manually tune in to your preferred frequency. Instead you pull the left-side slider upward once prompting the tuner to automatically find the next audible FM signal in the frequency band between 87,5 - 108 MHz. Once you hit the ceiling or whenever you want to restart the search, you pull the slider downward and the search will be reset to start from 87,5 MHz.
Unfortunately, the radio does not give you the ability to store favourite frequencies and make them accessible through a menu. It does not remember the last frequency to which you were tuned either. It does not even display the frequency to which it is currently tuned. In the beginning at least this was very frustrating as I was not always able to identify every channel automatically especially when they were playing music. In Denmark this can be an issue since all the local stations feature advertising while the nationwide frequencies are free of advertisments yet offer the same programming and more.
Performance
Reception
The reception that I have experienced thus far has been quite good for both the strong signals of the nationwide frequencies and the weaker signals of the local carriers. As I live on the eastern coast of Denmark bordering Sweden, I am also able to receive national Swedish radio on my unit although this signal does carry some background hissing. I have however not carried out systematic testing of the radio's reception in areas with different degrees of signal strength. If I ever get the chance to go somewhere remote (Denmark is a small country) carrying my FM radio I will be sure to test it out and update the review accordingly.
Unfortunately, the radio only supports transmission of mono signals. I guess this is not a big problem since the unit was never meant to be hi-fi, and in my case will most likely be used for listening to news, the occassional radio broadcast and sometimes leisure music.
I also found that sometimes when I fondled the unit itself in order to operate the controls, reception would be markedly worsened until my hand left the radio.
Batteries
The radio operates on the power coming from your handset's battery. I found that the drain on the batteries was more or less neglible and certainly not exceeding the drain that talking into your phone entails. In theory this should enable me to listen to my radio uninterrupted six hours on end. I have however been unable to verify this figure as having an ear bud stuck into my ear for six continuous hours would be more tedious and possibly painful than I care to endure for an epinions review.
In summary, I would say that these are the relative merits and weaknesses of the Ericsson HPR-11 FM radio and handsfree accessory:
Weaknesses
- Casing made of cheap plastic
- Unwieldy button controls
- Does not store channels
- No jack plug for replacement headsets
- Does not use phone display for user interface
- Only mono radio - only FM frequencies
Merits
- Good reception
- Comes with a carrying case
Conclusion
If presented with the opportunity to reconsider my decision to buy a portable FM radio, I think I would have chosen just about anything in place of this inferior piece. For example, the Coby series of pocket radios available at prices around $10 look like a strong alternative to this kit.
All in all the Ericsson HPR-11 deserves two stars out of five since it serves as the radio it was advertised to be. However, the design appears to me so shoddy and so poorly thought through that a hint of frustration will always be present in the back of your mind when using this radio. After all, there is more to a radio than its ability to receive a signal. Unfortunately, this possiblity was apparently beyond the worldview of Ericsson's engineers.
Links
Coby Pocket Radio CX-7 -
http://www.epinions.com/Coby_CX_007_Mini_AM_FM_Pocket_Radio_w__Neck_Strap_Portable_Audio
My review of the Ericsson T39m handset - http://www.epinions.com/content_84517883524
My review of the Ericsson HPM-10 Digital Player - http://www.epinions.com/content_85220363908
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
knilaus
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Member: Kristoffer Nilaus Olsen
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 35 members
About Me:
Just out of temporal stasis.
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