I don't remember when I first bought this headphone but it was back in the 90's sometime. I don't remember how much it cost at the time but it must have been reasonably inexpensive since I wasn't making much money back then. I think it was around $20. I used to wear this almost everyday while walking or riding the bus. The overall quality is good...typical of Sony products. Some of the moving parts started to have trouble after awhile.

Controls include: ON/OFF switch, Local/DX switch (for sensitivity control), AM/FM band switch, tuning dial, and volume dial. Power, volume, and battery compartment are in the left phone. Tuner, band, and sensitivity (Local/DX) are in the right phone. The external FM antenna comes from the right phone.

PROS: First off, you wear this on your head so there are no wires or cords to dangle around and snag on things as you move. Also, it's very light weight even with the battery in it. The reception is great on this! It runs on only 1 AAA battery and since it's just a radio (no motor to run), it's a low-drain device so the battery lasts pretty long. It's analog so there are no memory presets or saved data, you simply turn the dial to tune in the station you want. Again, this lowers battery consumption. The headband is adjustable and is fairly comfortable due largely to the light weight of the unit. The earphones themselves are the larger "Walk-Man" earphones reminiscent of the old portable headphones of the 80s and 90s. The earphones measure 1-1/2" in diameter so it covers your entire ear. They sound about as good as those old earphones from the 80s too. Also, it comes with foam pads that slip over each earphone to provide comfort. This is also stereo, of course, so FM music sounds decent. AM reception is via an internal ferrite antenna (as is typical for AM radio) so sometimes bringing that station in clearly might require you to turn your head a little bit or walk in a different direction. Overall, the reception is good in both AM and FM.

CONS: The entire unit is plastic (except for the foam ear pads). The earphones are connected to the band via a plastic hinge that can break if the headphones are handled roughly or stored carelessly (e.g. if you toss them on something hard like a table). The ear pads wear out over time. Mine eventually wore large holes in each one from where it wore against my ears. This wear exposed the hard plastic earphones underneath and was very uncomfortable against my ears. These headphones are not at all comfortable without the foam ear pads. After repeated use, the power swtich began to get loose and at times the power would cut out and I'd have to wiggle the power switch to turn the radio back on. One of the biggest inconveniences to this radio is that it is analog so there are no buttons with presets. The reason that's a problem is because while it is on your head it is difficult to accurately tune a station since you can't see where you are on the dial. You have to take the headphones off and turn the dial to get the needle--at least--in the proximity of the station you want. Then you can put it back on and tune in the station by ear. Otherwise, you can't be sure which station you're listening to unless you either know the format of each station in your area or the announcer happens to come on and read the call letters out. Also, there's no bass boost circuit so listening to music on FM is decent but not amazing. The headphones and earbuds on the market today blow this thing out of the water for sound quality...but, again, this one doesn't have any cords hanging to snag on stuff.

Of all my experiences with this headset (which, again, I wore for years) the worst was the discomfort of the ear pieces when the foam wore through and how fragile the ear pieces were to rough handling. The best was the fact that there are no wires or cords to snag on anything as you go about your day. The analog tuning wasn't really a big problem because even taking the unit off to look at the dial to bring in a station only takes a few seconds. The sound quality was pretty good on AM and decent on FM.

DISCLAIMER: I've never ran or jogged or done any sports with this on. I'm not sure how well it would stay on your head if you were running with it.

Recommended: Yes