Orange LiveRadio Review

Internet radio is nothing new to Stuffers. Opportunities to access Adelaide FM and Radio Bali have been increasing by the day this year with new radios from Intempo and Tangent hitting the scene, but Orange’s new LiveRadio offers something different.

Once you’ve tuned into stations, it lets you bookmark tracks that tickle you and then, if you like them enough, download them from the Orange Music Store. Clever, eh?

Wireless woes
Well, it would be if the Live Radio could connect to Wi-FI networks a little easier. Our main grumble with the little chap was the time it took to connect to two different wireless networks. It had no trouble detecting them but, even after we inputted the relevant security key, struggled to connect.

Still, the controls are nicely laid out and the radio boasts a fairly inviting design that includes a small monochrome display. It’s powered by the mains or four rechargeable batteries and, although the constant prodding of the d-pad can prove a bit tiresome, cycling through the menus is relatively painless.

Bookmark your beats
The clever bit, though, is its connection to the Orange website. Here, not only can you register your radio, you can also customise the eight presets simply by dragging and dropping your favourites into the relevant slots.

And the interaction doesn’t stop there. There’s a button on the radio that will bookmark whatever track is playing. You can then visit the website and download your bookmarked tracks onto your home computer to use on your Orange mobile phone. (99p gets you one copy for computer and another sent straight to your phone).

As for the sound, it’s about average for a diddy portable device like this – thin and lacking refinement. There’s also a lack of quality bass when listening to dance stations.

So, the LiveRadio could sound better and be slick to operate, but the unique online feature shows definite potential.