Kaito KA105 Portable radio

An absolute power house of an extremely sensitive radio capable of an impressive showing when comparing with much larger receivers.

The Kaito KA105 radio has (low selectivity) and low sensitivity . I live about 25 miles from the city . When listening to the AM Band , it reminds me of listening to a 1960 handheld $10.00 transistor radio . Which cuts out a lot of AM stations because of the more powerful stations that bleed over them . On shortwave I found the same problem , bleed over , but plugging in the supplied antenna , it brings out more shortwave stations . FM has the same problem . The Kaito KA105 also seems not to have been aligned very good as I have to tune up to the next frequency to receive a station clearly . I have probably had over 100 different radios costing from $10.00 to about $500.00 dollars . I can tell you that the ((Kaito KA105 is a new experience)) it's like going back in time . Kaito could fix the problems with this radio by adding a DSP and more sensitivity and a better readout alignment . I would recommend this radio to a person who lives far away from the city then it would probably work good . Being around the city this radio suffers from cell phone relay towers .

I bought one of these over a year ago and most of the bands performed as I expected as I've had this model or the DEGEN version with some of the control buttons/switches stenciled in Chinese probably ever since it came out in the early 2000's. I don't know if I got a bad sample or a less than Q.C. reject, but the main issue I had was on the AM/MW band, I could not get the radio to switch into the 10 khz step position which is located in the battery door area regardless of which position I placed the switch, it would not revert out of the 9khz step position, if I lived in Europe or any other region where the AM/MW band is broadcast in 9 khz steps, it wouldn't be an issue, but living in America, it's a problem because most, (US) stations do not transmit near enough to most 9 khz adjacent frequencies to be useful here. So, even though there is not a lot of practical stations left to listen to on the AM dial, I do tend to go to that band when local disasters strike, like what I had to do back in 2016 when someone at a distribution electrical station, threw the wrong switch and shorted out most of the electrical grid in the San Diego region for about 18 + hours. I know that's not a lot to people in other areas with downed power lines, but when you have medical issues, not being able to do anything other than battery operated radios especially if going without due to human error isn't something most people plan ahead for. My only advice is avoid DSP-centric radios and choose carefully whichever radios you choose to buy as most anything made before the mid to late 2000's if it's made well, should last for years and be more sensitive and easier to tune than most analog DSP radios, digital DSP radios are marginally better, but the sensitivity issue is the main flaw of those systems as well because you can tune to the exact frequency, but if your front end is 3 times weaker, then what have you got other than a useless device that can't pick up a signal when an emergency strikes close to home.

I like shortwave portables, but currently it seems that no manufacturer makes one that is delivered without problems. The Kaito's AM band selectivity is not just annoying, but appears to be at least five (ten?) channels wide, making it worse than useless on that band. I've seen crystal radios with far better selectivity. The other bands/features work well, but as usual, there is one glaring problem.

I bought this radio as a travel radio alarm clock. I have used it for two weeks. It does a very poor job of getting FM or AM stations when you are not in a large city. I was using it in small cities. Second, the antenna is very hard to use. You need real force to get it out of the radio, and it seems to be breaking. This is after two weeks of daily use. The plus side is that the radio is light. But if I had to make the purchase again I would definitely buy a radio that weighed about 16 ounces, and might do a better job away from major cities and had higher quality control.

This is a tiny digital radio, including presets, at the 50-dollar price point. The size of a small bar of soap, the KA105 delivers crisp sound; it locks on stations; its AM reception is equal to its big brothers the Kaito 1101, 1102, and 1103.But don't get this radio for shortwave. And don't get this radio for music. The speaker is too small to separate musical instrumentation. Talk radio is fine and that's what I'd limit this radio to. For a little more, you might be happier with the Kaito 1101. The latter sits with good stability on its stand whereas the 105 sits on a wobbly plastic slat that has a tendency to fall off.I've had mine in the bathroom for over a year now and it pulls in the distant NPR Pasadena 89.3 with ease. For its limited use, it's quite effective. But I wouldn't buy it as an "everyday" radio.If you need a little travel radio and you listen to talk, the KA 105 will be fine. But if you want musical fidelity, I suggest you upgrade to a Tivoli Audio Songbook, also a digital radio, for 160 dollars. If you want fidelity and don't mind analog tuning (with digital readout), you might look at the 99-dollar Grundig S350.

Very few pocket radios come with a clock and alarm anymore. While it is a little spendy, it does the trick and actually pulls in some distant stations. The audio is not great for music, but what do you expect for a speaker that small. Anyway, it is fine overall.

This radio fails at the most basic level, poor AM and FM reception. in fact the digital tuning is off spec I have to tune it 1/2 step higher and even at that the signal remains noisy. Oddly, it looks good and is very nice physically. Too bad it is junk.