Earlier this year, I was contacted by Elecevolve, the producer of the unique MLite-880 that I consider to be the best portable to emerge in years, about another receiver they planned to release called the RT-880x.

The test unit that arrived here carries the name “Rayture” which was unfamiliar to me, and as observers noted it resembles the by now well-known DP-666 which appears under the Deepelec name in a horizontal and vertical configuration, with current Amazon pricing at $139 at th time this is being written.

As can be seen in the photo above, the 880x headlines include: High Sensitivity Multiband Color Screen, “DX Scanning” and RDS, Switchable MW Ferrite/SMA Antenna Input, AIR band 118-137 mHz, and Auto Scan and Stdore with 198 Station Memories. Construction seems to be metal but could well be some kind of PC board as was seen on some other units coming from China in recent years. Batterry is 3.7V/5000 mAh. This is quite robust but I have not yet done a full run-down test or a teardown so I can’t say whether replacement batteries are widely available — have to think they are on AliExpress for example.

On the top we have an SMA antenna jack, along with Squelch, Volume and Tuning knobs. Directionality for tuning/squelch etc can be changed from within the MENU system. Changing direction of the knob is achieved by holding down the BW button at POWER ON (section 2.2 of the manual under “Power-on Maintenance Key Combinations.”). This is one example of what can be enabled this way. There is a normal headphone jack on the left side and familiar. On the right, we see PWR, ON/OFF, 5v/1a/, CHARGE LED, and the familiar ESP32 Boot control (the manual states that holding BOOT in during PWR ON puts the radio into flashing mode).

Performance of the 880x is much as we see on other TEF radios: AM and FM are excellent; RDS is very sensitive; the display is beautiful. I actually prefer top knob controls to side controls and in this respect the 880x is nice to use. Longwave is pretty much useless of course. I have not opened the case so can’t comment on where the ferrite internal is located — perhaps someone else who has the radio can provide info on this.

Unfortunately, I have found AIR band performance to be less than satisfactory. My Radtel 950Pro does a much better job using a Nagoya whip, even when the antenna is not extended. My gold standard for AIR and EMS frequencies is my AOR AR-3000A which, sitting in my kitchen with a short whip manages to hear almost everything in the DC/Baltimore/VA region. Whereas the 880x struggles to hear stuff, positioned in roughly the same location in my house.

The 880x comes with the usual things in the box — a nice vinyl carrying bag, a telescopic antenna with a very decent SMA base, and a USB-C cable. No paper instructions but the manual can be downloaded from the radio’s page on the Elecevolve site. The 880x is shown as $69 USD as of the time of this writing. This is still listed as PRE-ORDER.

Firmware on my 880x unit is shown on startup as 2.21.0 and is at github.com/PE5PVB/TEF6686_ESP32 I have not attempted updates here but imagine others who have units linked to the PE5PVB developer may be able to provide information on how that went. There are always risks with updating. The Elecevolve page for the 880x contains links to the STMCube program which actually is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. I have used STMCube as an alternate to the direct updating page for the MLite-880 and have had no problem.

The 880x has an extensive list of options so I won’t go through all of them and would direct anyone interested in this radio to the Elecevolve web page for the 880x. Among the options is the familiar old-style FM radio display as can be found on the original DSP units manufactured and designed in Russia, and sold by numerous China-based manufacturers.

I would sum up this way: TEF 6686 receivers have become numerous since we first saw the Qodosen 286 which remains an excellent choice for those who want superb AM and FM performance. In terms of size, there is not much that can beat the 286 but if one wants a beautiful color screen something like the RT-880x is an excellent choice, But so are the various other TEF portables such as the DP-666.

An observation on what the manufacturer claims is “Improved Interference Rejection” I’m not sure what the story is with this — the radio seems to be as competent as other TEF receivers so if the reference is a claim that there is some other feature in the unit we don’t know about . . . well, we will leave this there for now until we learn more. Another point on SW range — it is frustrating that 27 mHz is the end point on some of these receivers, which leaves out the CB band — very frustrating, and something you won’t encounter on a MLite-880 for example.

The challenge in the current market for something like the 880x is from dual-chip portables such as the ESP-138/D which offers SSB capability. But the problem with those 47xxx dual chip units is that they have poor AGC performance. On the ESP138 I obtained a couple of years ago, using the 47xxx section is frustrating because the radio really has to be left on MANUAL GAIN and there is still the issue of “CHUFFING” which is a frustrating experience. We recently had the example of the Choyong LC-100 which, unfortunately, suffers from this and has 47xxx and TEF. It’s a frustrating reality that at the present time, we’re still stuck with TEF and its non-SSB capabilities.

For the listener today who is still interested in good SSB performance along with very good MW (AM) and FM, Tecsun is still an attractive choice. And we shall see how Sangean is able to improve on its longtime ATS-909X2 when the new version of that radio appears and gets into the hands of users. I continue to make the case that the MLite-880 with its unique spectrum-dominated display along with AIR band and NOAA, FM, MW, and SW coverage remains the best choice right now, as long as one can patiently learn the numerous options available via the keys and menus.

I want to thank Elecevolve for sending me a 880x. They had no influence on my assessment of this radio. I look forward to comments from SWLing readers. I am not sure what the “Rayture” name on the radio refers to — perhaps we’ll get some clarification on that.