Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Ye (BD4AAQ), for the following guest post:
The LC90, a Great Radio Spanning Two Worlds
by Michael Ye (BD4AAQ)
It is an awkward era for radio receivers. Although technology becomes more and more advanced and increasingly sophisticated radios are made, there are fewer and fewer stations to listen to. But hardcore radio hobbyists, mostly hams and shortwave listeners, would not give up the hobby. They continue to look for and enjoy stations among noises in the airwaves. Although Internet radios have been around for a long time, I never thought seriously about them. Perhaps I was stubborn, but in my mind, radios were noises and noises were radios and it’s the stations among the noises that I enjoyed. Receivers without noises were hardly real radios.
Until I got my first full band radio with Internet features. The LC90 was a pleasant surprise, completely changing the way I look at radio receivers. The LC90, or “full band smart Internet radio”, is my first shortwave radio AND Internet radio in one. There may be other radios with Internet features, but I have heard of few receivers that integrate the traditional radio (shortwave in particular) and the Internet. The LC90 was launched in China in early 2023, and quickly became popular among hobbyists thanks to the unique combination. News has been confirmed that the overseas version of the LC90 will be launched later this year. It provides more options for users at a time when shortwave broadcasters continue to shut down transmitters and bid final farewell.
Chaoyuan Company
The manufacturer of the LC90 is Chaoyuan, an electronics company based in Shenzhen, China, known for mobile phone design and Hi-Fi equipment. In recent years they started to design and make radios. And they are serious about the business, too.
The LC90 full band smart Internet radio
The Radio at a Glance
The radio is of regular size. A computer mouse is placed in the picture above, so you have an idea of not only the radio’s looks but also its size. The exact dimensions are 200x122x40mm. Its weight is 640 grams. The radio has a built in 4G SIM card, with 3G prepaid data. You have to add credit to the card in time by scanning a QR code on the screen before the built-in SIM card expires. You can also use your own SIM card by inserting it to a slot at the bottom of the radio. And of course, you could use Wi-Fi at home.
Although the radio is a combination of the traditional radio and the Internet, it is very ingeniously designed and does not put off the user with too many bells and whistles – you could press the tuning button to change the shortwave band and the fine tuning button to change the band width. The tuning button also serves as an “enter” key. These are clever designs that effectively save extra buttons. I have not seen a similar design in other radios.
For those who do not read Chinese, the upper five buttons are, roughly, “Configure”, “Timer”, “Setup”, “History” and “Favorites”. The four buttons on the left: “Confirm”, “Stations”, “News” and “Menu”. The four buttons on the right: “Back”, “Sequence”, “Rewind” and “Fast Forward”. The button with a globe says “Internet”.
The radio has excellent audio quality, rich bass, with a well-balanced frequency response. It is powered by two 18650 rechargeable lithium batteries. The radio has no back stand.
Traditional Radio
All three modes (or bands) are available, FM, MW and SW, as shown in the three buttons on the upper right (to get LW just press MW again). The FM band covers 64-108MHz, which includes Japan’s FM band. During the FMDX season you could have stations from Japan and other countries to explore. The SW band covers 2300-26100KHz, continuous, almost the entire shortwave band, more than enough for broadcast listening. The antenna jack works for all three modes (or bands).
Excellent Shortwave Performance
As a shortwave listener of many years, I am most interested in the radio’s performance in shortwave reception. Well, it is indeed very good in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and audio quality, with no compromise although the radio has an Internet section which requires additional space and resources.
When you use the radio indoor, reception could be poor and you can insert an external antenna to the antenna jack. Unfortunately, I cannot connect my AOR LA400 loop antenna to it as the antenna jack is too close to the tuning knob and so there is not sufficient space for the plug (see picture). Generally, a 3.5mm plug with a wire should work well if you extend the wire outside.
The external antenna jack
If there is a disappointment, its shortwave reception does not decode SSB signals. If the user is not a ham radio hobbyist, SSB reception may not be really needed anyway and the buttons, circuits and space can be saved accordingly.
Fair FM Reception
FM reception is good, but there is no obvious improvement of reception when an external plug is inserted in the antenna jack.
Mediocre MW Work
Reception on the lower bands, e.g., the medium wave band, is always a challenge in cities. It is not surprising that medium wave performance of the LC90 is mediocre at best. I don’t do much MW DXing but nowadays for each MW frequency there is almost always an FM frequency. Let’s face it – we should perhaps forget about medium wave reception in cities where there is excessive low band EMI.
However, if you go outdoor with the radio, medium wave reception can still be a lot of fun. And, contrary to FM reception, an external antenna significantly improves its performance!
Internet Radio
Admit it or not, the best days of traditional radio are gone, and while we continue to have fun on the old time radio, we should not hesitate to embrace newer technologies such as the Internet. By launching the LC90 and combining the two, Chaoyuan has made a significant move.
The Internet radio is an integrator of many online stations on the Internet, and more. It is completely different from the traditional radio which receives radio signals transmitted on air. The Internet radio, which relies on the Internet, provides much better audio quality, no noise, customizable and replay-able.
If you want to kill time and look for signals from noises, turn to shortwave and enjoy DXing. If you feel like listening to solid content or enjoying noise-free music, the Internet radio is there for you. This Internet radio integrates major web stations in China and on that basis the user can further select and configure their own favorites. Among apps that are built-in is Ximalaya FM, the leading audio platform in China. Due to requirements of policies and regulations in China, the user does not have much discretion to include foreign stations in the radio. However, Chaoyuan has indicated that they are working in an effort to secure authorizations from Spotify, Alexa and Pandora which they hope could be incorporated in the overseas version of the LC90. The future overseas version is expected to give the user more discretion to include online stations of their own choice.
A closer look at the display of the Internet Radio
Two buttons, Ai1 and Ai2, are voice assistants. Activate and speak to them and the radio directly plays the content (Ai1) or displays their findings for you to choose from (Ai2).
Finally, this is a radio with the most accurate time. There is no need to set the time for it, as it is based on the Internet.
Good Day,
When will this Radio be available?
Thank you for the needed feedback.
Joseph
Hi. The radio is available. Please search for LC90 at Amazon or Radioddity. Or refer to my comparison or John’s review by searching for LC90 at this site.
Hi. The radio is available. Please search for LC90 at Amazon or Radioddity. Or refer to my comparison or John’s review by searching for LC90 at this site.
This is the first time ever I seen a company found a way to take 2 different world band tuners such as a online tuner and a offline tuner, this WiFi radio technology should of been added into many flagship radios that cost more than what this radio does. I hope that new updates will be added and also new features in many new models. I will see when it becomes more widely available, I will try to save up for one to help replace my Grundig Field BT receiver that has a serious problem with tuning, so I can put away my Ocean Digital receiver away or place it somewhere else in the apartment to clear up the clutter in the 2nd bedroom listening post here at home. I don’t know if it’s possible to get a nano sim card for the new radio, but it will likely be a good home receiver for offline and online use.
Hi
Does it have presets for internet and FM/SW stations and how many?
Please see my comparison here: https://swling.com/blog/2024/01/michael-compares-the-choyong-lc90-export-and-chinese-versions/
Yes, lot of presets for the Internet but no presets for FM/SW stations.
Some guy under that link complained of bad WI-FI connection. Mine seems OK except that there are occasional “network error” messages. I am not sure if it’s the radio or China’s network conditions. Anyway, it is advisable to hear what those other users say before deciding to buy one.
Anyone experimented this version sold in Amazon.com?
CHOYONG LC90 Multi-Band Smart Internet Radio Portable AM/FM,Longwave & Shortwave Radio with WiFi,Bluetooth, TF Card https://a.co/d/8uBmTaj
I am currently evaluating the worldwide version of the radio and will post a review here when I have finished, but I expect that to be a while yet as there are many things to explore!
Cheers, Robert K4PKM
No, not for the Chinese version that I have. However, the overseas version, expected to be launched later this year, will give the user more options.
It does not seem the internet radio offers internet radio stations from around the globe, like frontier sillicion, mediau, and skytune.net do?
The export version has now been launched. Check here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dbsRV3qj9Y
A correction. Dimensions 22x122x40mm should be 200x122x40mm. Let’s see if Thomas can edit it when he gets a chance.
The blue is smashing, but boy for such price they could place the antenna jack correctly??
* On their PR images they show a dipole connected to the left side…
The original video link posted by Paul Jamet at ixigua.com seems to be a review for another radio.
Here’s a video at the same site that is a review of the LC90: https://www.ixigua.com/7247717132413174272
You’re right, Paul… In fact, I copied the wrong link.
Asiatic First, a company specializing in telecommunications, has already marketed Internet radio receivers; two are shown in this video.
Thank you for pointing out the error.
Congratulations Paul, your knowledge of Chinese is better than mine 🙂
what does it use for the internet radio function ? Some server (cloud) sitting behind the “great INTERNET wall” of China ? Given the lack of SSB and full Ham bands coverage, I think I’ll. pass on it
YMMV BTW
Pity it’s not ham radio friendly. It omits not only SSB but also the upper (10m) and lower (160m) HF bands, as well as the CB (11m) band.
A few features that I did not discuss in the review include:
1) Backlit buttons;
2) Type C charging cable supplied;
3) TF card supported (to store and play your own music); and
4) Bluetooth for the radio to serve as a bluetooth speaker
Thanks for this interesting review. To complete, here are some interesting URL:
Video (in chinese): https://www.ixigua.com/7058923153241833998?wid_try=1
Unboxing and review: ????????????????????LC90???????????
The combination of traditional full-band radio and Internet radio, first experience of Chaoyuan LC90 full-band Internet radio
https://www.jkitw.com/425325.html
About prices: the LC90 is sold on a singapore web site: price from 373.60$ up to 444$
https://www.lazada.sg/products/chao-yuan-lc90-network-radio-wifi-full-band-smart-stereo-player-tv-sound-vinyl-lossless-i2746990773-s18633887801.html?
Two colors (Space Grey or Navy Blue) and three packages. Don’t forget to click on VIEW MORE to have access to a set of views …
Thanks for this information . Very promising … Sold 373.6$ Free shipping …
https://www.lazada.sg/products/chao-yuan-lc90-network-radio-wifi-full-band-smart-stereo-player-tv-sound-vinyl-lossless-i2746990773-s18633887799.html
Video (in chinese): https://www.douyin.com/video/7212195220589448507
This receiver seems to be aimed primarily at the Chinese market … Unboxing and quick presentation!
The combination of traditional full-band radio and Internet radio, first experience of Chaoyuan LC90 full-band Internet radio
https://www.jkitw.com/425325.html
Nice neat technology all in one box. 4G and WiFi chips are so common now and small, it makes sense to combine it all together. Eventually they may have to come out with an SSB feature to expand market share but this looks like a good first start.
One could just stream from a cell phone using Bluetooth to a radio or stereo system with Bluetooth. Many people’s cell phone plans (at least in North America) have unlimited streaming directly from a cell phone, so it remains to be seen if a 4G connection in a radio makes sense if limited by a monthly data cap.
Re: the inability to fit the antenna jack into the input because of the tuning wheel. I’m fairly certain there’s an extension available that you can use to bridge the end of the plug to the input.
Yes, thanks Ken. I will try and get one.
Thanks for the review. I’m looking forward to see the world-wide release.
James, you are not alone! Please, have a glance here;
First release on the whole network!Internet radio + traditional radio?Chaoyuan flagship new machine LC90 really work?
https://inf.news/en/digital/fb3dcd23bc116f1595c714d79bdaebda.html?utm_content=cmp-true
Wait and see
Hi Paul. This sounds like a machine translation of an article of 18 January this year, just before the launch of the radio. Here’s the original link: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7189774719661621795/?channel=&source=search_tab
Many thanks Michael.
Very nice review of an interesting radio! Cheers!
Woe, this is exactly what we’ve waited for. A radio that combines SW capability with Internet. Hope they redesign the antenna jack and improve AM reception and FM.