Roberts Revival Petite 2
Tiny footprint, fabulous design, serious sound
Sometimes, a product will come through the What Hi-fi? test rooms that makes everyone in the team go: “Yes.” The Roberts Revival Petite 2 radio is one such product. It is a dinky DAB radio with Bluetooth powers; but really, just look at it. It’s tiny, it’s cute, and we want it.
Even as wireless speakers and music systems are getting smarter and more multi-functional every day due to increasing demand, there is something universally appealing about the humble radio, especially one with such a compact form and such lovely retro looks.
Design pedigree
Roberts has form here, with its Revival line of DAB and smart internet radios long delivering an attractive, stylish retro design that is hugely appealing both to look at and to hold.
The Revival Petite 2 follows the same blueprint as the original five-star Petite: it’s so tiny it can fit onto the palm of your hand and perch in any corner, narrow windowsill, bookshelf or cluttered desk. It is shorter than a can of fizzy pop, its footprint is narrower than a paperback book, and it’s just a bit wider than an Airpods Pro 2 charging case.
The build quality is reassuringly solid and oozes high quality, and we love the rounded, smooth corners, soft but sturdy leather-like covering and colourmatched grille. It is available in seven attractive hues: sunburst yellow, duck egg, pastel cream, pop orange, dusty pink, midnight blue or black. The contrasting bronze trims, metal buttons and Roberts logo complete the look.
The OLED display screen is tiny but it is clear and has a strong enough contrast that you can read the text in any light. The screen is dimmable, too. What’s more, Roberts manages to pack a whole lot of information into that small screen without it looking cramped. The radio station name, track/artist name, current source, signal strength, battery level icon and the time are all displayed neatly.
There are 20 presets you can save in total: 10 for DAB, 10 for FM. It is easy to save and recall stations using the control dial, and useful to be able to save so many of your favourite stations so you don’t have to scan all the time.
The radio’s long battery life of 20 hours returns, while a new edition for this ‘2’ model is the 3.5mm headphone port, which replaces the 3.5mm aux input.
Small is plentiful
If all that weren’t enough, we are pleased to say that the Roberts Revival Petite 2 radio also sounds very, very good. Under the hood lies a 40mm driver with a passive radiator that provides this titchy unit’s sound, but there is nothing tiny or diminished about the presentation.
Naturally, the quality of sound depends on your location/proximity to a radio transmitter and the quality of the station’s streams, but once you get a strong signal, the Roberts delivers a consistent sonic presentation across radio and Bluetooth.
You won’t get huge helpings of bass from such a small box, but you do get a lively, rhythmically engaging sound that has a surprising amount of weight and punch to it, given the unit’s size. The way it handles voices is a highlight, sounding clean, solid and detailed. Those voices – which come across as warm and natural – are admittedly given centre stage compared with music, but it’s a balance chosen for talk radio that Roberts will have intentionally selected. The Petite 2 even reaches an impressive volume for its size, even if things begin to become a touch unruly at the very top end.
For £100, you get quite a lot from this petite portable radio, and it is an utter delight to use, hold and look at, as well as fun to listen to. Whether it’s for your teenage kid, a friend or sibling, or your grandparents, we can see the stylish, versatile, enjoyable-sounding Petite 2 appealing to anyone who still values the humble wireless radio – with a significant amount of added extras.