Zhiwhis ZWS-2415: First Impressions

Unboxing

It comes in a nice box with outstanding padding. Here are the photos and some initial comments.

There is one strong impression I got from unboxing and that is a sense of brand. This is not a brand no one every heard of, but one with an array of products that they’re proud of, and that they intend to support. I have one other Zhiwhis radio, a ZWS-603.

The radio arrived with the battery > 75% charged.

First Impressions

First thing, I pulled out the telescopic antenna just to see its glorious 19 inches, unlike the miniscule antenna found on some other models. Next I switched to the FM band and tuned for some music. The volume can be set quite loud and the music was nice. I thought the sound had good presence and was pleasant to listen too. It doesn’t have strong bass, though. A HRD-757 or PL-990 both have notably better speakers.

I don’t know the precise relationship between HanRongDa, Raddy and Zhiwhis, but these labels appear on some identical products, and my familiarity with operating the Raddy RF75A and HanRongDa HRD-757 help me get started on this Zhiwhis ZWS-2415, especially the “clock mode.” Put simply, one tap of the power button illuminates the display and shows the clock. Pressing the power button a second turns the radio on. If the user does nothing, the radio will turn back off in about 10 seconds. A long press of the power button turns the radio off.

A comment about charging

I was expecting the radio to be chargeable via USB-C from a USB-C power distribution charger, but a PD charger (USB-C to USB-C) cable doesn’t recognize it. The supplied USB-A to USB-C cable works.

The radio comes with a solar panel on the top. It measures about 79 x 28 mm. That’s about .0022 square meters. If the cell is 20% efficient and the sun is fully irradiating at 1000W per square meter, then output of the cell should be approximately 0.4424 W. The radio battery has a capacity of 10000 mAh, presumably at 3.7V, or 37000 mWh, so it would take about 83.6 hours under full sun to fully charge the battery from the solar cell.

Performance on Broadcast Bands

I went outside about 1:30 PM local time for the Daytime Band Scans. I expected abysmal MW performance but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I picked up 11 stations in my very low signal area. As one can see from the chart below, it bested quite a few other radios.

What I was not prepared for was FM. This radio equaled the best radios I’ve ever tested (Tecsun PL-880 and PL-990), receiving 80 stations!

While I was outside, I checked the local weather station, KZZ28 that I always hear on a weather radio. I’ve seen a couple of weather radios that half picked up a couple of other stations under optimal conditions. With this radio I picked up my local station plus three others at some level, the best ever seen by me and this was not out in the park where the ground is higher.

I quickly looked at shortwave I picked up a weak CFRX, 6070 kHz in Toronto which is a weak signal in the early afternoon. CHU from Ottawa on 7850 was there, along with a solid WWV on 15 MHz. There were some others I didn’t take time to identify, but probably France and Spain. More shortwave testing another day.

SOS

Rule 1: Learn how to shut off the SOS siren before testing.

A short press of the SOS button is supposed to turn it off, but if you long press some things when you shouldn’t, it doesn’t work the first time. Just remember when trying stuff, only a short press will work.

It also winks SOS in Morse Code.

Could be Better

Every radio could be better somehow. My list is:

1. Separate switch for the reading light. Now it automatically turns on when the solar panel is opened, making it impossible to position the panel to face the sun.
2. No earphone jack, and hence no stereo.
3. Speaker could have better bass response.
4. MW could be more sensitive.
5. Thermometer (hey, it’s a weather radio that you might take camping).
6. Make scans more sensitive. It skips audible stations.

Things to do:

1. Set the clock
2. Test VHF
3. Test SW with the supplied external antenna
4. Check out memory scans and storage
5. Test Weather Alert (tests here are on Wednesdays between 11 AM and noon)