Groov-e Vienna Review

Design

• Black finish
• Micro-USB port
• LCD display

The Vienna isn’t the most flattering radio I’ve seen; the black finish gives it an ordinary appearance, but it isn’t a radio built to win runway fashion competitions.

The build quality could be better though. It’s fairly lightweight at 382g, and the plastic case of the Vienna gives it a ‘hard’ feel at first, as well as the impression that it might escape drops from a low height unscathed. But I gave the volume knob a twirl, and it came off, which isn’t the best sign. Thankfully, it’s easy to put back on.

The LCD display, set in the middle of the radio’s speaker, isn’t the brightest, and there’s barely any difference between the Medium and High brightness settings in the menu. At least the display can be read, although you wouldn’t want to be staring from a distance – this is a radio that’s one to keep nearby.

All the controls are in the middle of the radio, below the display, from power to Mode (switching between DAB, FM, and Bluetooth), Menu settings, tuning buttons, presets, and the Select button. To power the radio on you need to hold, to turn it off just requires a tap, which always confuses me.

Around the back, you’ll find a headphone socket for private listening and a micro-USB charging input. For what’s described as a ‘modern’ radio, it feels archaic to have micro-USB and not USB-C.

Features

• 40 presets
• Alarm function
• Rechargeable battery

While it’s disappointing that the Groov-e Vienna doesn’t feature a USB-C port, it is rechargeable, so there’s no need to swap physical batteries because the Vienna doesn’t have any.

Battery life is claimed to be about 7.5 hours with the radio, and 12 hours with Bluetooth. That seems about right. After listening to the Vienna for several hours, the battery life was still well above 50% charge.

As you’d expect, there’s DAB and FM support, with Bluetooth included for connecting an external source to the speaker. There are 40 presets shared over those DAB and FM stations. 40 is a pretty generous total.

There’s alarm functionality, though only the one, with the means to set time, duration, a wakeup call and when it happens. You can also customise the DRC (Dynamic Range Control), but honestly, I’ve never found it to do anything on any radio I’ve tested.

Sound Quality

• Sharp and bright with broadcasts
• Lacks bass
• Better with Bluetooth

Groov-e’s radios have shown some decent form in the past when it comes to sound quality, though it’s more often the case that its bigger radios have been more capable in the audio department than the smaller ones. The Vienna continues that trend.

It’s not that it sounds bad, but it has strengths, weaknesses and sources it prefers. Listening to BBC 6 Radio and it’s not the clearest sound, shorn of sharpness and detail, but with an emphasis on voices, which for the most part sound clear. But it showcases a fuzzy sense of clarity and definition with instruments, with some radio stations sounding worse than others.

With stations that focus on music – like Jazz FM – and it’s bright but lacking detail, sharp-sounding but not really defined, and while it’s not harsh, the sound quality is not balanced either. There’s not much bass on the table when listening to the radio.

With Bloomberg, the Vienna shows it’s much better with the spoken word. It sounds clearer, and the bump in quality might be down to the focus on dialogue with this station or that it’s a higher quality source.

Going back to music (Absolute Rock) and the Vienna goes back to sounding thin and unbalanced. There’s barely any bass, and detail levels aren’t great either.

A switch to Bluetooth and the Vienna puts in its best showing. There’s more of a stereo effect over Bluetooth than there is listening to radio stations. Vocals sound better, both smoother and clearer, and there’s a more natural tone applied than there is with radio broadcasts. It’s a much smoother approach.

Bass still isn’t great as the Vienna tries to give the lows some punch, with a bass performance that’s more feeble than forthright. Detail is better, highs sound dulled, but there’s none of the sharpness and brightness that affects broadcasts. Raise the volume on a Bluetooth connection and you’ll be treated to the Vienna’s best version of itself, though it’s not the loudest performance.

Should you buy it?