Joined in 2023 
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The PL-880 is very well presented with a nice quality protective case, lithium battery, USB charge lead, miniature stereo earphones, carry strap, and extending wire antenna for short wave use. Another piece of advice, do not connect a Ham radio style wire antenna to this or most portable radios, they overload badly unless you use some serious attenuation.
Every radio has its pros and cons, of course. When I begin a review of a radio, I take notes from the very beginning so that I don’t forget my initial impressions. Following is the list I formed over the time I’ve been evaluating the Tecsun PL-880: Choosing a bandwidth couldn’t be easier: simply press the “AM BW” button to display the current bandwidth setting, then either use either tuning control to widen or narrow the filter, or press the “AM BW” button to cycle through the options. The keypad on the front of the PL-880 has a quality response/feel. Selecting a frequency is as easy as entering the number in kHz. No other button pushes are needed, much like the PL-660, and the Grundig G3. By pressing the “SW METER BAND” up/down controls, you can move through the broadcast bands with ease. Indeed, if you change the mode to SSB and use the same up/down arrows, the PL-880 will cycle through the amateur radio bands as well. Nice touch, Tecsun! The new Flagship portable radio from prestigious radio manufacturer Tecsun fitted with analogue Hi-IF circuit, multi conversion , & DSP decoding technology, which greatly enhances the sensitivity, selectivity and reduces interference from close by stations. The first test was in AM, and I chose Radio Exterior de España on 9,605 kHz, which was moderately weak compared to other broadcasters on the 31 meter band. I recorded one minute clips. Halfway through the PL-660 and ICF-SW7600GR clips, I turned on the sync detector. On the PL-880, I simply turned on SSB, as I did not feel that its sync detector added to intelligibility.Do not submit a product review critiquing another review or reviewer. Reviewers should be able to share their product opinion without being publicly criticized. I sold the PL-880 and S-8800 and got the PL-680 istead, boy what a difference, the audio is just so good, no harsh white noise in the audio and no distorted SSB and no warble souning audio listening to SSB on SW or MW, zerobeating on LW/MW/SW is just so good on the PL-680, if there's an interfearing source close by hitting USB/LSB can in most cases greatly reduce or completely eliminate this interference. The PL-880 sports both broad tuning and fine tuning controls on the right side of the radio. They’re perfectly positioned to be operated with ease by the user’s thumb. They also protrude enough from the right side of the radio so that it can be tuned much like the tuning knob of the PL-660–from the top side of the control. I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t claim to be an AM/medium wave DXer, although recently I have been spending much more time on the band.
Tecsun's 2013 release of their latest worldband radio with FM/SW/MW/LW. Freq range: FM: 870108/76-108/64-108 (user selectable) Tuning Step: 0.01MHz/0.1MHz A great portable radio for worldwide reception as well as local broadcast coverage on AM and FM. The short wave section offers superb performance on SSB and CW as well as AM. Even with the short telescopic antenna performance is great. and you get a great kit of parts and a smart travel case. Also, I have to point out that the PL-880’s AGC (auto gain) circuit, as with many other Tecsun models, is just too fast for optimal weak-signal DX on medium wave or shortwave. Tecsun, if you’re listening, please slow it down a bit, or at least provide an AGC control… Thanks! In the video below ( which I posted earlier), you can hear what the PL-880 sounds like tuning through a CW pileup. While I would expect more from my ham radio transceiver, I’m most impressed with how well the PL-880 handles these tight conditions. Listen for yourself: With that disclaimer out of the way, I find that the PL-880 certainly holds its own on the AM broadcast band (570-1600 kHz). The PL-880 can hear every local and relatively distant AM station that my C.Crane CCRadio-SW could hear. For this type of armchair listening, the PL-880’s speaker delivers fidelity that is nearly unmatched amongst portables of similar size. It’s most impressive.I have two nits. First the leather case, while of excellent quality could be 1/2 inch larger to accommodate the portable antenna, charging line and earphones. Then the unit would make this a truly portable system. A valid product review is one where you have experience or knowledge of the product that you would like to share with others. I then tuned all of the radios to 18,135 kHz, where ZD8UW (The Cambridge University Wireless Society) Ascension Island DXpedition was handling a pile-up. You won’t hear stations calling ZD8UW, because they were working split and listening on 18,141 kHz. There is an adjacent SSB station, though, that you’ll hear on the side. Rather than explaining each hidden feature here, I have added an appendix at the bottom of this review that lists undocumented features…at least those I’ve discovered so far. I plan to list others as I–and/or Post readers–discover them. Band performance Tuning increments are in very fine 10 Hz increments with absolutely no muting between frequencies…Brilliant.
With all of its features and functions, hidden or not, I’ve found the PL-880 to be a challenging, but thoroughly enjoyable, portable to evaluate. Indeed, I’m still not done yet: I plan to take my new PL-880 traveling in the future. So, stay tuned: there’s more to come! First of all, what truly sets the PL-880 apart from any other shortwave portable currently on the market is its selection of bandwidth filters. On AM, for example, the listener can choose between the following bandwidth settings: Of course, I’ve spent the bulk of my PL-880 listening time on the shortwaves…where I find the PL-880 a pleasure to operate. hidden features (see list at review’s end), some of which have major relevance in operation, such as changing the muting threshold; Tecsun, why hide these? Unlike the CC Skywave, the CC Skywave SSB covers all the way up to 30 megahertz. It also has Upper and Lower sideband to listen to ham operators and other stations that broadcast in SSB only. The radio also covers the Aircraft Band and the NOAA Weather channels plus AM and FM. This radio is very compact but don’t let the small size fool you. It’s a great little radio with great reception. The only problems I have encountered with this radio is that when you switch on or off on the upper or lower sidebands, there is about a three second delay. Also, there is a brief no audio when scanning frequencies. Other features I wish the radio had was an antenna input. It only receives via the small antenna and the built in ferrite AM antenna. The sound quality is pretty good for the size of the radio.
Hidden features
But go ahead; listen for yourself: though this video was shot informally with an iPhone, you can still hear the difference in fidelity between the Tecsun PL-880 and the PL-660: This is a very attractive radio, with a somewhat retro, classy look. There are separate knobs for volume, tuning and fine-tuning, all of which feel solid and have the right "feel" in turning - just the right amount of resistance. I’m reading this old post as I am a new user of the PL-880. I have it as my bedside and coffee table receiver in my house up in the Indonesian jungle. Receive FM mono/stereo, medium wave, long wave, short wave, short wave single side-band signals with this portable world band radio.
Zippered Leather(ette?) slip cover provided along with long-wire SW Antenna, USB charge cable, and stereo earphones. Also included was a dual USB wall adaptor plug for charging the radio.Products to be reviewed typically should be tangible ham radio related items such as radios, antennas, towers, test equipment, feedlines, etc. Also, I discovered another hidden feature, when powered off, hold number 4 down, and you can adjust the battery level meter between 3.4 and 3.7 volts “full” reading (I believe that’s what it does). most functions are either available at the press of button–or by pressing and holding a button for three seconds You can add to or update/edit your existing review's content including the Rating and Time Owned with the Edit button on the right side of the review text body. Edits will go thru the review Approval process.
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