Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Logitech lopped a few features off the Squeezebox Boom, added several others—including a beautiful 2.4-inch display—and whacked $100 off the price tag to come up with the Squeezebox Radio, a phenomenal value among audio-streaming devices. The Boom sounds a little better than the Radio (especially when you’re comparing the speakers built into each box), but that advantage largely disappears when you use outboard speakers. And the Radio’s display adds a host of features the Boom can’t match. The Squeezebox Radio has just one ¾-inch tweeter and one 3.0-inch long-throw woofer on the left side of the cabinet, which reduces its width by about one-third compared to the Squeezebox Boom. The integrated amplifier and speakers are merely adequate for background music: If you want more oomph, you can plug a set of powered speakers into the Radio’s 1/8-inch headphone jack (or connect it to your hi-fi system). The display, a large push-button wheel, and a host of buttons take up the right side of the box. The display defaults to showing the artist’s name, track and album title, and album art; alternatively, you can program it to play slideshows using photos associated with your online Flickr account (either while it’s streaming music or when it’s otherwise idle).