FiiO RR13 Portable FM Radio with Built-In Speaker
OverviewA pocket radio that only works through headphones leaves out the option of just setting it down and letting a room hear it, which is part of what made old-school radios so easy to live with.The FiiO RR13 is a pocket-sized FM radio that adds a built-in speaker to FiiO's retro radio format, alongside a customized FiiO "DDB" amplifier chip and a Silicon Labs Si4831 tuner covering two FM band ranges (87-108MHz and 76-90MHz). A signal-strength indicator light helps with manual tuning, and a three-position BASS switch adds either a bass boost or a bass-plus-3D-surround effect on top of the base sound.An external telescopic antenna improves reception over the built-in antenna alone, and a replaceable 10440-format lithium battery means the cell itself can be swapped rather than replacing the whole unit when it eventually wears down. Battery life reaches up to 18 hours in headphone amp mode, up to 7 hours for radio through headphones, or up to 4 hours running the built-in speaker.Simcoe Audio Video InsightThe external telescopic antenna is worth keeping extended and oriented when reception gets marginal — it plugs into its own dedicated 3.5mm jack separate from the headphone output, so it stays available even while headphones are connected. The user-replaceable 10440 battery is also a genuine practical advantage over most compact radios, which tend to require the whole device be serviced once the internal cell degrades.More InfoWhy the FiiO RR13 Stands Out Built-In Speaker Plays out loud through its own speaker in addition to headphone output, without needing headphones connected to hear it. External Telescopic Antenna A dedicated antenna jack, separate from the headphone output, improves FM reception over relying on the built-in antenna alone. User-Replaceable Battery Uses a standard 10440-format lithium cell that can be swapped out directly, rather than requiring the whole unit to be serviced once the battery wears down. Up to 18 Hours in Amp Mode Battery life reaches up to 18 hours as a headphone amplifier, or up to 7 hours with the FM tuner running through headphones. Three-Position BASS Switch Switch between no bass effect, a bass boost, or a bass-plus-3D-surround mode without opening a menu. Buyer's GuideWho It's For The Tabletop Radio Listener: wants to set a radio down and listen out loud through a built-in speaker, not just through headphones. The Long-Term Owner: values a user-replaceable battery over a sealed cell that ages out with the whole device. The Fringe-Reception Listener: lives somewhere FM signal is inconsistent and wants a dedicated external antenna jack. How It ComparesThe RR13 steps up from the RR11 by adding a built-in speaker and a user-replaceable 10440 battery, features the RR11 doesn't have. The RR11 stays smaller and headphone-only, with a sealed 300mAh battery and USB-C DAC mode; the RR13 trades some of that compactness for the ability to listen without headphones and to swap the battery directly.