Day Soda #18: The naked truth about the SoundDec DualTone radio

Welcome back to Day Soda, the only newsletter dedicated to reviewing branded one-time-use radios from major sporting events. Also on the grill this week: hot dogs.

The only review of the SoundDec DualTone clip-on radio (AFAIK)

Earlier this month, I sent out a Night Water about the joy of replacing television sports commentary with its radio counterpart. But did you know? You can also listen to sports radio out in the world, even at the sporting events themselves!

SoundDec is a company dedicated to making small radios that clip onto your ear just for this purpose. I’ve come across them twice, once at the U.S. Open last summer and then at Wimbledon just a few weeks ago. Both times, they were a brand activation from American Express and reserved for cardholders. Luckily, I’m an American Express stan (they call us “Amexies”), and was able to procure a radio both times.

The radios at the US Open were simple and useless outside the grounds. But the SoundDec DualTone radio used at Wimbledon is designed to have a new lease on life once you head home on the Underground. These radios have specific frequencies programmed into them to pick up the hyperlocal commentary broadcasts, but with the press of a few buttons, it unlocks a full FM tuner.

Unfortunately, due to the radio’s diminutive size and lack of a proper antenna, the tuner in this thing is ridiculously weak. It’s also very easy to cause interference by simply adjusting the device on your ear or changing the volume.

At an event like Wimbledon, you are presumably so close to the broadcast tower that commentary comes in loud and clear despite the weak tuner. That wasn’t the case, though—both my radio and my wife’s could only pick up the main Wimbledon Radio channel and not the specific channels for either Centre Court or No.1 Court—bizarre, since we could literally see the radio commentators from our seats in Centre Court. It probably would’ve been easier to read their lips than pick up their broadcast.

Troubles continued out in the real world. Even in a big city like London, where radio signals are readily available, this little fella struggles to pick up anything consistently enough to play without frequent static.

And while the design makes total sense for a sports context—you don’t want a pair of headphones that will isolate you from the sounds out on the court or field—it’s impractical in the real world, requiring frequent adjustment. Plus, this thing runs on a small coin battery that provides just twenty hours of listening time before you have to pry the cover off and replace it.

Instead of picking up a SoundDec radio, I should’ve just brought my own radio to Wimbledon and tuned into the limited event frequency, which can be found on the Ofcom website. I’d suggest you do the same at similar events with radio commentary. And if you do pick up on these radios at a live sporting event in the near future, just remember to return it back to the booth when you’re done instead of shoving it in your bag and forgetting about it until it’s time to write an email newsletter.