Tecsun PL-880
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| Frequency | LW: 100-519 kHz, MW: 520-1710 kHz (10 kHz steps) / 522-1620 kHz (9 kHz steps), SW: 1711-29999 kHz, FM: 64-108 MHz (region-configurable: 64/76/87/87.5 MHz start) |
| Bands | LW, MW, SW (general coverage), FM (stereo via earphones) |
| Power | Receiver only — no transmitter. Speaker: 40mm, 4 ohm, 3W (Class AB amplifier) |
| Modes | AM (with 4 selectable bandwidth filters), SSB (USB/LSB individual reception, 5 selectable bandwidth filters, 10 Hz fine tuning via a dedicated knob; a hidden, mediocre synchronous mode exists via long-press SSB), FM (stereo via earphones, mono via speaker) |
| Weight | 520 g (18.3 oz) - 520g without battery per Tecsun official. ~570g with 18650 battery installed. |
| Connector | 3.5mm FM/SW external antenna jack. Built-in telescopic whip (FM/SW) and ferrite bar (MW/LW). |
| Year | 2013 |
| antenna | 3.5mm FM/SW external antenna jack |
| headphone | 3.5mm stereo earphone jack |
| line out | 3.5mm line-out jack |
| usb charge | USB-C on current production (since ~2024); mini-USB (5V) on earlier units |
| power req | Removable 18650 Li-ion 3.7V battery (included; ~2600 mAh on current units, 2000 mAh on early ones). Built-in charging via USB-C on current production (mini-USB on earlier units), 5V. Current: FM <30 mA, MW/LW <70 mA, SW/SSB <75 mA. |
Tecsun's long-running mid-range portable shortwave receiver. Triple-conversion DSP with 4 AM and 5 SSB bandwidth filters gives good selectivity. 10 Hz SSB fine tuning allows precise signal clarification. 3050 memories across 25 pages. An antenna gain switch (Local/Normal/DX) prevents overload from strong signals. The 18650 battery is user-replaceable, and current draw is low (FM <30 mA) for long battery life. A Class AB amplifier and 40 mm speaker give good audio for a portable. A line-out jack supports recording. It is compact and well built, with a long-wire antenna, case, and earphones included.
No air band (the Sangean ATS-909X2 has it). Its synchronous detector is a hidden, undocumented mode with mediocre audio - not a real feature like the H-501's. A single speaker, mono only (FM stereo via earphones). The interface is non-intuitive and leans on hidden button combinations, and SSB tuning takes practice. The 3.5 mm antenna jack limits external-antenna options. No Bluetooth and no microSD playback (the H-501 has both). On fading SSB the DSP AGC can pump unless you disable soft-muting via the hidden menu.
A long-running mid-range portable receiver. The PL-880 has been Tecsun's mid-range model since 2014 and remains good value. It lacks the H-501's sync detection, Bluetooth, dual speakers, and MicroSD playback, but costs notably less and weighs about half as much. For shortwave listeners who want solid performance in a truly portable package, it is a sensible choice.
The Tecsun PL-880 has been one of the most popular enthusiast shortwave portables since it appeared in late 2013, and it is still in production. It covers longwave, the AM band, shortwave to 30 MHz and FM, with full single-sideband reception - and, unusually for a portable, a dedicated fine-tuning knob beside the main tuning knob, so you can zero-beat an SSB signal in 10 Hz steps without the muting that plagues cheaper radios.
Inside is a Silicon Labs DSP chip in a triple-conversion design, which gives it a generous set of selectable filters - four bandwidths on AM and five on SSB - and genuinely good audio from its 40 mm speaker, long considered a high point in its class. It runs from a single removable 18650 lithium cell that charges in the radio; early units used a mini-USB jack, while current production has switched to USB-C.
The PL-880 is famous for its "hidden" features - functions Tecsun never put in the manual that you reach with particular button presses. Holding a number key lets you disable the soft-muting that otherwise chops up weak SSB, change the FM de-emphasis, set the line-out level, calibrate the SSB zero-beat, or read the firmware version, and there is even an undocumented synchronous-detection mode reached by long-pressing the SSB button, though its audio is mediocre. A whole enthusiast culture grew up cataloguing them.
It has no air band, and its sync detector is an afterthought rather than a feature, but at its price it remains a benchmark. Tecsun's larger H-501 adds dual speakers, Bluetooth and a proper sync, and the Sangean ATS-909X2 adds air band and RDS, but both cost considerably more and the H-501 weighs roughly twice as much. For solid SSB performance and excellent audio in a truly pocketable radio, the PL-880 is hard to beat.