Roberts STREAM 219 Streaming/DAB+/FM Radio

Up for some juicy factoids? According to the latest RAJAR audience data (Q1, 2026), more than three-quarters of the UK’s population listens to digital radio via DAB radios, DTV, Website/App, or Smart Speaker each week, with a quarter of us still relying on analogue FM.

The proportion specifically listening via DAB radios, however, is around 43%. To my mind, that suggests a clear opportunity for DAB radios with integrated internet radio functionality, so long as they’re easy to operate. So far, it has to be said, such exemplars have been few and far between.

Enter the new Roberts STREAM 219. As well as incorporating a FM/DAB+ tuner and internet radio, this stereo model – available in black or white – also features Bluetooth streaming, Spotify Connect, internet radio, a dedicated podcast playback feature and USB playback. There’s no kitchen sink listed on the spec sheet but, by any standard, that’s still an impressive roster of talents for just £150.

Design, setup and usability
Lift it out of the box, and you discover a full complement of knurled, rotary knobs and physical buttons, all logically lined up on the top of the angled, glossy black fascia. Or ‘God, that’s an incredible dust trap’, as I’ve informally come to refer to it over the last few weeks.

Usefully, there are separate bass and treble knobs, and it’s great to find that you can store up to 60 preset stations (20 each for DAB, Internet and FM). Although there are just five direct access physical presets on the fascia, you can assign them across any of the available sources, making getting to your faves that much easier. The actual process of storing stations on the physical presets is easy peasy; just keep the desired button pressed down for a few seconds while listening. That’s it.

In the middle of the dust trap, sorry, fascia, is a legible 2.4in colour screen, intended to help you navigate the audio source options. This is set at a nice height and angle, such that when the radio is on a bedside table, it’s easy to see what the time is when you awake from your slumber and lift your head slightly. Handily, there are also dedicated buttons on the nearest part of the fascia for the two onboard alarms, in case you decide you deserve a bit more shut-eye.

Despite the wealth of audio sources catered for, selecting what you want to listen to proves a remarkably simple task using the physical controls – I think Roberts has done a knockout job with this radio’s control system. Having said that, if they really must, smartphone die-hards can also set up and operate it using the companion Octive app (developed by Frontier Smart Technologies, the company that supplies the Venice X streaming/DAB+ module used in the Stream 219). This offers speedy, well organised access to content, though I did notice that horizontal lines of text appeared truncated in the menus of the current iOS version of the app.

Power comes via 9v mains adapter, or six AA batteries, giving between 8 and 10 hours of playback, depending on the selected volume level. Roberts is a long-time hold out against integrated Li-ion batteries, though I have to say I prefer the ‘grab and go’ convenience they bring.

Topped by a useful, wide handle, I’d say the unit’s overall build quality is no more than reasonable; while the enclosure is quite rigid, it feels undeniably lightweight and plasticky. In the flesh (or plastic), the STREAM 219 certainly doesn’t elicit the same volume of unsolicited admiring glances and murmurs of approval that, say, the brand’s more stylish Rambler Uno or Midi models do.

Performance
Sonically, this Roberts puts in an entirely competent performance, with clearly expressed dialogue and speech. Music bounces along nicely, and it knows how to hold a tune.

Having said that, I don’t think that audiophiles will be waxing lyrical about it any time soon. The main issue is that the midrange – where human voice mostly lives – feels a touch bland and flat; two-dimensional, even. Listen to the aforementioned (cheaper) Rambler Uno alongside it and the smaller model better conveys the timbre and character of spoken voice.

That niggling feeling of detachment carries through when music is being reproduced, regardless of genre. Although there’s no shortfall when it comes to volume levels – the STREAM 219 can get indecently loud – ultimately, it’s also a little compressed sounding, in a dynamic sense.

Using the bass and treble controls to adjust the tonal balance of the output certainly makes an audible difference, but it can’t fundamentally alter, or correct, that slightly ‘matter of fact’ trait. And the latter quality remains present, regardless of which audio source you opt to listen to.

On the upside, I can report that things are far happier via the headphone output, which is eminently listenable. The headphone stages of most DAB radios are usually a bit of a token gesture, but this one sings surprisingly sweetly. Plugging a pair of wired AirPods into the rear 3.5mm socket elicits a detailed, well-balanced performance, dare I say one that sounds audibly more transparent than the STREAM 219’s onboard speakers…

VERDICT
Let’s be honest, one could successfully argue that portable DAB radios aren’t really devices intended for extended critical listening. But, even when compared directly to other models from the same stable, it’s obvious the STREAM 219 doesn’t really push the envelope when it comes to sound quality. Any sins, however, are those of omission, rather than commission, so I suspect that will be an entirely acceptable compromise for many potential buyers.

What this model does do, though, is provide an object lesson in enabling fuss-free access to all the audio sources most of us use day-to-day, via a well-conceived set of physical controls. Integration is a dirty word in some less enlightened quarters these days, but the Roberts shows that it’s entirely possible to do it well.

Granted, there’s also a good app available, but one shouldn’t underestimate the sheer, unadulterated joy that comes from executing relatively complex operations on a daily basis, simply by grasping, twisting and pressing controls.

Tactility pleases the senses, and the Roberts STREAM 219, ahem, pushes those buttons rather well…