Grace DigitalMondo Elite Classic Smart Internet Radio Bluetooth Wi-Fi Qi-Wireless Fast Charger 7-Day Alarm – Microphone-Free (Walnut)

This is my fourth Grace radio, starting many years ago with their first model. This one has much to recommend it over the predecessors.1. It is heaver. This is important for me as the radio is on my bedside table. With all the previous radios if I would lean over from the bed to press a preset or the power button, often the whole radio would slide on the table and make it necessary I use a hand to hold the radio steady. This may seem to be a minor point but it is important on the basis of daily use and convenience.2. It is more attractive with the wood appearance instead of plastic. Also the buttons are now easier to read because of the contrast of black on light tan instead of the prior gray on black. These improvements make the radio much more functional and easy to use.3. The Mondo Elite models now integrate Pandora, as the earliest models did. The previous model, the Mondo+, allows casting Pandora to the radio from a smartphone or other source but the absence of an integrated Pandora is not user-friendly. Grace indicated it was a major effort to add Pandora to the Mondo Elite due to complex coding. I asked tech support if they were going to add Pandora to the Mondo+ models but they did not reply to this question.4. The sound quality is rich but has too much bass for my 69-year-old ears. I adjusted the sound with the equalizer which helped some. Still I prefer the sound of the plastic models. Again, this is probably due to hearing loss or changes that occur when one ages.5. The interface is very much like previous Grace radios, especially the Mondo+. Grace has added functionality in many small ways. I especially like how easy it is now to quickly adjust the sleep time with the large button on top.6. The wireless charger is a bonus. It was not a determining factor in my decision to purchase the radio but since it is present I do use it.7. I like the opportunity to set separate alarms for each day of the week, plus weekend and weekdays. Previously one could just set them for weekends and weekdays. One option that I use is to set overlapping alarms. If I want to get up at 7:00am to my local NPR station, say, I set an alarm for 6:50 for a new age channel at soft volume. I also set an alarm at 7:00 at normal volume. Then I awake gently.All in all, this is the best Grace radio I have owned.

My unit matches the current images that don't have external antennas in the rear I see on other reivews. But the internal antenna seems quite sufficient (my wifi signal is strong). I use in the kitchen, so I cannot comment on the alarm features.The unit boots up very quick and connects pretty quick to a radio station if that is what you were last listening to. This was important to me as I just want to flip the radio on and immediately hear music, like old school over the air radios. I do occasionally listen to an app on the phone over bluetooth, which doesn't take too long to select/connect.I've got no problem with the speaker quality for the size. Sure it would be nice being a little wider with 2 internal speakers for stereo. But what really degrades the sound is dependent on the selected radio station. I don't know if it's bitrate or something else, but some stations don't sound as good as others or are low volume. Stations with strong/clean signals sound fine for me as I don't expect extreme high fidelity in a unit this size at this price point.The navigation is okay - not too hard but could use improvement. Getting to presets 1-5 is very easy, 6-10 is a 2-button affair on the unit or direct from the remote. Presets over 11 are a bit cumbersome to get to. I wouldn't even bother researching/saving stations off of the unit itself. Use the Grace portal via a browser for that. I usually research radio stations of interest through google searches, and find that most of them broadcast over the internet and can be selected by this unit. The remote works fine but feels cheap compared to the unit.Overall I'm very happy with the unit. I think it's main feature is as a stand-alone internet radio. If all I wanted was to listen to apps from my phone, many external speaker devices serve that purpose. The great thing is the variety of music stations available. I discover many bands that I don't normally encounter through Pandora/Spotify/Youtube suggestions.

Update: had it for a couple of years now. Love it! Especially visiting radio stations around the world. Still wish it had a separate AM/FM tuner without an internet connection. Outstanding machine. Changing my rating to 5stars.Shout out to California's Pala Indian REZ RADIO. It's the closest thing to pirate radio, if you get the reference.Radio is pretty good for the deep price Amazon is asking. Cons first, thenSOUND: It puts out a decent sound, enough to fill a small kitchen or room--- careful not to crank up the volume too high though!RADIO: I was disappointed to learn that internet and internet alone accesses the radio. This severely limits its versatility. This is yet another device that is only useful with an internet service. I thought that surely the company would have a simple built AM/FM receiver built in. *Especially considering the high price of the device.DISPLAY: I put this radio on a tall kitchen counter. The display turns out to be pretty good, it could be angled up slightly. Nice and bright, with an option to dim it to nothing. Very nice.POWER CONSUMPTION: The unit is always in, even when off it silently siphons power that hits your pocket. To its credit, the company does include a deep sleep mode, but it takes quite a bit of time to wake up from it. Give us a switch!LOOKS: It is a gorgeous looking machine.SOFTWARE: User friendly! The coders who worked on this are top of the line.