Roberts Revival Rest Clock Radio Review

The Roberts Revival Rest is a new clock radio from Britain's most iconic audio brand. In the past, Roberts have developed separate ranges for their clock radios, like the Zen Plus. The Rest is something a little different- as the name suggests, it takes its cues from their classic Revival range. Is it any good? We put it to the test in another of our in-depth reviews.

Related: Top 10 Best Bedside DAB Radio Alarm Clocks

Design

Roberts have been producing radios for almost a century now, and their distinctive design has been a big part of why they've lasted so long. While they've made many different models over the years, they're still best-known for their signature Revival range. As you may have already guessed, the Revival Rest draws on this heritage, but with a few key tweaks to turn it into a bedside radio.

On the standard Revival radio, the front panel would be taken up by a speaker grille. Obviously, having the screen on the top wouldn't be particularly convenient for a clock radio. So, Roberts have rather cleverly adapted that front panel into a screen that still preserves the classic Revival silhouette. The clock display is nice and large, so it's still easy to read even if you haven't got your glasses on. There's also a smaller additional row below this- when switched off, the radio will display the date, but when playing the radio or Bluetooth, this gives additional information about what's playing.

All of the controls are on the top of the radio, including two dials: one for volume and one for changing stations. This is something we always like to see in radios as it makes them extra-easy to use. There's also something pleasingly tactile about using these instead of monotonously pressing buttons to control the radio.

The Revival Rest is available in two colours: black and duck egg. While it would have been nice to have as many colours to choose from as the rest of the Revival range, the duck egg makes a nice change from the plain colours you tend to get with clock radios. Overall, the build quality is very high, doing the Roberts name proud.

Sound performance

We've almost always been impressed with the sound performance of Roberts' products, and we're pleased to say the Revival Rest continues that commitment to excellence. Many clock radios can sacrifice on sound quality to keep things compact enough to fit on a bedside table. However, being roughly the same size as the Revival Petite (which we also rated highly) means Roberts already had the blueprint of a great-sounding compact radio to work with.

We should maybe note here that, since the front of the Rest is taken up by the screen, the speaker actually projects sound out of the back of the radio. However, we didn't find that this negatively impacted on the performance at all.

Features

As you'd expect from a modern clock radio, the Revival Rest has both DAB and FM modes. Having a DAB receiver means that it automatically sets the time itself, so you don't need to worry about setting it manually. It also means that when the clocks change, the Rest does too- so your alarm will still go off at the right time!

DAB radio gives you much more choice than FM, but with so many stations available, it can be a bit of a pain flicking through them all to get to the ones you regularly listen to. For that reason, the Revival Rest allows you to save station presets to make things a little easier. Up to 10 stations can be saved on each mode (DAB and FM), which are then put in a separate menu that's easier to navigate. Unfortunately there aren't any one-touch presets here, but we still found this feature very useful.

As well as being a radio, the Revival Rest also comes with built-in Bluetooth connectivity, so you can also use it as a speaker to listen to your own choice of music. As with all Bluetooth speakers, this feature is really simple to use, and serves to make the Rest that much more versatile.

With such a prominent screen, you might be concerned that the display will keep you up at night. Well, not to worry- with just the tap of a button on the top, you can dim the screen to your personal preference, or set it to "auto" so that it dims itself when you switch the light off. You can even switch off the display completely if you like.

The Revival Rest also comes with twin alarms, which are set independently via two different buttons. This means you can have one for weekdays and one for weekends, to give you a bit more of a lie-in.

Roberts Revival Rest: The Verdict

With the Revival Rest, Roberts have finally cracked how to make a clock radio that still stays true to everything that makes the brand special. While the price point is fairly high for a bedside radio, this is so much more than a bog-standard alarm clock. Think of it as a little piece of luxury to start and end every day- as well as those times where you fancy a lazy day in bed!