The vintage style of the View Quest Hepburn radio and speaker is sure to please most people that set eyes upon it, but its not all about the aesthetics. The Hepburn is at heart a DAB radio, with the added functionality of USB charging as well as being able to steam audio to the speaker via Bluetooth. The radio won’t be for everyone however especially with a £149.99 price tag attached to it.

The radio/speaker combo comes in black, blue, brown, cream, yellow, red and teal so you can colour coordinate with wherever you are going to place the Hepburn. All of the colour options are quite bold but fit in perfectly with the retro style.

The front of the radio is covered with a metal mesh grille which is surrounded on all edges by fake leather in the colour of your choice. This faux leather covering continues around the sides as well as completely covering the back. Once you get up close and personal with Hepburn you really can tell that the leather is fake and the quality just isn’t up to scratch with what you would expect for over £100.

In terms of size is measures 18cm x 31cm x 9cm (Height x Width x Depth), meaning its not exactly small. This being said there is a folding metal handle which connects at the sides which helps with moving it around the house. Once placed on a shelf or similar space however the Hepburn looks absolutely stunning.

Another drawback we found with the radio is that it requires four D batteries if you wish to keep the unit portable. If on the other hand you will be keeping the unit in a permanent spot which happens to be located near to a plug socket then you’ll be able to hook it up to mains power, rather than relying on the batteries. It was rather disappointing to see no rechargeable battery included.

All buttons and dials are located on the top of the speaker, along with a small LCD screen. The two dials are for adjusting the volume and tuning the radio. There are also 12 buttons which include power, source changer, pairing, menu, alarm, snooze, EQ, information, presets and your usual array play and skip buttons. The LCD screen sits right in the middle and will display different information depending on the source.

Setting up the radio is incredibly easy. Simply plug it in, press the power button and the radio will then being to scan for DAB radio stations. If you find that the radio isn’t picking up and stations then you can simply extend the aerial found on the back of the device.

Inside the Hepburn there are two 58mm full-range drivers, that overall provide a really nice and crisp sound. We found that the bass was overpowering, even when the EQ settings were adjusted, although this definitely helped to some degree to balance things out. Once you start to increase volume to the maximum, distortion of the audio can be heard quite clearly, although at maximum volume the speakers really pack a punch and very rarely will you have to adjust the volume to this level.

You may want to take into account that the speakers are only forward facing so when positioning ensure that you face them towards where you want the audio to beam.

Verdict

Anyone with a love for vintage and/or retro style products then the View Quest Hepburn is an ideal product for you. If you’re an audiophile who settles for nothing less than the very best sound quality then the Hepburn will not be your go to radio. If however you’re looking for a product that offers DAB radio and Bluetooth streaming capabilities for your other smart devices that’ll sit in the kitchen, bedroom etc. then the Hepburn is well worth a look.

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