Teufel Radio 3Sixty

Not everything has to be portable these days. Whilst countless battery-powered speakers have passed through our test benches in recent years (from those you clip onto your jeans to those that need wheels), we mustn't forget that there are stationary products with very specific features that go beyond the traditional stereo system or home cinema receiver.

This is certainly true of radios, which are making a comeback in homes. In the living room on the sideboard, on top of the bedside table, or perhaps keeping you company in the kitchen or study, you might want to consider a multifunctional audio device that goes beyond a Bluetooth speaker in terms of functionality and presence, but is a step down in terms of portability. If you're interested in something like this, read on.

The Teufel Radio 3Sixty catches the eye with its understated design and a touch of classic style, whilst maintaining modern lines, undoubtedly intended to blend into any interior design. It's compact, sitting somewhere between a medium-sized Bluetooth speaker and what might be described as a boombox-style speaker. Its shape mimics that of some vintage radios, but on a larger scale.

The absence of a battery has allowed the German engineers to be generous with the amplifier and, in doing so, to use the entire base of the unit to conceal a subwoofer pointing towards the 'floor', which gives an almost unexpected body to the music reproduction, whilst for the mid-treble drivers, they have chosen to angle them upwards rather than forwards, with the aim of spreading the sound and bouncing it off walls and ceilings to create a 360° virtual soundstage using Dynamore technology. It's a deliberate choice which, quite frankly, works well given the unit's size; it's too narrow to properly separate a stereo image, yet still wide enough to accommodate two speakers and thus outperform any portable speaker of a similar or smaller size.

In other words, you shouldn't think of this radio as the sort you had to sit directly in front of, nor as one of those old-fashioned mini-stereo systems. At least in terms of listening position, because when it comes to audio sources, that's precisely what it does, but with modern formats. With no <a href="https://www.gamereactor.eu/pioneer-dj-plx-500-1475233/>vinyl record player</a> or cassette tapes, almost everything is digital, and the Teufel Radio 3Sixty lets you play high-quality radio via DAB+, traditional FM radio with its built-in aerial, Spotify or Amazon Music (it isn't compatible with Apple Music), or your own files via USB or Wi-Fi, not to mention an AUX input via a stereo mini-jack.

In our tests, we've dabbled in these options, focusing mainly on FM radio and Spotify, and although the device sounds surprisingly good for what it looks like at first glance, it seems a bit laggy and clunky when handling these inputs, which disrupts what should be a smoother experience.

In fact, this brings me to my main criticism of the Teufel Radio 3Sixty: the UI/UX. The initial setup is highly lacking, with sparse instructions and confusing, manual or app-based options that feel incomplete; precisely the last thing you'd expect from a "setup assistant" for a device that, on the face of it, should be so straightforward in 2026. If this happens to you and you get frustrated, we recommend switching the unit off and on again after unplugging it, as this seems to be the way to get it to accept the Wi-Fi settings, time and so on.

Although the app is in my local language (incidentally, it's called 'Teufel Remote' and not as stated in the instructions, and it won't let you swipe to control playback), the radio menus only appear in English and German, something that's hard to explain these days. The screen isn't of very high quality either and, like the user experience and interface, seems to be straight out of the previous decade and doesn't quite match the modern hardware it accompanies. Finally, it takes ages to start up, sometimes forgets the adjusted time, and we've noticed occasional audio dropouts during streaming which, whilst they could be put down to network issues, don't happen to us with our Yamaha receiver within the same ecosystem.

So, once you've decided that the concept of a stationary or fixed radio as a source of both streaming and analogue music is something that appeals to you for a specific corner of your home, you should know that the Teufel Radio 3Sixty looks stylish in any décor and that its sound surprisingly fills the room, holding up well even at high volumes. But first, we recommend you give it a go (one great thing about Teufel is that they offer up to two months' free trial) and see how you get on with its menus and responsiveness. At 300 euros with no portability, you don't want it to end up as an overpriced alarm clock, and we believe this is a clear case of top-notch hardware and design let down by outdated software.