WIRED tossed five brutish builder’s radios from a cherry picker to find out which ones are site-worth and which are ready for the skip.
Watch our test and see which radio came out on top below.
The Hitachi's spring-mounted cage is visually reassuring, but in practice is rather puny compared to the Bosch: its components creak when grabbed. Despite the cheap plastic casing - which, predictably, shattered at the first sign of rubble - the radio was robust. Bluetooth, USB, AUX-in, DAB and FM/MW complete a decent feature list, but the sound and build quality are better suited to the site office than where the action is. 6/10 £132
Spec: 5.5-19hr battery life; IPX4 water resistance
Compatible with many slide and cluster batteries, this is a flexible choice that also charges via mains power. Its rugged, compact design was a hit with tester Steve Timperly - who was "gutted" when it smashed at the ten-metre-drop mark. Despite his insistence it could be Gaffer-taped back together, its fragile casing was a disappointment. Audio is unrefined, but loud enough for a busy site. 6/10 £109
Spec: 7.2 - 18V battery compatibility; AUX-in; 4.5-17hr battery life
Designed to stack with other DeWalt ToughSystem cases, this hefty IP54- (dust- and splash-proof) rated boom box features FM/DAB and Bluetooth, plus a scaffold-shaking down-firing subwoofer. Audio is big but balanced, and it still played after a 20m drop, but operation was hindered by the smashed LCD screen. 8/10 £189
Spec: Built-in 5V/1A USB charging; Compatible with 12V and 20V DeWalt MAX batteries (10hrs)
Besides the IP54-rated FM/MW radio, this spring-mounted unit packs in two 230V standard plug sockets, a battery charger, 12V socket, USB, SD card slot and an iPhone 5-sized cavity with audio connections.
Clear 360° sound filled WIRED's workshop, despite the background noise. After the 20-metre drop, externally, you could barely tell it had been thrown seven times. Sadly, the internal electronics failed the last test. 8/10 £260
Spec: Takes 14.4 and 18V Li-ion batteries; Drop-rated to 3m
Festool is known for its high-quality woodworking tools, so WIRED didn't expect much from its palm-sized, 700g BR10. How wrong we were. The lack of DAB will put some off, but the 10W neodymium speaker sounded great. And, despite the battery popping off during the drop test, the radio bounced imperviously off the rubble way beyond our 20m limit. 9/10 £130
**Spec:**Compatible with 10.8-18V Festool batteries; IPX3 splash-proof
****: WIRED got access to the cavernous Millennium Mills in London's Royal Docks, where work has started on the £3.5bn redevelopment by The Silvertown Partnership.
****: Armed with a hydraulic cherry picker and site managers Paul Fawcett and Steve Timperly, WIRED dropped each radio on to rubble at one-, two-, three-, four- and five-metre intervals.
****: If the radio still worked after five drops, the height was increased to ten and 20 metres. Sound quality was rated in office and workshop conditions.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
