Best media player streaming internet radio

Many internet radios have built-in touchscreens with interfaces similar to a smartphone. Touchscreen controls have the smallest learning curve, but much like smartphones, the experience can be marred by bad apps. Touchscreens are ideal for those who prize simplicity. Many of the less-flashy internet radio models feature a small LCD screen that can be operated with buttons and knobs.

While LCD screens can be a little more clunky to work with, internet radios that use them are much more affordable than their touchscreen cousins. Internet radios with LCD screens are ideal for people who like to leave on a certain station, but they can frustrate people who like to change the station frequently.

Internet radios are more versatile than their name lets on — most, but not all, models can play audio in several different formats. Consider both common and rare music formats, including the following. Some satellite radio devices have WiFi and can be easily confused with internet radios, so read product labels carefully. Believe it or not, some internet radios include compact disc players. The most common connectivity options on internet radios are the following. Many internet radios also feature Bluetooth connectivity, so you can stream music directly from your phone.

Despite reports of their imminent death, headphone jacks and the 3. Similar to a 3. Wired connections are more stable, reduce buffering, and create a faster, more stable experience overall. If you need a long list of additional features like an FM tuner, support for high-resolution audio formats, or a built-in CD player , expect to be on the high end of the range.

If you want every feature there is, expect to pay top dollar. A poorly designed remote control can sour your experience with an internet radio, so pay special attention to what comes with each internet radio. Pick your music subscription services before you buy. Keep a list of your requirements of both the services like Pandora, Spotify, or Google Music and the individual stations like your favorite IHeartRadio channel , and limit your search to radios that meet those needs.

Sort of. If you already own a portable satellite radio receiver, look for an internet radio with an auxiliary 3. More than likely, yes. While some internet radios include built-in FM radio antennas, most terrestrial broadcast stations also broadcast their signal online.

Most internet radios can be connected to, or accessed by, an existing stereo. You can connect them together with a 3. Best Internet Radios Updated December BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.

We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. Read more. We test every media streamer in a basic system with only a TV, as well as in a complete home theater system with a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

We test all of them over Wi-Fi, though some support Ethernet as well. The Google Chromecast with Google TV is the best media streaming device because it supports a lot of streaming services and presents your choices in a more modern, unified interface that lets you find what you want quickly.

Unlike with previous Chromecast models, which relied on your phone for control, Google finally has included a handheld remote with voice control via Google Assistant; the remote also allows you to control power, volume, and input selection on your TV.

The Chromecast supports every major streaming service. The best feature of this updated platform is how it gathers together, in a modern interface, all the content you watch. You can select a recently watched show and go straight to the next episode, for example, or pick up where you left off in a movie more quickly than you can with other streaming devices.

The menu also offers recommendations pulled from across all the different services, instead of limiting the recommendations to a single service. When you select a show or movie, the Google TV menu also gives you a lot of information about the title, including the Rotten Tomatoes rating, cast info, different sources you can stream it from, and related content. You can rate a show to improve your recommendations or add it to your watchlist so you can come back to it later.

Since this functionality works across all the different streaming services, it delivers a more consistent experience. Searching for content with the Chromecast works great. With this new Chromecast, Google finally decided to include a remote control—and a nice one, at that. A microphone allows for voice search, and the remote can control your TV, as well, offering the power and volume controls that most competing remotes have but also an input control so you can switch to the correct input for the Chromecast without needing the TV remote.

I have multiple streaming devices hooked up to my main TV, representing every major platform, and I keep coming back to the Chromecast with Google TV because the interface makes it so much easier to find what I want to watch and offers superior recommendations.

You also have no way to completely ignore a certain service. Streaming sticks from Amazon and Roku typically can run on the USB outlets on a TV, saving you from needing to connect them to a nearby power outlet and making them more convenient travel companions. Some owners have complained that the amount of storage in the Chromecast is rather limited compared with the capacity of some other players; eventually you might have to redownload less-used apps.

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a great choice if you want the widest selection of services presented in a simple, albeit somewhat dated, user interface. The inclusion of AirPlay 2 makes it a good choice for streaming music and movies from Mac and iOS devices.

Roku still has a larger selection of content than anyone else—including most of the major video and music services—and it continues to grow.

The company had an extended dispute with Google that resulted in the removal of the YouTube TV app for a long time the dispute was finally settled in December The fact that such conflicts seem to be occurring more often than they used to makes us less confident in Roku going forward. For cable and satellite customers, Roku has apps from Xfinity and other providers that Google TV currently lacks. The apps can take the place of a cable or satellite box.

You can customize the menu to place your favorite apps first. The search function on Roku does a good job of finding shows across the different platforms, but it lacks the rich context and related-content information that Google TV offers, so it feels far more limited.

However, the remote lacks a headphone jack, so you have to use the Roku app for iOS or Android to play your content.

However, this arrangement requires you to keep the Mac or iOS device streaming the whole time and can sometimes be a heavy drain on the battery. The Voice Remote Pro has a built-in rechargeable battery though it uses Micro-USB and not USB-C , a microphone that can be always-on or push-to-talk, two buttons you can program to be custom shortcuts, a remote finder, and a private listening mode with a headphone jack.

Wirecutter takes security and privacy issues seriously and investigates, as much as possible, how the companies whose products we recommend deal with customer data. We reached out to the companies that produce our top picks and asked them to provide information that we think is of primary concern for any potential buyer. Google: We collect information about activity in our services, which can be used to tailor and recommend content on the home screen. This can be viewed in the privacy policy.

The user is able to visit their Google Account at any time to manage activity information used for content recommendations.

Google: None of this data is sold outside of Google. In select instances, we share limited user data with third-party apps to optimize the user experience—for example, to enable seamless login across devices. In these instances, a user must consent to sharing their information as part of the onboarding process, and they have the option to change their preferences and opt out at any time. Only the data required to enable the product experience is shared.

A user can also choose to link their Google Account to Movies Anywhere for access to purchased and rented content from other platforms. All the radio stations are arranged in a alphabetical manner as per country and genre.

For using this freeware you need to select any radio station of your choice and listen to your favorite songs. Online TV Player is a free internet radio and tv player. It streams live interet radio from radio stations around the world.

It is compatible with Real video player and Windows media player. GOM Audio is a free internet radio player. It streams live internet radio from various radio stations around the world. For using this software first you need to launch this application on your PC and after that select the desired option from the main interface of this freeware for listening to a radio station. Nexus Radio is a free internet radio player.

When you first start this application it asks you to create a user account first. It streams live radio from radio stations around the world. It arranges the radio stations according to genre and country. For listening internet radio you have to select the genre of your choice and after that select the title of the radio station which you want to listen.

Windows media player is a free internet radio player as well as a media player. It streams live audio from various popular radio stations. It offers various types of genres as per your interest and taste. To listen to music just select the desired genre and desired radio station and enjoy the live internet radio streaming. Radiotochki Plus is a free internet radio player. It offers you various radio stations for you to choose.

For using this freeware you need to click on the name of the radio station which you want to stream. It provides you radio station of various famous genre such as classical music, retro music, rock music, hip-hop, pop, radio for children, news and music.

TapinRadio is a free internet radio player. For using this freeware you need to select the desired genre and from there just select the title of the radio station which you want to listen. RadioMaximus is a free internet radio player. It streams live audio from various famous internet radio stations around the world. You can also record the audio by using this freeware. For using this freeware you need to select your favorite genre and from there select your favorite internet radio station and enjoy live internet radio streaming.

AtomicPlayer is a free internet radio player. It gives you access to various internet radio stations from around the world. This freeware also plays your choosen music tracks.

It lets you stream live internet radio from various radio stations arranged genre wise and country wise. For using this freeware you need to select your favorite genre and your choice of radio station from the list displayed on the main interface of this freeware. QuuxPlayer is a free internet radio player. It gives you access to numerous radio stations from across the globe. It arranges radio stations according to genre and country. For using this freeware first you need to select the desired genre and after that select the desired radio station from the list given on the main interface of this freeware.

It gives you access to various internet radio stations from all over the world. It streams live internet radio from the internet radio stations. For running this freeware you require Real player and Windows media player in your PC. Jobee is a free internet radio player.