The all new RIDGID GEN5X Mini Bluetooth Radio not only sounds great, but is extremely portable (R84086B)

All new RIDGID GEN5X Mini Bluetooth Radio Model# R84086B

I’m the kind of guy that needs to jam out bit while I work. I don’t care if it’s in the garage, cutting grass or in the office, I need my music. The only problem is, I don’t always feel like dragging a larger radio around with me, and headphones attached to the cell phone are not always allowed in the work place for safety reasons. The new RIDGID GEN5X Mini Bluetooth Radio solves those problems.

I have a few different full size RIDGID radios that I use constantly, but I was looking for something smaller just because I hate lugging the larger radio around. Many of the other Bluetooth radios that I tried just did not sound good to me, so that’s why I was a bit skeptical when I first seen this new Mini.

Out of the box, I could tell right away that it was built well. It looked exactly like the larger GEN5X Bluetooth Radio, only much, much smaller. One other major difference was that this did not have a plug. Yes you hear me correctly. The RIDGID Bluetooth Mini can only be powered by batteries. I actually like this feature as I only use battery power for my other radios as well. 

The first thing I wanted to see was how easy the radio was to use. The face has you basic on/off, volume, clock, preset and mode button. It also has a Bluetooth button that you can press which will automatically hook it up to your phone. This allows you play your favorite music rich from you cell, and if you have an mp3 player, it even comes with an AUX cable and port. 

Now, if you are an AM/FM listener like myself, you can set up to ten (10 preset channels) simply my pressing a button. The channels all came in very clear and the antenna folds down and is stored on the back side of the radio when not in use. I was also amazed with how well the radio sounded, and how loud it actually was considering it only has one speaker. The bass and treble can both be adjusted as well, so your music sounds really good coming out of this little guy. 

As mentioned, the RIDGID Mini only runs on batteries, but it will take any RIDGID 18v battery of any size. It doesn’t matter if it is a 2Ah or 6Ah; they all work the same in this radio. The other cool thing about the Mini is it will also charge your phone battery as it comes with a USP port. It will not charge as fast as a wall outlet would, but will keep pace to a car/truck charger.

As for durability, it’s a tough little unit. It’s built the same as the larger RIDGID radios, and will stand up to just about any job-site. It’s also loud enough to hear on any site, so no worries about not having enough power to get down while working. It also works with the RIDGID radio app, so everything is accessible from your phone (volume, bass, and presets).  

All in all, we are very impressed with the new RIDGID Mini Bluetooth Radio. It’s extremely portable, very easy to use. The sound quality was impressive when set at the loudest range (30), and it’s built very well. All in all, this will be a great addition to any worksite.