The 5 Best Garage Radios

Getting tired of being in the garage without any way to listen to your favorite tunes and radio shows?

With the best garage radios, you won’t ever have that problem again. We found the best garage radio to be the Ryobi P746 job site radio. It’s built tough, water-resistant, has great sound quality and has Bluetooth capabilities.

If you’re on a budget or want a simple radio, the Greadio Portable Shortwave Radio is a great choice as well.

If you want to read the reviews of the best garage radios, you can find them all below.

Let’s get into it!

Our Favorite Garage Radios

Best Garage Radio

What this radio tuner has over other models is its Bluetooth capability. When you’re on a job site, you may not want to have cables running around everywhere.

With the Bluetooth capabilities, you can listen to tunes anywhere even when you don’t have radio signal.

You can plug your phone right into this radio. Nothing is worse than having a phone with a dying battery and no way to charge it. Now, you won’t have to ever worry about keeping your phone charged as long as this radio is within your reach.

This radio also offers a built-in audio equalizer so you can change the bass or treble to what you desire. Some people like their music super bassy (like me), or prefer to hear the treble over the bass.

On top of everything, you’ll be able to listen to your favorite AM/FM stations and you have tons of presets to choose from.

Unfortunately, like the Milwaukee radio, this only takes Ryobi batteries. This can be a dealbreaker if you don’t already own Ryobi brand batteries. You can’t charge the batteries by plugging it in, unfortunately.

You can however plug it into a 110v outlet with no problem.

This garage radio has everything, AUX, bluetooth, and USB. You won’t go wrong with this option.

Also Great Garage Radio

If you’re after an FM/AM radio that will let you listen to your favorite channels without any fuss, this is the radio to do it with. You’ll have access to 12 station presets so you can easily swap between your preferred stations.

The speaker is 5 inches, so you’re going to be able to hear your favorite jams or sports broadcast without an issue.

This garage radio is PX4 waterproof rated which means that it can withstand splashes of water in any direction. When you’re in the garage, spills and condensation happen throughout the year. It’s best to get a radio that is protected from the elements for longevity.

If you want to take this radio with you outside of your garage, you can do just that. You can replace the power cable with 4 C batteries. It’ll allow you to bring the radio closer to you while you’re working in the garage as well if you’re hard on hearing.

The outside is also built to protect the radio, so you won’t need to worry about it getting knocked off a shelf. Even if it does fall off, it’ll likely be ok.

To top it all off, this radio has that classic, retro look that’ll be sure to bring you back to old memories.

If you plan on using this radio in a metal barn, you may have issues. Other purchasers mentioned that they weren’t all too impressed with the sound quality.

I think if you just want a simple radio, this is the pick for you.

Best Worksite Radio

This radio has an auxiliary port so you can plug your phone into this radio and use it as a speaker. It gives you the option if you want to switch over from Top 100 stations and listen to tunes that you don’t hear every day on the radio.

It has a placeholder for your phone on the back so it’ll be out of harm’s way.

The rubber on the side is shock-resistant to prevent damage from tumbles and keeps it watertight. This isn’t waterPROOF, but it is water-resistant and should holdup if water comes in contact with this radio.

It runs off power or if you already have Milwaukee power tools around, it takes an M18 battery. You can take this radio with you anywhere or keep it plugged in your garage.

It has 10 presets so you can enjoy all of your favorite AM/FM stations. It has big buttons on the front too and a big dial to help you get to your favorite stations with no problem.

You’ll also have two large speakers so you can enjoy whatever you’re listening to at any volume.

One thing I don’t like is this radio only takes an M18 battery (Milwaukee brand). This can add cost to this radio and you may not want to add more to the price.

This is a great garage radio that will allow you to play music from your phone or simply listen to your favorite radio stations. It’s portable as well if you have a battery.

Best Budget Garage Radio

This no-frills garage radio is perfect if you don’t need Bluetooth or aux cable features. All you’ll be able to do is listen to your favorite radio stations, but that’s not a bad thing!

The long antenna helps get radio reception even in hard-to-reach places.

You can plug this into an outlet or use 4 D cell batteries. That’s great if you want to take it with you outside of your garage and into your home. The handle makes it easy to carry.

You can also plug in headphones if you’d like to keep the noise down once you bring it inside. The 2W speaker should be big enough to hear across your garage no problem. Regardless, you can bring it close to your workstation.

It’s not water-resistant so make sure to keep it out of harm’s way.

If you don’t need fancy features, then this radio is a perfect fit for you.

Best Garage Stereo

If you want better sound quality out of your garage radio, you’re going to need better speakers like this radio provides.

This speaker system not only has a radio, AUX, USB, and SD capabilities, it has a CD player. If you have a bunch of CDs that you’d love to listen to in the garage but don’t have any way to listen to them, this will do just that.

You can hook up your phone to the radio and use it as an entertainment center. Siri also works with this radio. You’ll be able to use it as a hands-free phone as well which is a nifty feature if you’re in the garage all the time working on projects.

The Hi-Fi sound is sure to please you if you enjoy great sound quality. This garage radio comes with a remote so you can control your stereo system at any corner in your garage.

Another great feature is that this can be used as a TV soundbar, it would go great with the best garage TV.

Utilize the 12 FM/AM presets to listen to your favorite stations. It has a great 5 inch HD display so you know exactly what mode you’re operating on or the channel you’re listening to.

This garage radio isn’t portable and doesn’t take battery. If you’d like a portable option then choose from any other radio on this list. This garage radio is also susceptible to water damage since it isn’t waterproof.

This is a great all-in-one system if you’re ok with it being stationary.

What to Look for in The Best Garage Radio?

Audio quality

Not all garage radios are going to have the best audio quality. That’s why it’s important to buy from a reputable brand that stands behind its product. I love audio, and having tinny, flat sound grinds my gears.

If you’re truly after the best audio quality, then I would suggest looking into garage speakers over an FM tuner. This way, you can use an app as your radio and enjoy from killer bass, amazing treble and midrange.

Durability

Garage radios need to be able to withstand dings, drops and even spills. Rubber on the outside will help it withstand any drops it may face when moving round in your workshop.

I especially like the Sangean radio that has an outside barricade for extra protection.

Power type

Consider where and how you’ll use garage radios. Are you going to leave it in one spot, or are you going to want to keep it portable? If you are going to leave it, then corded power is enough.

If you want it to be mobile, then look into battery powered radios.

Bluetooth

When your favorite FM radio stations aren’t playing your favorite tunes, then you can opt to use Bluetooth and play your own library. That way, you won’t have to suffer through listening to an overplayed catalogue for the 1000th time.

Warranty

Warranty is important, especially for a job site radio. Look for at least a year, so that if anything goes wrong and the radio doesn’t hold up, you can get it fixed or replaced.

Final Thoughts

Being in the garage all day doesn’t need to be boring. The Ryobi P746 is a great way to finally get down to your favorite bands in the garage. I also like the KEiiD CD Player for Home as well as a good option.

If you truly want great sound quality, then it might be worth checking out the best garage speakers.