Philips TAR1609 vs TAR1659: is there any difference?

The short answer: on paper, the same radio

Philips’ UK website lists both models as a “Portable radio with torch”, with the same description: an FM/AM radio with a torch, an SOS alarm, a built-in lithium battery charged by USB-C, a solar panel, a hand crank, room for three AAA cells and a USB-A socket for topping up a phone. The English user manuals for the two models match in every specification we compared, from the battery to the weight.

Philips’ European declaration of conformity also covers both: one document lists the TAR1609 and TAR1659 model variants together under a single product description, “FM/AM Radio”. We haven’t used either set; this is a reading of Philips’ own documents. Our Philips TAR1609 review has the full write-up, and it applies to the TAR1659 as far as Philips’ paperwork shows.

So why two model numbers?

Philips doesn’t say. The paperwork shows two small differences: the TAR1659 manual’s cover carries an Amazon product number next to the Philips support address, which the TAR1609 manual doesn’t, and its box list adds a travel case. Model numbers made for a particular shop are common with electronics, and that is the most likely reading here, but it is our inference, not something Philips states.

Where it is sold matters more than the number. When we checked Amazon UK on 4 October 2026, the TAR1659 listing was sent from and sold by Amazon EU through the Amazon Global Store, which carries Amazon’s own warning that EU products may differ from UK products. The TAR1609 listing we checked the same day was sold by a third-party seller and carried a similar cross-border notice. The TAR1609 is the model we track, and its live UK price is in the box above. Whichever listing you look at, check who sells it, where it ships from and the returns terms before you buy.

What you get with either

The figures in the table are Philips’ own and they are modest and believable. The lithium battery and three AAA cells together give well over a day of listening before the hand crank is needed, and the manual says to use solar charging and the crank only in an emergency. The 0.5A USB-A socket keeps a phone alive rather than filling it, so a charged power bank is still the better plan for phones.

What neither has: DAB, presets, a headphone socket or a water rating. If any of those matter, Philips’ bigger TAR3500 adds digital tuning with presets, a headphone socket, IP55 and a 1A phone socket; see Philips TAR1609 vs TAR3500. Every set we track is on emergency radios compared.

Which to buy

Buy whichever is sold by a seller you trust and delivered from the UK; on Philips’ published specifications there is nothing to choose between the radios themselves. Then note the frequencies of the stations you use for news, as Be Ready suggests, and keep spare AAA cells with the radio. Our guide to which radio works in a power cut explains why FM is the band to rely on.