Reception quality is good. Filtering out low freqs for the speakers doesn't hurt much on the usual FM radio program. No, you don't need a degree to operate. Either it works, or it works not. If it doesn't work, you can try switching off Bluetooth before activating the radio, or wait for an update. There is currently an issue with Bluetooth that is being worked on. Don't get frightened by our tech talk. The FM radio is safe for users, hence it's in the extras-repository and on http://maemo.nokia.com/maemo-select