First, you have to decide what you want to hear. If it is weak signals, then I have to agree with Uncle John. You need to have a decent antenna (wire one is fine) in a reasonable low electronic noise location. One can have the finest receiver, but, if the antenna is not good or the local noise levels are high, then you will not receive much only the strongest signals.
I have used portables (Eton E1, or Tecsun PL-880 or XHData D808). I have a 50 foot length end fed wire antenna with 9:1 matching transformer (AKA UNUN). I have found the E1 and PL-880 work Okay, but the D808 overloads badly. In the D808 case, I can use it with a 15 foot wire attached to whip. It works fine for most shortwave broadcasting stations and will get some weak stations when the propagation gods are kind.
My usual receiver is an AirSpy HF + Discovery software defined receiver. It was not the easiest to set up and get operating well. But, once that I got familiar with its operation and solved an interference problem, the AirSpy is one of the better receivers that I have owned. It works well with my 50 foot wire antenna.
I would recommend looking at some the shortwave YouTube channels. I did know the "Official SWL" channel does a lot of reviews. The gentleman also lives in an urban environment with high noise. You may get some good ideas. I hope this is help.