I purchased this nifty radio not for camping purposes as others wrote about, but for an added device to have in case of adverse environmental impacts such as from looming climate change consequences or possibly from increasing political unrest conflicts both from other countries and internally or just at being stranded somewhere. The first things I noticed about this radio were its color and small size. It’s green shade of color perfectly matched the portable generator I also owned and the metal storage case for selected tools to use in certain emergency situations. So, the radio fits right in with the color scheme of my emergency equipped devices! Also, the radio was significantly smaller than what I expected. This lent itself to not just sitting fixed in one place but being very portable and light weight enough to easily move around as needed. Just as you would normally have a fire extinguisher around just in case, so too having this emergency radio is a “no brainer”. I understand in an emergency, radio stations will keep broadcasting due to their generators and battery backup providing needed information, continual updates and advice to get through the emergency. So too one would need a radio just as well capable of picking up the important broadcasts during power outages. And this radio does just that and being capable of a lot more. I won’t describe all the features here, as other reviewers have done so. But I will comment on the features as I have experienced in trying out the radio. Yes, the tuned radio stations are exceptionally crystal clear! Yes, when I select for the specific government weather broadcast station in my area, it is very fine and stable. The unit draws solar power in well for recharging to operate once being properly positioned to the sun. The instructions say about five minutes of hand crank to operate the radio. In fact, I would say about just two minutes of light cranking operates the radio for some time and about four minutes is enough to sufficiently power its added light to full brightness. And the light is very bright! It is quite impressive compared to other outside lighting devices. Lights up a big wide area! Very comforting. The battery that can be charged up is 2,000 Mah is a very substantial load, considering a typical battery would be around 1,200 to 1,500 Mah. It’s quite a lot of juice for being able to charge up phones or tablets connected to its usb ports. The radio has a decent quality strap and a small compass on it, which surprisingly is accurate (when I compared it next to a profession compass) even though it is in fairly proximity to the radio itself. The whole radio unit seems substantially well built. The emergency tone alert is quite loud to alert someone of your needed assistance! As an aside, I remember seeing New Orleans become flooded without adequate assistance to those stranded for weeks and thinking I am fairly safe within NYC region. That is until Hurricane Sandy struck and there became significant power outages throughout the area, the subway tunnels were flooded, and I couldn’t get gas pumped here for about three weeks after. So actually, I really do think this radio would even make a terrific practical gift for loved ones or just anyone you care enough about If after you have one for yourself, see its potential usefulness and then in turn provide for others. It is something to give to show you really care about their well-being. Everyone is potentially vulnerable to an emergency situation. I certainly hope nothing unfortunate would occur in terms of an emergency, but this unit with all its built-in features has the potential to provide relief and comfort to those caught up during an emergency and I guess the individuals using it would afterwards be profusely thankful for having been provided with one. ‘Just sayin. P.S. The manual is fairly extensive because of all the integrated features and you should charge it up for about six hours at the beginning from out of the box. Read more
I love this radio, it's like dynamite packed into a small package. My husband and I are up in our 70's and we don't go camping or hiking anymore, but we live in an area that loses its power a lot. As a matter of fact, we just lost it for 5 hours this morning and the Weather Station works perfect to keep you up with what is happening and what is expected to happen. It has 5 ways to power up, either 3 AAA batteries, AC adapter with Micro USB Input jack, Crank power handle, Solar Power and a Li-ion rechargeable battery which can be recharged with AC adapter. You can use it to recharge your phone, which should only be used in an emergency. The radio reception is great and crystal clear. The color is a nice bright green so it is easily spotted. It has a very bright flashlight, and a reading lamp on top which is also solar charged with 2 settings. There is a compass located on a handy carrying strap so you will never get lost. For extra protection when you are camping or even stranded is has an extra loud SOS alarm with a red flashing light. I think, the only thing I might like a little better would be a longer strap to adjust to carrying on my shoulder especially if camping or hiking. All around, it is worth every dime!!! Read more
I'm a "boy scout", so want to be ready for everything. I bought this for my car in case I got stuck in a snow storm and my battery went out. And in case you're wondering what I would do for heat in the car if it dies, I have a -40°F sleeping bag, food, water LOL. This unit has a built-in 5000 mAh Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) rechargeable battery, which is a pretty large capacity for this size unit, good for emergencies when there may not be external public power. Lithium batteries are much better than alkaline or Ni-Mh batteries at retaining and distributing consistent energy/power especially in cold temps. There's also a slot for 3 standard-size AAA batteries, which are used as backup to the built-in battery (ie. the AAA's aren't used till the built-in battery's power is depleted). See note below on what type of AAA batteries to use. The internal Li-Ion battery can be charged by a built-in solar charger, or the built-in handcrank. However, it takes long time to charge via solar and *A LOT* of time cranking to generate any power. According to the manual, it takes 5 hours of cranking to get the battery from 0-30% charge, 8.5 hours for 0-50%, 14 hours for 0-80%, and 17 hours for 0-100%. This would be a last-ditch option only if solar was not an option, I didn't have any backup AAA batteries, and there was no AC power to plug into. If you choose to use the solar charger, it takes 36 hours for 0-30% charge, 60 hours for 0-50%, 96 hours for 0-80%, and 120 for 0-100%. This would be next-to last-ditch option. If you plug it into the wall, it takes just 1.8 hours for 0-30% charge, 3 hours for 0-50%, 5 hours for 0-80%, and 6 hours for 0-100%. The unit does not come with a Micro-USB cable or AC adapter. The unit has the following radio bands you can choose from: FM, AM, SW (shortwave), WB (weather band), and WX (weather alerts). It also has a flashlight (2 settings), a bright second LED light (2 settings) under the built-in solar panel, and a USB-A port to charge devices like your phone. The digital display (with backlight) and buttons make it a lot easier to use, especially for finding the right band and the WB/WX Alert station. It also has an SOS function that will flash the flashlight and blare a really loud siren. The unit is smaller than I expected but that's fine. Battery life according to the manual are the following (I haven't tested these as yet): • Power Off - 6500 hours (~271 days) • Standby - 100 hours (~4 days) • WX Alert on - 65 hours (~2.7 days) • FM/AM/SW/WB - 30 hours (~1.25 days) • Reading Lamp - 40 hours (~1.5 days) • Flashlight - 12 hours (0.5 days) FYI, if you decide to put AAA batteries in as a backup to the internal battery, use lithium batteries. They hold power much better and last longer, especially in cold temps, unlike alkaline or NiMh. Lithiums also discharge power at a consistent 1.5V till almost the very end of it's life, unlike alkaline & NiMh, which decrease their output as the power drains down. Radio reception decreases as batteries drain, so you may not get the news/weather you need, but this wouldn't be much of an issue with lithiums The flashlight/lamp would also get dimmer as the batteries drain, again, this would be much of an issue with lithiums. Since Lithium batteries drain at a consistent 1.5V, you can't check the charge of AAA (or any) lithium batteries with a regular battery tester as it will show 100%, even when the power is down to 5%. The only reason I gave this a 4/5 stars was because you have to hand-crank *A LOT* to get any juice from a 100% dead internal battery before the unit will work (there's a charge indicator). Once it's fully charged or charged enough for use, you'll need to do regular "crank maintenance" to keep the power up as you use it. Of course, the flashlight and reading LED lights + any charging of external devices like your phone will drain the battery faster, so probably don't want to use these too much unless you have a lot of backup AAA batteries (preferably lithium) on hand. In Summary, I do think this is a decent emergency radio and have kept it. My suggestion, since the hand crank and solar power options are so time intensive and thus challenging, would be to fully charge the unit by regular AC power first, then check the internal battery charge at least once a month to make sure it's ready for emergency use. You can do this by just turning it on and checking the display window's battery meter. Read more
