This little radio really appealed to me. It looked nifty and came in all these cool colors. It seemed to have several good features. However, none of them was any good. I have to blame myself for being so foolish as to buy anything sunpowered for use in Seattle. I figured I could always use the crank if I ran out of batteries. Wrong! I tried the crank. It was fairly stiff and awkward to use. My hand got tired after 15 minutes. For my effort, I got 5 minutes of very poor radio reception. I barely got 2-3 stations and, otherwise, pure static. I could hear the weather station faintly. To test the flashlight, I took it into a completely dark room and compared it to an ordinary 2-D battery flashlight with freshly recharged batteries. I got about 1/3 the light from this new device than I got from my regular flashlight. Needless to say, I returned the new radio.
I continue to get along well in the huge wind storms we have here, which cause severe and often long-lasting power outages. I have an inexpensive, small-size, portable radio with an adjustible antenna which gets great reception on almost all of the local AM and FM stations. I have several good flashlights. I use rechargable batteries and keep my calendar marked on the first of every month to remind myself to recharge them.
Generally the product works OK but it's hard to charge the solar battery unless there is alot of direct sunlight. I called the manufacturer and despite the owners manual indicating that an AC charger was optional...one does not exist. I've cranked the thing for 90 seconds and I do not get the @ 40 minutes of high volume usage. I would rather spend my money on another radio that works as described.
This little radio works better than I anticipated. The sound quality is good. We tried charging a cell phone and although you have to turn the crank fast and for a long time - it does work and would charge the phone. Good in case of emergencies. I would recommend this product to others.
