I bought this radio thinking it would do as performed. Unfortunately, it didn't. The flashlight worked. But the volume didn't. I had to have the radio directly against my ear in order to hear anything. In an emergency, I wouldn't be able to hear anything. I returned it hoping that maybe I got a faulty one and I'll try it again. I hope the next one works as it's supposed to.
Haven't been able to use it on the boat, which is the main reason we bought it. Tested it all out though, seems to work great. We spend a lot of time on our pontoon, overnight frequently. It get's a little difficult to keep everything charged and fresh batteries at all times. This seems perfect for a backup.
Looks like this will be a good emergency radio with solar, battery & hand crank power options. Catalog description is a little misleading regarding ability to charge cell phones. Although there is a cell phone "port", it fails to mention that you need to purchase a separate USB connector (not included) that costs nearly as much as the radio.
We purchased 6 Emergency radios - 4 for our adult children ,one for my sister-in-law and one for ourselves. Unfortuneately the one we received the radio would " short-out " but a phone call to LL Bean and a replacement was sent and the defective unit returned in the same packaging at no cost. But,the story continues,I filled the on-line order with our son's PO Box # and the Post Office did not deliver - no problem,LLBean is shipping one to his home address AT NO EXTRA CHARGE.What a great company to deal with......Jim
