Not impressed. I bought this about a year ago. Today, I opened the box up and was able to get the radio to work for about 15 minutes before it went dead. I figured the batteries were not charged, so I cranked it up and it worked for a few more minutes and then pooped out. By now I figured that the batteries needed a good charge so I plugged in the usb charging cable and allowed the unit to charge 3 hours. After charging the radio refused to work. Ok, now I think, the rechargeable battery is kaput, so in I put 3 AAA batteries (you can't fault Eton for their options). You would figure as a last ditch effort, the AAA's would do the job, but still nothing.

Ok, so now it's time to call Eton.....YUK! Perhaps they have 1 1/2 people working the customer service lines because, the trusting sole that I am, I left my phone number when I was promised a call back later. Well, it's much later and no call, no answers and no working radio. Call me crazy, but if this the "best rated emergency crank radio" I'm in big trouble if there is ever a disaster. If anyone really works at Eton, please call me.

Works well and is as clear as is to be expected. Crank isn't too stiff, but provides enough resistance to be comfortable to turn. The presets for weather channels are very convenient. My only gripe is that it can be confusing to figure out what settings it needs to be on for the different power options (USB charging, crank, AAA battery). Eventually I think I figured out that the dynamo mode allows it to use it's internal rechargeable battery, so you need it for USB and crank charging, but the other setting is for AAA use, but even now I'm not 100% sure about that. Clarification on that would be helpful. It is built strong, and I'm not worried about dropping it and it breaking. It seems like even the solar part is very solid too, so even dropping it on that part would be fine I'd imagine.

Last point of note, having it mute until an alert is sent out is wonderful, but it goes off for EVERY alert. If I were to redesign it I would want settings for what alerts to turn on for. That may not be possible though depending on how it detects them now (presumably it recognizes the tone they play for an alert?), and it is a minor inconvenience.

This gets a 4 star because it does all it promises at a halfway decent price. That said I cannot say I'm thrilled with it. Design is somewhat kitschy. Volume control and tuning knob are buried beneath the side bars presumably to protect from breakage but are somewhat difficult to operate with bare hands and extremely challenging to operate with gloved hands.
LCD screen is easy to read, but somewhat cryptic. Since the manual is nearly certain to be separated from the device in an emergency I suggest you download it to your cellphone.
Cellphone charge cord is provided and doubles as AC power cord but there is no place to store it on or in the device. I used a twist-tie to attach it to the provided wrist cord. Check to make sure it will work with your phone. It is not compatible with my Droid Turbo.
Flashlight on/off button is WAY too easy to turn on by accident,
I have not tested the solar charger. Manual says 10 hours to full charge by that method.
The tiny slide switch for band selection appears very fragile and does not always agree with LCD display. I set it for FM and the display says AM, yet plays FM band when radio is turned on(and display changes toFM).
Oddly, the soft touch controls on top beneath top handle duplicate the frequency tuning function knob function. They also provide power source selection and alarm setup, as well as weather alert toggle.
I suggest you download and read manual before purchase.

This guy is what everyone should have. This is an excellent radio for a good price. The amount of emergency features on this radio alone is worth it. Power via AAA Batteries, Hand Crank and Solar, if you somehow are not able to power this radio then you are doing it wrong. Full NOAA spectrum of stations, as well as full AM/FM reception, ability to charge your cell phone, and flash light makes this unit indespensible.

Volume and sound from the unit is great, clearly herd all of the major stations in my area on both AM and FM. the NOAA station in my area (NYC area) came in loud and clear. Tested charging my phone as well, and it took a while but charged it about 40% from 1% (The little battery is not going to charge your heavy duty phone batteries from 0-100% 37 times here, but 1% to 40% is great for emergency calling - if you want battery backups for your phone there are better options. This is an emergency radio, remember that). Radio seems durable, hard plastic and well thought out construction. Flashlight is ok - not the brightest but gets the basic job done of lighting the area in front of it.

Solar Charging does best in direct sun for several hours. Not the fastest, but it works. All in all, a great emergency radio that every home should have laying around. Hope it never has to be used in an emergency, but a good peace of mind knowing that it is there, always ready to go.

I bought this for a long camping trip. Our cellphones don't get the best service and we would be traveling during tornado season. And what do you know one of the first nights camping there was serve weather and our cellphones couldn't even place a call. We were lucky we had the radio and could listen and go for cover.
It's funny you buy these things to in case with not real intention to use them, and we used it two days in to our trip!