American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red)

I bought 3 of these for my household just in case of the frequent power failures we have experienced. They were such a hit that I had to order more for my married children.

First thing that should be mentioned is that this full-featured emergency radio is amazingly small. Reading its approximate dimensions of 5" wide x 2-3/8" high x 1-13/16" deep can be misleading, so imagine it placed on its side on top of a dollar bill: it's actually smaller than US paper currency, and that's just one of the things that make this small radio so appealing!

You can charge the FR150 in less than two minutes using its hand crank. You can also place it in sunlight (even on an overcast day, as I found out) and its built-in solar panel handily powers the radio and recharges its battery pack.

The radio's tuner pulls in both AM and FM stations, and with surprisingly clear reception. It receives all seven NOAA bands using a separate slide selector, so you can monitor changing weather conditions, along with tuning in to the FCC and EAS public alert systems.

It has a flashlight with three LEDs on the its side, providing surprisingly bright illumination, and for comparison it's about on the same level as my Garrity Power Lite 3 LED Crank Light. This is also brighter than some of the predecessors from Eton.

If you're looking for audio attributes on the level of Bose, JBL or Polk Audio speakers, this radio isn't for you... but the sound quality of this small radio is quite remarkable. Listened to a favorite "smooth jazz" station for awhile, switched to classical then to '80s rock, and was quite pleased all around.

A number of places list this radio as having the option of an optional AC adapter, but couldn't find anything definitive on this, so made email contact with Eton's Customer Support. Received a reply within hours, where they stated that at this time, they do not have AC adapters available for the FR150 Microlink or the FR500 Solarlink, but are expecting these items to be available in about 60 days. The support rep suggested:

1. Charge by using the USB port on the computer (this requires a cable that converts USB to mini-USB, available at your local electronics retailer). I did this with the same USB cable used for my digital camera.

2. Solar power: leave the FR150 Microlink in direct sunlight for about 6 hours.

3. Use the Dynamo Hand Crank of the side of your radio (crank time: 2 minutes = radio play time: 20-30 minutes).

Should also note that there is a registration card with the instructions inside the box, and you can mail the card in for a free cell phone adapter tip. I found it faster to do the same thing online with Eton.

This is one of those products that is reasonable enough to want to have more than one for household and family emergencies. And speaking of emergencies, there's a simple but straightforward American Red Cross disaster preparedness tips booklet that's well worth the read.

Must admit to liking Eton's emergency radio products. Part of this is due to happy prior ownership of a Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator, which has proven itself. Should also say that this little radio, which is smaller and more practical than I originally thought, has quickly become a favorite. It's about 60% of the size of its predecessor, and small enough to fit in a jacket pocket for those outdoor excursions. It's also available in white if you prefer:
American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (White)

This one's a 5-star choice, without a doubt.

UPDATE: Already received the free cell phone adapter tip from Eton, just days after registering the ARC FR150 Microlink. Plugged the tip into the cord that came with the phone, then plugged the phone in and started cranking... and the phone indicated that it's being charged as I crank!

It's always a good thing to have emergency use devices for those "you never know" when it's going to happen days. In this case, it can be weather related, or a simple power outage affecting your city, town, or even isolated to just your street. The FR-150 unit has the ability to operate a typical AM/FM plus NOAA radio. The NOAA radio is what really makes this unit shine as you can find 24 hour weather information on these channels and in emergencies, NOAA is used to announce public safety information. The hand crank power or solar panel recharger works great, as in a tight spot you may find dead batteries in a regular radio, or simply run out of battery juice after extended use. No such issue here! It's this "always available" functionality that I love. The built-in flashlight is a little on the weak side, but that's typical for LED types. Headphone jack makes this unit even better -- you can plug it into headphones or a line-in jack of a computer or external speaker. Built in speaker, however, is plenty loud and clear enough -- rather surprising for its size! Unit is built solid enough such that it can take the bruising of operating outdoors, but also strong enough to just be tossed into the closet when you don't need it. At an affordable price, I cannot say how much of an investment in your safety can be made by having one of these.

I don't know what radio the other reviewers got, but they certainly couldn't have gotten the same model as I did. What a super disappointment...especially since this radio is supposed to be for emergencies (...see my comments near the bottom of this review). Sure, when it came fully charged from the factory it played (out-of-the-box) 13 hours. BUT, this was probably a charge via 'AC', which, unfortunately, you won't be able to have for a while since there is no AC adapter yet available for this radio. But when it fully dis-charged, and I cranked it for the 90 seconds recommended, I got a whole 20 minutes of 'play time'. (By the way, one of their support guys told me NOT to go much over 90 seconds of cranking, 'or else'...whatever that means.) And, according to that same Microlink tech support person, you'd better be in DIRECT sunlight if you expect it to 'fully charge' in about 5-6 hours...and, according to that same tech support person, going over 6 hours in direct sunlight won't add to the play time, which, according to that same tech support person, is about 2 hours. He also warned me AGAINST 'charging it up' via the sun, and then 'cranking' to try and charge it more. So it seems that a high level of play time is only available via the, as yet unavailable, AC adapter. I was going to try and charge it via the USB port, but according to the manual, you have to leave your computer on for 8 hours! So I didn't even bother. This is supposed to be a radio for emergencies. During most emergencies...which generally means no electricity in your house...who would have 8 hours of computer battery time to charge it up? And even if you charged it up prior to (let's say) a typical "weather emergency", what would you do after the radio plays and then discharges on 'day one' of the emergency? During weather emergencies, it's usually pouring rain for SEVERAL days, so, you're unlikely to get direct, daily sunlight that, if available, could give you a whole 2 hours of play time. If your only other option is the crank, that means you'll get only about 20 minutes of play time from this radio. If this radio accepted batteries, it might have given you an additional, viable, power option during weather emergencies.

Solidly built, good ergodynamics. Little green light shows when solar panel is charging battery, and this occurs even in lower sunlight levels. Weather band radio works well, tuning light for am/fm helps find stations. Battery life appears good.
Only complaint is incomplete instructions for using cellphone charging function. It comes with a short cord with 2 plugs, one which plugs into radio and the other is supposed to plug into cellphone???, but the plug doesn't fit either of our cellphones, and I haven't been able to find an intermediate adapter.