Wind up DAB Radio

Good points:- Picks up all the local DAB, DAB+ & FM stations around me.- Sound quality is reasonable given the small speaker size.- Headphone output sounds like it is Stereo, but no indication on screen what stations are in Stereo.- Easy enough to tune. Need to hold a button before you access or store a pre-set but that's easy enough when you get used to it. LED lights & LED torch are also reasonable.- Battery life is brilliant. Ran for over 20 hours with DAB radio at 25% volume.- The battery is easily replaced as well, being a common 21700 lithium cell, so plus points for long term repairability.- Charges on micro USB connector. Not the quickest at charging but fine for the use case it has.Tested the 3xAAA battery backup by pulling the main lithium cell and it automatically went on to use the AAA batteries, so this radio will always work as long as you have AAA cells to hand. Shame the battery cover for the lithium cell is held in place with a small tri-wing screw rather than a simple 000 pozi screw.Not quite so good:Tried the crank and it seems to be charging the lithium battery but very slowly. It'll get the radio going in an emergency. It's not like Trevor Baylis's original Baygen/Freeplay wind up radio (using a clockwork mainspring) which would run for about 50 mins on 60 turns of the handle.The solar panel on this radio is very much a token gesture and might help keep the battery in condition to prevent natural discharge over time, but it'll need to be in cloudless direct sunlight for days to stand any chance of charging the battery to any real extent.No obvious way to select Mono on a weak Stereo FM signal to reduce hiss and no indication within DAB if a station is Mono or Stereo.5V USB output drops to 3.5V when using the radio in DAB Mode. I'd suggest switching the radio off if you need to use the USB output to charge a phone in an emergency. With radio completely off (not in standby) it'll supply 4.94v @ 0.51A (tested with a USB power monitor) so it is capable of slowly charging a phone.The top set of LED lights you might use to read a book with, does have a slight flicker when the radio is on in time with the music. Could probably do with a bigger capacitor inside that supplies power to the LEDs to mitigate that flicker when the radio is on. Might think of doing that mod myself if there's any spare space inside the case.The biggest gripe with the radio, the red siren button! It's too easy to accidentally press it. Could have been better hidden as a slider switch under the rubber charging cover perhaps? Siren isn't that loud but still makes you jump if you accidentally press the button. The tiny flashing red LED is very much a token gesture.Suggestion to the manufacturer! Can you make a similar radio to this, but also include MW, LW & SW bands and with a bigger solar panel & better hand crank? The UK still has a few MW (AM) stations, BBC Radio 4 is still on 198kHz Long Wave (for now) and if there really was a disaster, you would want Short Wave coverage too in the one radio. Whilst I have another radio for SW, having it in this form factor would have been ideal.Overall, happy with purchase.

Such a brilliant little radio! So compact but great sound and features. We use it in the garden so it powers through Solar but will be taking it on holiday too. Love it

Ever since my Roberts solar DAB radio gave up the ghost I have been looking for another suitable one to get. Finally after several years, this one appeared. Yippee!!Quick summary of features - DAB (duh!), FM, a torch, a reading light (why?), a solar panel, USB charging connector for charging the radio, a USB port so you can charge other devices, an internal battery to power the device, a battery slot to insert 3 AAA, a wind-up handle to give you a wrist work-out and charge the radio and finally it comes with a ludicrous strap for carrying (which I have rapidly ditched - it just gets in the way of the solar panel and the device is small enough to hold in a hand anyway.Phew! That is a lot yes?Having had the device for a few weeks now, I can confidently state that I won't use all of the options - the reading light springs to mind - very much a case of "we could do this, OK, lets do it" at the ideas workshop.The key thing I imagine that you are asking - how long does the charge last?Well, I ran an archery session for the whole day - it was sunny - and the radio was on (quite loud) and the radio lasted the whole day without a problem, leaving plenty of charge available at the end of the day. The instructions do say that it doesn't charge through a window. I beg to differ - oh yes it does! Of course, volume plays a significant impact in how long the battery lasts, but I haven't had to plug it into an electric socket for the three weeks it has been used - and the battery is still half-full (according to the little battery icon).Be warned though - the buttons for operation are not the most intuitive, especially the favourite save option. And that is probably the only negative on the device as a whole.The on-off button forces you to cycle though DAB, FM before going into Standby which is a bit irritating (Post-note : if you hold the power button for a few seconds, it then turns off - just found that out!).Build quality feels pretty good, I just worry with all those features if something is going to go wrong, but it is a good size and fits well into my admittedly large hand for porting around.The solar panel you can angle and I think that will really help maximise your charging capability.In summary, this a great little solar charging DAB/FM radio - even more so for the price, with loads of extra features; some of which you may even use!

Really pleased with this purchase; I read most of the reviews, and they convinced me that this was worth buying. Compact and lightweight (but not flimsy). Good instructions and I found it easy to set up the DAB radio. Very impressed with the functionality, two super bright torches and an emergency alarm, plus a variety of ways to charge. My radio arrived fully charged, so I have not yet investigated the wind up or solar options. Radio sound quality is not bad either.

Lots of functions- light. Reading light. Good radio reception and sound quality. Shame about the solar panel which is a joke, despite been in full sun seems to add nothing to the battery so device needs plugging in every couple of days.

It just arrived. As per usual, I didn't read instructions just pressed a few buttons which resulted in terrified neighbours arriving at the door after I'd hit the SOS button.Yes, it arrives fully charged.The torch is bright, but be careful not to turn on the reading light as you may not see it when it's folded flat and therefore kill the charge by not turning it off.So then I pressed a few more buttons, and got it to scan for stations (it found over 70 with no issues), then it blasted out Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away and the sound is incredible for such a small piece of kit.Very impressed especially for that price. I've paid way more for a Bluetooth speaker that doesn't do anything else.