Customer Reviews

Etón American Red Cross ARCFR360R Solarlink Self-Powered Digital AM/FM/NOAA Radio with Solar Power, Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The features of this radio made it sound like it would be a good thing to have handy in case of an emergency, particularly the ability to recharge a cell phone from it. But I was very disappointed to learn that this radio was made so poorly, and so many things were wrong with it that I'm having to send it back for a refund. The backlight for the display did not work. The alert button would not operate. I could run it on crank power but the button to switch to battery power would not operate. I could get AM stations only (not even static on FM or shortwave) and it would not stay on a single station for long. The instructions were minimal. The overall design is poor. It's made of cheap plastic and everything feels like it might break if you bumped it. I won't be buying another one of these, that's for sure.

If you're of my generation you remember the old transistor radios with the antenna you'd have to tweak "just so" to get your station. Well this thing makes that look like rocket science. Even close FM stations fade in and out- more so when you personally move away from the unit making tuning a joke. Plain crummy sound when you do get anything. The rechargeable batteries barely hold a charge for a week when not being used, and I'm fairly sure (although they never said it) that the system only charges a cell phone (one of the big reasons I bought it) when you're turning the crank. It doesn't seem to charge through the solar cell. The tuners are crummy, buttons hard to see and use and it is very easy to deplete the 3-AAA "real" batteries by unknowingly leaving the unit on somehow.... but it's a cute little thing.

I don't know what may have been wrong with the other reviewers products, but this radio works great and I couldn't be happier with its construction or what is designed to do. I made sure the rechargeable batteries were plugged in before I ran the hand crank and I have been listening to it while I have been typing this review. Works great and I can't wait to use it for camping and for my emergency preparedness kit.

I bought this about 6 months ago and i really like it. Some people apparently expect this radio to work miracles. I mainly bought the radio as something to take with me when i'm fishing. I thought initially some of the knobs seemed sort of cheap, but they get clanked around in my fishing bag and i don't see them breaking. The crank knob seems a little cheap and the rivets on it hurt your fingers after cranking for a while. You get about 15 minutes of decent volumed radio for 1 minute of straight cranking(and you can listen while you crank).

The battery life isn't super long but we're talking three AAAs here, so you shouldn't really be expecting much.

A decent sunshine will charge the battery or play the radio at a decent volume. The more sunshine, the more power.

Other reviews whined about reception. Well, i was fishing in a storm 4 1/2 hours away from my local AM station and that station came in crystal clear, it was unbelievable. Although the distance was due to the storm, that shows you the distance this radio is capable of. I have had absolutely no tuning problems, especially with AM which is what i normally listen to.

I can't speak to HDMI, cell phone charger, or audio in jack; but i like everything else on the radio. My only major gripe is that they should charge you 5 extra bucks and give you an adapter instead of forcing you to order it. Idealy, i'd like to have batteries for back up and be able to charge my radio in the wall for recreational use. I also don't think the digital screen is necessary, which is why the Eton FR300 might be better. Even with that said, for my 50 bucks i have been pretty happy with the product so far.

I am sorry that I didnt read the reviews before I bought this piece of junk. This thing goes through batteries so fast that I cant keep up with it. I've had better service with a $10 transistor radio. If you like to crank your arm off then buy one. In case of an emergency they'll find your body with your hand wrapped around the crank handle because you probably used up your batteries in about 1 hour.

I loved it after I had it for 2 days. But the buttons worked weird. Then the solar stopped working. But the hand crank still worked. Now the hand crank doesn't charge it either. Maybe it's a battery issue? But on the whole I'm disappointed. Loved the idea, loved it while it worked. I never did try the cell phone charger, as the instructions said to maintain a steady rate of turning the hand crank or damage to the cell phone could occur. So now it's on its way to the electronic disposal site.

The only way the solar cell can charge the battery is with the radio outside in sunlight, not on a window sill. But the radio isn't built for leaving it outside in the rain and weather, so the battery won't stay charged. There are no presets for radio stations, and it's tiring to dial manually to get to your favorite station.
Using the crank to charge the battery sorta works, for a while. After about 60 seconds, your arm gives up. If you do succeed in charging the battery, the radio will eat up whatever charge you have in the rechargable battery (or the 3 AAA drycell batteries) in much less than an hour of use.
Just about any cheap radio on the market will work better and more reliably for emergency use, and cost much, much less. If nothing else, you can always use your car radio for emergency information.
I'm surprised the american red cross would put their name on this piece of junk. Having this radio around will give you a false sense of security if you think it'll work when you need it.

This radio worked ok for me but my iPhone 4 didn't like it for charging. I got a message that this product isn't supported for charging on my iPhone.

I wouldn't by this again. The sound is bad, it hardly takes a charge even from the sun. Looks great on my shelf though.

My radio went bad returned 2 months ago and still has not been ship back and calls not returned.Still waiting