Customer Reviews

Black & Decker WDR5B Rechargeable Weather Radio With Flashlight & Cell Phone Charger

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I impulse-purchased the WDR5B locally at a closeout price of $24.95, based on the long-standing reputation of Black and Decker tools. What a disappointment! The radio was dead in dry cell mode. (My batteries were new, inserted properly, and all tested good.) The unit was live in hand-cranking mode, but the tuner was extremely poor. It was difficult to separate adjacent stations and some overlapped. The tuner had difficulty locking in a station. The sound quality was extremely poor relative to a similar-sized and priced radio. The cell phone charger adapter plugs did not include a usb plug. The flashlight worked. I called the Black and Decker phone number listed in the instructions - Call This Number Before Returning the Product. The wait was short, the rep was polite, and the recommendation to return the product to where it was purchased reinforced my decision to do so. I would neither purchase this product again, nor would I accept one for free. So much for impulse purchases - should have read and heeded the two earlier reviews on this site.

We've had this product for several years and have loved it. I haven't used the cell chargers, but it did come with several. Springtime in St. Louis brings frequent thunderstorms and we have definitely gotten our money's worth out of this. It is also our main flashlight and has two different settings for brightness. It has a hand-crank as an option for charging, but we have always used batteries. It doesn't seem to eat through them. It's compact size makes this a clear choice over bulkier options. We've gotten compliments on it and are buying one for my father-in-law because he admired ours.

I bought this product and am returning it. It promotes that it charges most cell phones but when I opened the packaging (required to see the 5 tips that were included) none of them was a match with the popular tip used on my Sprint cell phone. The ensuing search for the proper cell phone tip has worn me out! I couldn't reach the manufacturer (Black and Decker) for 5 days because of their EST hours. The product manual inside the package directed me to contact my cell phone company (Sprint) - no luck! They sent me to Radio Schack - no luck. Then I reached the manufacturer and they sent me to Best Buy - no luck. This has been a huge waste of time and I hold Black & Decker responsible. The proper cell phone tip should be available through the company and if not, the enclosed tips should have been pictured on the packaging.

This item did not work right out of the package. Followed the instructions, cranked to charge internal battery but got nothing - no flashlight, radio, nothing. Returned it today and will look for something that works. Expected better from Black and Decker.

This radio is the best. Radio and flash light perfect for emergencies, although we hope that we never need it. I recommend it.

this is an item that was requested as a gift. It came in a timely fashion but until it's opened on Christmas day......

The Vector Weather Alert Radio-Flashlight does not work. The radio does not play, the flashlight does not come on....nothing works! I clicked a one star rateing but it is really ZERO!

Works great and the hand crank works well too. Have not tried the cell phone charger. Batteries don't last all that long on standby, but work well in regular mode.

Everything worked on this unit - except none of the cell phone tips matched. Everything else was great! Great light from the flashlight, and stations came in clear most from very far away with very minimal cranking. I was unable to find a cell phone tip that worked. This feature would have been useful, but mostly purchased for a hand crank radio for emergencies - the good working flashlight is a bonus.