Sangean MMR-88 AM/FM/Weather+Alert Emergency Radio. Solar/Hand Crank/USB/Flashlight, Siren, Smartphone Charger yellow

This a nice small radio. It works well and sounds better than you would expect from the size of it. The crank will charge a dead battery to operate the radio quite a few minutes with just a couple minutes cranking. The solar charger works but no where near as fast as the crank and it needs a lot of direct sunlight outside. Not the dash of a hot car left in the parking lot. That is too much. The radio will only take the supplied rechargeable battery, no off the shelf alkaline AA or AAA or whatever will work. There is no AC recharge option supplied but they do supply a USB 2.0 Mini-B 5 Pin to USB 2.0 Type A cable. You cannot use a regular USB type A to type A cable. The USB Type A port on the radio is only used to charge a cell phone or other USB device from the radio it that device and not to charge the radio itself. That way you can crank charge or use the radio's battery in order to charge a cell phone in an emergency. The charging port for the radio battery is the mini-B USB 5 pin only. If the charge light, lights up you know you have it connected properly. You can easily obtain, or more likely already have a cell phone AC adapter that the USB regular Type A connector can plug into. Any AC or USB port that the supplied cable can plug into is fine. Reception is ok but weather channel (FM) and FM seem to be a bit weak. AM I am not sure of as I have not tested it yet. Then again this is an emergency radio and it is sufficient for that. Switching between weather alert mode and regular operation can be a bit confusing if you do not use this all the time. Setting the presets and using them is somewhat the same. All and all I really like this small radio, it is great for what it is designed to do and the price. Two hints: (Yes these are my pet peeves. Lol) 1. This should be common knowledge but I find that too many people don't get it. The metal extendable antenna is only used for FM and the weather channels, which by the way are also FM. The AM radio antenna is inside the radio and "tuned" by physically turning the radio itself. This is true for almost all AM/FM radios. 2. AM radio is very, very susceptible to any electrical impulse interference, like computers and pretty much anything electronic. Move the radio away from these things in order for it to work well. 3. Please do not collapse the extendable antenna from its weakest point which is the top. Grab the first bottom extended section and push each section at a time into the very bottom section, this will prevent you from joining those with the bent and broken antennas.

First off, this radio has great reception on all bands, AM, FM and Weather. All local AM stations with reasonably strong signals come in great during the day and many of the big wattage stations within 700 or 800 miles come in at night. FM and Weather stations also come in without issue, helped by a good sized telescopic antenna. The sound is pretty good, but the small speaker works best for news, talk & sports broadcasts. The crank handle seems more substantial than other emergency radios that I've had and the solar panel keeps the relatively small LiOn battery charged when placed on a windowsill. About that battery... I don't disagree with other reviewers that a larger 18650 battery would be better than the included 18350, but the solar panel could take a few days to fully charge a battery that size, whereas the 18350 can solar charge in a day. In addition to the hand crank and the solar panel, this radio can be charged, and played, via an AC outlet by using a standard phone charger with a micro USB cable. This charging option also allows the use of external power banks that many people use as emergency back up for their smart phones. Anker and EasyAcc make several highly rated power banks. A CR123 would also work in a pinch, but the solar panel would have to be covered to prevent the radio from trying to charge the CR123, which could cause damage. As you can see, a lot of charging options in case of a power outage or emergency. For emergencies, there is a weather alert setting, but it has to be activated to work. The flashlight is functional, with a strobe setting to draw attention, if needed. There is also a USB out port which will allow for smart phone charging (but perhaps just a partial charge). All in all, a great little radio that you will enjoy while listening to the news or a ballgame, but which will also be very useful in an emergency.

Sangean MMR-88 It’s hard to give a proper review of electronics. Like 99.999% of you, I paid for the item outright. It wasn’t given to me to review. A proper review would allow me to compare it to other Mfg's products in the same price range (a proper Review). If Sangean or any other Mfg’r wants me to do a proper review, contact me, and send your item! Given these limitations, here are my brief thoughts on some of the features of the Sangean MMR-88: DURABILITY – I’ve dropped it 3x on a hardwood floor from about 4’. No damage to the case, nor any damage to the item itself. The case and rubber coated sides have taken a licking and keep on ticking. SOUND – I’m a professional musician. I like the sound very much. Both external speaker and with headphones/earbuds. It’s a stereo unit for those who use earbuds. Digital tuning helps to lock in local stations. Sound quality over extended listening is not unpleasurable. AM/FM RECEPTION - So far, so good. Picks up all the stations I like to listen to. I live in Los Angeles. To tune in to some stations (KFI-640 for instance) it's easier for me to simply turn the radio a few degrees rather than use the telescoping antenna. Bonus: in FM mode, if the radio gets a strong signal, that signal will be rcvd in stereo. With earbuds, you'll get a nice stereo spread. BATTERY LIFE – Pleasantly surprised to know that – on a full charge – you can get over 24 hours of listening time (using earbuds). I’ve left the radio on for over 24 hours with no discernible distortion. I *have* purchased a couple after-market batteries for it, this way I’m “covered” in case of an emergency. HAND CRANK – My first Sangean MMR-88 crank quickly died on me! I had the unit replaced under warranty. The replacement units crank works fine. Cranking is a vigorous/strenuous exercise that I suppose under severe emergency is nice to have. But, cranking this thing for 1-2 minutes caused me to break a sweat and go into deep breathing to regain my senses. Hence, I bought extra batteries. DESIGN – I give it high marks. The water resistant hinged cover (to protect USB connections and headphone jack) are a smart idea. Front panel design is intuitively laid out. I can work the radio in the dark having memorized the button layout. Now, if the entire panel were backlit that would be even better. The flashlight is bright and has 4 options (high beam, low beam, pulsing emergency flash & SOS code flash). Electronic connections on the right side: -1/8” audio out for earbuds/headphones/powered speaker), -USB Out (to charge a Smartphone) and -USB IN (to charge the Radio via Computer or other USB source) The yellow plastic housing feels like high-grade, high-impact material. I'd say this radio is built-to-last. Just make sure to test the hand crank right away to make sure there are no defects. As stated, my first MMR-88 crank broke on me. Its replacement has been working fine. OVERALL IMPRESSION – I’m happy with it. It was worth the extra dough. It’s built-well, feels good in the hand and its audio quality is noteworthy. This is NOT some cheaply made Chinese radio. Sangean has a reputation to live up to. I think they made a winner!

For an emergency radio it seems pretty hard to beat. It seems very solidly built and is simple and pretty strait forward, seems to have very good reception. Sound quality is better than expected, it's not amazing and it doesn't get that loud but it's an emergency radio, reception seems very good, the antenna seems like it could be flimsy, but that's any metal extendable antenna. I do wish the antenna snapped solidly in place on the radio, it just kind of sits there, if it got jostled around I could see the antenna rotating away from the unit and getting damaged. Flashlight is more than enough to move around in the dark. I haven't done much hand cranking with it, but it does seem sturdy, but with extended long term the plastic knob on the end of the handle is a bit suspect. It's smaller than I thought it would be from the pictures, but not too small. A couple things, at least with my unit the included 18350 rechargeable battery was horrible, I'm going to run it through a couple cycles and see if it recovers but it was completely dead out of the box. I fully charged it, turned on the WX alert and in less than two days it was dead and that was with getting solar charging during the day on a table by the patio. I tried a 16340 AW rechargeable battery I know is good and it can go almost a week in WX mode with no solar help. One nice thing is that the much more common CR123/16340 batteries are a bit smaller but are the same voltage and fit in the radio fine so you can use a more common primary non-rechargeable battery with it. That being said for an emergency radio I'd much rather have seen it use 2 AA's. I do believe with a quality rechargeable battery, and if it's kept in a place it can frequent sun it will probably maintain power for a long time in WX alert mode even though that's not really it's purpose. One thing that would be nice is since the display stays on anyway when in WX alert mode would be to indicate the battery charge. When the radio is on it shows this, it's already powering the display when in WX alert mode to show it's in alert mode I doubt it would take up much power to indicate the battery status as well.

All of these emergency radios seem to be overpriced IMO, but given what is out there in this price range, this seems to be an excellent radio in terms of quality and functionality. The radio has a rugged feel with the black rubber end caps. The crank handle seems solid and the flashlight functionality is very good. The radio sound is decent for what it is, but I'm not really using it to listen to music. I haven't used the solar panel for charging, but instead have used the included Micro USB to USB to charge the battery by plugging it into a powered USB socket on my wall surge protector. I've also charged it by plugging the USB into my laptop when my laptop AC adapter is plugged in and powered. Speaking of the included, rechargeable Li-Ion battery, this seems to be the one recurring complaint. The ICR18350 battery that comes with the radio has worked fine, but I haven't tested its limits to see how long it will last before needing to be recharged. However, as mentioned in other reviews, Sangean uses an uncommon battery size that can be difficult to find. I wanted to get a couple of extra batteries and had to do some searching online to find any. I was able to find Efest brand 18350 900mah protected batteries at Battery Junction. However, for whatever reason, they are a few mm longer than the battery that was included with the radio. Subsequently, I had to really work to squeeze these in. It is a super tight fit, but they do fit (barely). Aside from the battery conundrum, this is otherwise an excellent radio and I'm pleased with the purchase.

I'm not going to repeat the details that have already been covered extensively in several other reviews. The bottom line up front is that this is a great little radio. I researched about three dozen of these kind of portable emergency radios and this is the best out there for under $100. Now if you want shortwave bands, multiple speakers, and various other complexities, you will find some great outdoor survival radios for $150-$200. But for a compact, rugged unit with the basics: AM, FM, and Weather Bands - this is the one. Plus, you've got solar charging, hand crank, battery, and AC or USB to micro USB input all as options to keep this little unit going. I originally got this as part of my in the home emergency preparedness set up but realized later that it's a great radio to take along while camping or hiking. Don't expect to be blown away with "boom box" sound but for something so small, the single speaker is decent. The digital tuner works nicely and the unit does a good job picking up signals. Note that this radio does not come with an AC adapter. However, the included instructions provide the specs and you can find an AC to USB that fits the need (male USB at the adapter end and male micro USB at the other end for the radio's power input). This will charge the battery from zero to 100% in less than 2 hours. Other reviewers suggest replacing the rechargeable battery that comes with the Sangean with a high quality, higher capacity battery. That may be a good idea in the long run but I haven't seen the need so far.

got the radio today. Was shipped and received after one day, only cause was shipped in the state that I live. Seems like a good radio out of the box. charged it and set my presets and time. Checked everything out, listened to a little football, and it seems great. Not interested in the weather alert function, will scare my wife and dogs plus always checking the weather on the iphone. Mostly got it for the portability and the fact it has re-chargeable battery. Alkaline batteries are expensive and a waste. Has good sound and seems well built and Sangeans are well built radios. My first was a lunchbox 100 and after 3.5 years of 5x a week use is still very good. I also have PRD-7 which is also very good, so I know this one will also last and be good. I am not tough on my radios, I take care of them don't abuse them and then whine if they break. This is smaller than the PRD-7 and has just as good sound, I don't know how they do it with such a tiny speaker, you would think it would be very tinny, like a pocket radio, but that's not the case, it is very good. So if you want a quality portable light radio that doesn't need conventional batteries, this is for you, its not pocket size although it would probably fit in a pocket of Dickies,(their pockets are huge. Buy it and then buy more as gifts, they don't break the bank, and are a very good yellow and black perfect for yellow jacket (Georgia Tech) fan.

I will give this 4 stars because I don't use it the way it is advertised. I need to be honest, I bought this radio to replace a portable weather radio that I had in my room. This radio is so much more, however, I DO NOT like how it does weather radio alerts. I really dislike it actually. When I was deciding to buy it I KNEW that I would not be able to pick what county I wanted to be alerted with during severe weather (otherwise known as S.A.M.E or something like that). I took a gamble on the alert type and whether or not it could be silenced. What I DID NOT KNOW is the radio cannot be on (FM, AM or WX) to alert you. What if there is a warning on when you are listening to FM radio? Also, you pick when the Alert function is turned on. This is nice because if you don't want to be alerted you just simply turn that function off. It is NOT good because you cannot do anything else with the function turned on. It is kind of cool when it alerts. It flashes the flashlight on the side and the screen lights up with a loud sound. Another thing that impresses me is when the alarm first goes off just for a half second the audible sound is super quiet, after that it is super loud. I like that because if you are right next to the radio it will not freak you out. After the loud sound, it goes straight to the weather channel that you are on BUT the volume on that is set quietly and cannot be adjusted before or during. This is confusing because the alert is really loud, why not make the weather break in part of the alert equally loud or at least louder??? I also wish that the audible tone could be muted. I tried sticking headphones in during severe weather. I was sure that would mute the tone, IT DID NOT! I really do not like this radio as a weather radio. I would have been better off getting the $30 basic Midland weather radio or could have gotten the $50 portable Midland radio that this Sangean replaced. The rest of this radio is fine. Reception is very good on FM and Weather bands. Easy to program and use. Using presets is a little weird. You can set presets, but if you just turn on the radio and it wasn't left on presets it WILL NOT automatically go to presets. You have to hit the preset button. Also, when hitting the band button the modes are Weather, AM, FM, Presets. I guess I see why that is, but all I really want are presets. What if there was a switch for AM/FM/Presets, otherwise it would default to presets??? Sound quality is what you would expect from a little radio. Not great, but not bad, it does the job. Volume is lower then compared to my other radios. But quality and volume I don't mind on this. Battery life is really good! I dig that I can let this sit on not have it plugged into anything, then eventually charge it. It charges REALLY fast! When not in use, the clock runs and battery life is very long (couple months, I don't even really know because I charge it in case of emergencies.). There is a flashlight on here. That comes in handy. It has 4 modes. Bright, low, SOS or blinking. This can be charged from sunlight or crank but it doesn't happen fast at all. But in an emergency that would not be a problem; that is not practical for normal use. This radio can charge other devices, I think this is only practical in emergencies too because it interferes with radio. Charging this radio via USB while turned on is not practical either. Charger interferes with radio. I was pleased with the size of this, I imagined it to be bigger. Build quality is decent. It is nothing to brag about, seems a little on the cheap side. I also saw a youtube video where a guy took this radio and exposed it to water. RADIO IS NOT WATERPROOF and it is very lightly water resistant. According to this guy's video you can take it apart and lay it in rice and put it back together and it should work. Obviously, that is not a practical idea either. All in all, it is a fabulous emergency radio, just like it is advertised. I imagine taking this camping! This is not a good weather radio! It just isn't practical. The FM/AM/WX bands are awesome to have. There is a lot built into this tiny little radio, but it's more of a survival/adventure radio and NOT something you would use in a single room. If you focus on each of the features by themselves each feature is average, nothing special. If you look at this product as a whole, it kind of is cool what it can do. For me, personally, I should have gotten a Midland radio or not an emergency radio.