Eton - Sidekick, Ultimate Camping AM/FM/NOAA Radio with S.A.M.E Technology, Solar Powered, Battery Powered, Bluetooth, Rechargeable, LED Flashlight, Phone Charger, Commitment to Preparedness

This is a super handy, full featured camping or ho e emergency radio. The unit has many cool features like bluetooth, S.A.ME. alert technology, Weather broadcast channels, as well as a hand crank charger, solar cell changer and a USB port for charging your cell phone. Not to mention a 3 lights, and AM and FM radio with memory chanels. Some of theses features I was unaware of when a purchased the radio.The first thing I tried was bluetooth. It connected instantly to my iPhone and the play/pause worked flawlessly. Another cool feature in BT mode was the tuning knob. It scrolled through you songs. The speaker was surprisingly strong.The ambient light is a cool feature. It lit up my desk surprising well. The red and white lights worked as well as my cellphone light. A good way to conserve you cell phone battery while camping.The Weather Band was super easy for me to set up. Press the WB button and scroll through the channels. I found my local WB broadcast within seconds. There wasn't severe weather at the tie of the review, so I cold not test the WB alert, but the concept is cool.I did some battery charging experiments with my cellphone at an 18% charge level and the Sidekick at a fully charged level. In 15minutes the charge on my phone increased 6%. That seamed to be consistant for every 15 minutes as after an hour the Sidekick added 24% to my battery. I did not try any internal battery charging experiments with the hand crank or the solar panel, but the user manual says the solar panel will fully charge the internal battery in 14-16Hrs.Another interesting feature is the S.A.M.E. emergency alert technology. The unit allows you to preset up to 25 different counties in your areas, or maybe different areas you may be interested in. The radio will alert you when there are emergencies broad cast by NOAA or the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in the counties that you have selected. Until I purchase this radio I was unaware of this broadcast service. I went onto Wikipedia to get the full explanation of the technology and the broadcast system. I will probably get another one of the radios to keep at my house.Finally, the manual was extremely well written and clear. I was so happy to see this. A lot of times when I get a device with many technical features the manuals are written poorly in broken English.

We use this in our camper as a distraction for the dogs. They love the local FM radio stations and we do too! The weather channel is great to update us if storms are nearby. The light is very bright and we love that you can hang it or use the handle to carry it easily. The charging port is a must have feature that we love also. We have not tried the solar charging feature yet.

Love everything about this radio, works great, I know there are cheaper options but you get what you pay for....except for that STUPID microUSB charging port.Guys. Please. I don't like paying twice as much money to buy old junk. PLEASE stop, PLEASE give the people USB-C, PLEASE don't leave every consumer perpetually stuck in 2006 every time they go to plug it in. What a stupid reason to lose a star. But there you go, 4 out of 5 stars. Great radio, with room to improve.

This unit came as a surprise. I tried four different emergency radios and was unhappy with all of them. Prices range from $45 to $150. Features buried from set to set, but they all had one thing in common, lousy sound. They all strip away mids and lows to conserve battery power. The trade-off is just plain terrible sound. I figured I would have to live with that sound, but I was wrong. I tried one more emergency radio, and that is the Eton Sidekick. The first thing I noticed was the vastly improved audio quality over the other units I tried. Just flat-out great sound. Next thing I noticed was the excellent flashlight and panel light. They are really really bright, and can be dimmed. The radio reception is superb on all bands. The only issue is the selection buttons being a little hard to read under the solar cell panel. They are illuminated though, and after you use the radio for a short time, you memorize them anyway. The Bluetooth works great, as does the S.A.M.E. and NOAA alert systems. Battery life is good and you can charge them my USB, solar panel, or crank. You can charge your phone or tablet with this device. It has many other features that make this an excellent choice for home, or when camping.

Loving this handy, camping/emergency radio. Lots of great features I really need to explore more but, my initial impression is that it’s perfect for camping and if there were an emergency. The solar cell and a USB port for charging cell phones will definitely come in handy. Of course, the hand-crank and the solar panels for generating power are great features too. I was able to connect my iPhone to the device via Bluetooth without a hitch. Navigated the connected phone easily too. The flashlight works well (puts off a lot of light) as does the radio for weather updates. It fell out of my truck onto pavement and continued to works as expected. So that’s good. This will live in my truck with my first-aid kit. Thankfully, the manual appears to be well written… I’m gonna need to keep it around because there are so many features on this device that I’m going to have to delve into later. Looking forward to really putting it through it’s paces on my next camping trip but, I can say right off the bat... this is a cool device that works well and would make a great present for anyone…. like maybe one of my friends that just went through power outages in CA.