The unit should really be self-contained.5) (semi-)proprietary battery is not necessarily easy to obtain; and impossible after the zombie apocalypse.6)

Despite the battery being oriented "just right", the flimsy battery cover latch (the latching part is made from VERY THIN plastic) would not hold the cover securely in place.

In my testing of the radio, if you start with completely dead batteries, 100 turns of the hand-crank (while the unit is off) will charge the batteries enough for about 4.5 minutes of NOAA radio use

With several minutes of cranking the internal hand crank generator can charge the battery enough to listen to the radio and turn on the flashlight.

We wanted a solar powered version after our last experience not finding fresh batteries for sale in our area of Florida

Its alternative method of charging the battery work well and the radio reception is good

one downside, when packing in a bugout bag it tends to turn on, battery will die, or worst

Battery dies out without warning

I opened up the flimsy battery cover, installed the battery, and tried to close the battery cover.

It could easily have a better battery and would make it much more useful

drains batteries uneven

The unit should really be self-contained.5) (semi-)proprietary battery is not necessarily easy to obtain; and impossible after the zombie apocalypse.6)

Battery died very quickly.

There are no replaceable batteries so charging happens via the included USB cable or manually cranking the crank located at the back of the unit.

Single cell non-redundant battery:

Decent sized rechargeable battery so will keep your cell phone going.

drains batteries uneven

Now, if you keep the FR1 in an emergency kit and only plan to use it in emergencies, chances are the battery will have drained unless you regularly keep it charged up

(remember, that would drain the computer battery though, if not plugged into a wall socket).The LED flashlight is definitely not going to light up a tent, for example.

Ideally, having a few around makes sense: car or boat, e-bags, garage or barn, kitchen drawer (where the batteries and flashlights are kept), or a hanging in a closet waiting for a disaster

I keep the batteries (and a spare set) in a ziploc bag with the radio (so they don't corrode).I've used this radio one time in our tornado shelter, when we had a serious tornado outbreak in our area.

Once full, if you charge your phone from an almost dead battery to full, that will almost deplete the battery

Overall OK value for the money, with an ample rechargeable battery.

These make great gifts--especially for those who are the types to always have enough batteries, flashlights, bottles of water, first aid kits, and the like...organized folks

I also discovered that you can use the provided USB cable and plug it into a Kindle AC plug to charge the battery as well as with solar and hand turbine, that about makes it perfect