TimeOut

Eton FXR2

 

Happy holidays everyone!

Amanico came up with a wonderful suggestion for a gift this holiday season (  timeout.watchprosite.com ).  As I was going thru my Go Bag and checking my supplies, I thought it would interesting to recommend a neat but useful gadget, the Eton FRX2 emergency radio.  Why a emergency radio such as this?  Well the winter is upon us and when it gets really cold enough to snow (or in our case in Los Angeles, rain) this could very well come in handy if the power goes out. 

The Eton FRX2:

ETON makes several emergency radios and the FRX2 is the small handheld version, perfect for the car, home, or Bug Out/Go bag.  It comes in at a relatively compact size:  5.4 x 2.5 x 2.5 inches and weighs in around 9 ounces.  In the package a usb cable and lanyard loop is included with the radio.

The FRX2 comes in 2 colors, a red and black 'American Red Cross' edition and this one.  Of course I got the yellow and black!  The front of the FRX2 has the station analog display, tuner controls, and volume rheostat:

On the side is the LED flashlight button, telescoping antennae, and solar panel.  Yep, the ETON can be charged via solar power!  Under a full solar power charge ( 8 to 10 hours) you can get approximately 4+ hours of radio use.

The FRX2 can also be charged with the hand crank ( they call it Hand Turbine technology) located on the back side of the device:

The hand crank is simple to use, just flip the lever out and the integrated handle is exposed.  After about a minute of winding, you can get a decent amount of charge to activate the radio.  Under hand crank power recharge, 90 seconds of winding will yield about 20 minutes of radio usability.

As this is the newer version of the emergency radios, it's been updated to accommodate cellphones with the addition of a USB side panel.  You can also use a set of earbuds/headphones:

The rubber cover compartment hides the earphone jack, usb port, and micro usb wall charger.  I've tested the FRX2 with my Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5S and it recharges it.  Since this is meant to be a emergency device, it charges at a slow rate but it's good enough to power up your cellphone to make short emergency calls when your cell battery runs out.  It did power up my Galaxy Tab and HTC tablet but these larger devices consumes too much power so don't expect too much if you need to power up tablets.

The tuner knob has large enough for gloved hands if you are outside in the cold.  It's also stiff enough to stay on the station you set it to.

AM, FM, and all 7 NOAA radio bands:

A nice added feature is the glow in the dark area around the 3-LED flashlight and solar panel, it helps you to find the FRX2 in the dark a bit easier when the lights go out!

ETON also makes the FRX3 ( a more powerful but larger device) and a smaller (but less featured) FRX1.  IMO this would make a nice present/stocking stuffer and a definitely useful item for your emergency pack!


-MW