Duronic Hybrid Radio – Wind-Up, Solar & Rechargeable AM\FM Radio with USB charger cable
Posted by Notcot on May 7, 2010 in Portable Sound & Vision |
Product Description
Brand New Blister Packed
- The Duronic Hybrid is a highly portable and stylish wind up and solar powered AM/FM radio that will go just about anywhere, battery-free.
- Winding arm to create and store energy, Solar panel at the top of the radio, for charging or playing simultaneously, plug socket for earphones, USB charging cable included, Charging light indicator turns blue to show battery being charged by either solar or wind-up.
- Fully charged, the radio will last upto a day, 1 minnute of winding provides 20 minutes of play time
- Duronic has 3 Eco Radios: Apex, Hybrid and Ecohand
Duronic Hybrid Radio – Wind-Up, Solar & Rechargeable AM\FM Radio with USB charger cable
This is a brilliant product; a portable radio which you only need to plug in to the USB connection in your laptop or PC once in a while. Most of the time you can re-charge its battery using the solar panel or wind-up handle. The battery needs an initial charge from the USB connection from your PC or Laptop, and an occasional boost (because you’ll get the best life from the battery pack if you drain it completely and charge it again from fresh, every few months or so). But for most normal use you spend 30 seconds turning the handle and that gives you 20-25 minutes or more of radio.
The Duronic hybrid picks up FM-AM frequencies, so you can catch most stations other than digital. There’s a built-in extendable aerial which works fine in most circumstances but you can also use a lightweight coil-up antenna if you have any trouble getting a signal. We use it as a travel radio and it’s been very robust. The buttons are well marked and easy to use. It took us 1 minute to start using the radio.
We leave the Hybrid Radio on a window sill when it’s not in use, and this exposure to sunlight is generally enough to charge the battery for most of our use. We’ve only had to wind it a few times — which is good because winding is a little energetic, buts its good exercise for the hands. There is a ‘battery charge’ light (which lights up when the battery is being charged by sunlight, wind-up Or USB).The buttons and the build of this item is very good, you can feel that’s its very robust.
Overall it is an excellent product. The analogue receiver works very well on just solar power alone. It is robust and packs alot of good features into a reasonably small space. We’ve carried ours around for a few months’ now, and it’s been 100% reliable.
Best of all, you can listen to the radio without using any mains or battery power, and so do a little bit towards saving the planet.
Rating: 5 / 5
After an initial charge via the USB cable provided, this radio has not needed a charge since apart from the sunlight charging it gets on the kitchen window sill. The design of the unit is good, and, while it feels light to hold, it doesn’t feel particularly shoddy.
I have one slight gripe about the speaker. The volume is sufficient for most things, but near the top end of the volume scale, the speaker can distort, especially on some of the deeper voices on Radio 4.
However, that is a small gripe, and overall, it works perfectly for what I wanted it for, and feeling green for using the unit is a bonus! Nice bit of kit; I’m happy with it.
Rating: 4 / 5
Bought this radio to take with me to work, and its ideal, it is slightly smaller than I thought it would be (h70mm x w130mm x d35) but the volume is surprisingly good for the size and definately enough for what I need. It has a usb cable to charge which is very handy, and it works exactly as described. It is coated in what looks like rubberized plastic and feels well made and robust.
Since my initial review I have noticed one flaw in the radio, I use an usb mains socket to charge and unfortunately you cannot listen to it whilst plugged in due to static interferance, this is one snag that could have been avoided and made the radio perfect.
Rating: 5 / 5
This was cheap as chips, worked straight out of the box after an hour or two of solar charging and gives good reception and sound quality for the mainstream FM stations I tend to listen to. It comes with a USB charging cable and a winding handle, but I’ve not yet had to use either. All in all, a pretty good purchase which will probably save me at least the same cost in batteries.
Rating: 5 / 5
This brilliant little radio from duronic ticks all the green, eco friendly boxes in one go! it is an fm/am analogue radio, portable and rechargeable. You can recharge in one of three ways: crank the handle for a minute or so for approximately 30 mins play time from empty, connect by usb lead (supplied) to a laptop or computer and charge for 7 hours to get 9 hours or more play time, or leave it in a bright naturally lit position to charge by solar power. You will find the blue charge lamp a good guide for indicating suitable charging light, getting a charge using the solar panel will work in all but the more dark severe weather situations. The blue lamp also lights if you charge using the handle.
We bought this radio for my dad on fathers day and he is very pleased with it. It played for hours in between recharges, and even though our weather has been a bit cloudy there was enough light to keep the battery topped up for more playing time. Both fm and am reception are excellent and the sound quality is good.
At the price, I cannot reccommend a better radio for the eco concious.
Rating: 5 / 5