Eton FRX5-BT

This little radio came to me as a gift and it retails for $79.00. Its main selling points are not in its speaker quality or cell phone charging abilities. In fact this radio fails drastically in those areas but it makes up for it with its solar panel and NOAA alert features.

Emergency Device Charging

The radios cell phone emergency charging feature is really only intended to completely drain the radio battery and give the cell phone a few minutes of battery power in order for the user to make one emergency call. So it’s a good idea to keep a separate charging bank on hand like a mophie powerstation XXL. I picked up my mophie on Black Friday for $45.00.

Usage

I used the Eton radio every single day during our 7 day power outage. It was our main source of entertainment and NOAA weather and storm updates. It was very easy to set outside and recharge during the daytime while simultaneously using it. This power outage and storm was the first time we ever had to fully utilize this radio for its emergency features such as the weather alerts , flashlight, and room lighting.

Under normal circumstances we have and use a JBL Charge blue tooth speaker 1st generation and This Eton radio is used in our work room and when we are outside doing yard work. The JBL charge BT speaker is also fully capable of giving a complete charge to a cell phone which makes it invaluable in an emergency or when camping and traveling.

Troubleshoot Bluetooth Pairing

So you want to pair your cell phone to the Eton radio to play music. Turn on the radio and press the “AM/FM/Bluetooth” button until you hear it chime a few times. Then go into the device settings, bluetooth, and then connect to “Eton”.

Now let’s say you want to pair someone else’s device but Eton just won’t show up in the device settings bluetooth section. You need to go to the originally paired device and unpair it in order to pair any other devices. This is easily achieved by temporarily placing the original paired device into airplane mode.

Battery Life

I have had the FRX5 device for two years and have not needed to replace the original rechargeable batteries yet. it is important to know that with any and all battery powered devices owners must anticipate needing to maintain an adequate charge and to replace the batteries at some point within the normal life span of the device.

I have had my JBL Charge for over 5 years and have only just recently noticed a decline it its normal battery recharging capabilities. This prompted me to replace the battery. We also recently replaced the battery in our vehicle. Just because batteries die does not mean it is time to replace the device. It means it’s time to replace or service the batteries.

Product Features

  • portable AM/FM/weatherband radio
  • receives 7 NOAA channels with flood, tornado, and thunderstorm alerts
  • SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) for EAS and NOAA weather radio
    • 25 location memory
    • red, orange, and green lights for alert status
  • built-in Bluetooth
  • telescoping FM antenna
  • backlit LCD display
  • built-in LED flashlight and beacon
  • built-in top-mounted ambient light
  • stereo minijack input for connecting a portable music player
  • minijack headphone output
  • digital clock with alarm and sleep timer
  • 3 ways to recharge:
    • via USB (charging cable included)
    • solar panel (can fully recharge within 5-6 hours)
    • hand crank (4 minutes cranking can generate enough charge for 15 minutes)
    • built-in 2,000 mAh rechargeable lithium battery
  • USB port to recharge smartphones and other compatible devices
  • IPX4 rated splash proof
  • 5-7/8″W x 7-1/8″H x 2-5/16″D
  • weight: 1 lb., 6 oz.
  • warranty: 1 year

I also have an ETON FRX 3 and it stays in my 72 hour emergency kit. I did not use the FRX3 radio during the power outage because the FRX5-BT was everything we needed to stay entertained and up to date with Emergency Alerts.