The Quest is the latest (and most expensive) emergency radio yet from Eton. It has AM, FM with DAB+ (supposedly), Shortwave, and Weather band with alerts.
The weather radio works great. I pick up our local station perfectly clear, and most of my other weather radios (an old one from RadioShack and several from Midlands) are hit and miss. It has alert functionality, but not S.A.M.E., so the alarm will go off for EVERY alert in the broadcast area, not just your county. FM has excellent reception as well. The radio claims to have DAB+ capability, but that is worthless in the US, since we use HD Radio instead of DAB, which is used primarily in Europe. It also claims to have RDS capability, but I went through the entire FM band and never found a station that displayed any data. The FM radio has the ability to scan and automatically set up to 20 presets, but you cannot set your own presets manually or delete ones you don't want.
AM reception is pretty terrible. I'm not sure if there's some kind of interference nearby, but nothing was what I would call listenable. I could only pick up a few stations, and all had interference. The AM antenna is an internal ferrite bar, so you have to rotate the radio to pick up the strongest signal. Shortwave was even worse. The tuning knob only moves 5 kHz at a time, and it has a range from 3.2 to 22 MHz, so it's going to take a LOOOOONG time to get anywhere. I tried tuning in WWV, which broadcasts on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz and I was just barely able to pick up a signal on 5 MHz. It was so garbled as to be nearly useless. I'm about 500 miles away from the transmitter in Ft. Collins. It was still daytime, so it presumably will work better at night, but I should be able to get something during the day. There is no provision for an external SW antenna.
The radio also has Bluetooth and Aux input capability. Setting up Bluetooth was a piece of cake and it probably took me longer to type this sentence than it took to pair my phone. The Play/Pause button works as you'd expect, and the tuner knob works as a forwards/backwards control.
Pressing the light button cycles through the side flash light, which is pretty bright, the rear ambient light, which isn't quite as bright, and a red ambient light. There's also a dedicated "SOS ON/OFF" button, which flashes the red ambient light and sets off a rather loud siren. You're probably going to hit this button by accident at some point, since it's pretty close to the power button. They should have made it so you have to long-press it to turn it on.
The instructions in the manual for setting the clock are incorrect. In standby mode, long-press the Menu button, select 12/24 hr time using the tuning knob (not the buttons), then press Play (the manual says to press Menu, this is wrong). Use the tuning knob to adjust the hours, then press Play. Then use the tuning knob to adjust the minutes, then press Play. The instructions for setting the alarm are similarly wrong.
The input charge port is USB-C, but the output charge port is USB-A. The radio comes with a (short) USB-A to USB-C charge cord. It does not appear to support any sort of fast charging in either direction. This model has a 5,200 mAh lithium battery, which appears to be the biggest one Eton has used yet and double the capacity of the Sidekick. The lithium battery is user replaceable, and it appears to be a pair of standard 18650 cells, but they are soldered together into a battery pack; in the future you're either going to have to buy a replacement pack from Eton, or break out the soldering iron. It can also use 3 AAA batteries, and like all Eton emergency radios, has a solar panel and hand crank. The battery door does not require a screwdriver, and appears to be better designed than previous models.
Switching off the unit using the main power switch under the protective cover kills power to the internal clock, but does not appear to erase the FM presets or the Bluetooth pairing. It does not appear to be able to charge the battery when the main power switch is off.
All the buttons are on the front of the device (except the light, which is on top of the handle), they're not hiding under the handle like the Sidekick or FRX3+, so it's a lot easier to see what you're doing.
Overall it appears to be the best, most capable radio Eton has made yet. The only things that appear to be lacking are S.A.M.E. support on the weather band, a faster way to move through the shortwave band, a provision for an external SW antenna, and for the love of God, make it so you can't turn on the blasted siren by accident!
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This item: 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
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Eton helps you stay prepared and enjoy adventures, proudly partnering with the American Red Cross for 20+ years
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This Item  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 |  |  |  |  | ![[10000mAh Waterproof] Raddy SL10 Emergency Radio, Hand Crank Solar Camping Lantern, IPX6 Wireless BT Speaker, AM FM NOAA, Flashlight, SOS Alarm for Power Outage Camping](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KUuPPV9RL._AC_.jpg) | |
| Price | -34% $85.81 List: $129.99 | $36.90 | -14% $29.99 Typical: $34.99 | -14% $29.99 Typical: $34.99 | $39.99 | $64.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 | Get it as soon as Monday, Jul 29 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Qianming Direct | Megatek Electronics | Megatek Electronics | Wisetechy | Radioddity |
| power source | Solar Powered, Battery Powered | Rechargeable Battery,Solar Power, Hand Crank | Battery Powered, USB-C Charge, Solar Powered, Hand-Crank Powered | Battery Powered, USB-C Charge, Solar Powered, Hand-Crank Powered | Solar Panel,Hand Crank,10000mAh Rechargeable Battery,Type-C Input | Solar Powered, Hand Crank, Type-C Charging |
| supported bands | 7-Band | FM, Weather, AM | 3-Band | 3-Band | FM radio, AM radio, NOAA weather Radio | 3-Band |
| connectivity tech | Bluetooth | USB | USB | USB | USB | Bluetooth |
| hardware interface | bluetooth | usb c | usb c, usb2.0 a, headphone | usb2.0 a, usb c, headphone | usb, usb c | usb |
| display type | LED | — | — | — | LED | LED |
| power rating | — | — | 3 watts | 3 watts | 1 watts | 7 watts |
| frequency | 108 MHz | 2.4 GHz | 108 MHz | 108 MHz | 1710 KHz | 108 MHz |
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Reviews with images
Almost Perfect, Save for the Screw
Received yesterday.I discovered that the device is unable to save the time/clock settings after I turned off and then turn on again afterwards.An attached small cross-headed screw is too tightly screwed onto the top of the battery compartment cover and I am unable to remove it.
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