Weather Radios Reviews

The reviews below are assigned ratings by ConsumerSearch. These ratings are based on credibility in testing, evaluating and identifying the best Weather Radios. See our ratings criteria

For recommendations of best Weather Radios, see our Fast Answers page, which summarizes what these reviews say. A longer summary and analysis appears in our Full Story report for Weather Radios. Our Where to Buy page contains information on retailers and Weather Radios prices.

Where to Buy

Fast Answers

Full Story

All Reviews

Weather Radios Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Weather Radios Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. Home-Weather-Stations-Guide.com	How To Select The Best Weather Radio For Your Needs Graham McClung Jan. 2007		This is the home page of Graham McClung, a geologist and amateur weather enthusiast. McClung offers a handful of recommended choices in this article about how to select a weather radio. The review is well written, and the background information on features and radio signals is helpful, but recommendations are based on features rather than testing. Among portables, McClung names the now-discontinued Oregon WR103 because of its price and the fact that it includes a docking stand. McClung notes that the Reecom 1650, First Alert WX-167 and Midland WR-300 are all standout desktop choices, but he's most impressed with the WR-300's "extra options at little extra cost."
2. Richard Rhodes' web page	Weather Radio Update -- 2006 Richard Rhodes July 2006		Texas-based ham radio operator Richard Rhodes gives an excellent user review of weather radios on his personal website. Rhodes compares the Midland WR-300 and the Radio Shack 12-262. He gives the Midland radio an edge because it’s easier to program. Both radios worked well during a tornado warning near his home. The Radio Shack 12-259 is also discussed briefly, but no recommendation is ultimately made. The site has an unflattering single-product review of the Eton FR300.

Weather Radios Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Weather Radios Ratings Comments on Reviews

3. The Wall Street Journal >> Details/Subscribe	This is a Test of the Emergency Power Systems Walter Mossberg Sept. 21, 2005		The Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Mossberg reviews two emergency crank radios in a column about preparing for disasters. The review is not overly long and focuses more on features than performance, but it does cover the essentials. Mossberg gives the nod to the Eton FR300. He particularly appreciates that this emergency radio can use multiple power sources, including a hand crank, batteries and AC adaptor. The radio's ability to double as an emergency cell-phone charger is also a nice plus.
4. EHam.net	Receivers: Weather Alert Contributors to eHam.net As of Feb. 2008		This site for ham radio enthusiasts also includes contributor-written reviews of weather radios. The reviews are listed in a table format that also includes an average rating, the number of reviews each radio has received, and the date of the last review, all of which makes navigation a breeze. In addition, user reviews here are a little more credible than at other sites, because most contributors seem to be knowledgeable about radios. One drawback is that only a few current radios get enough reviews to be meaningful. The Midland WR-300 fares the best among radios with more than five reviews. The Midland WR-100B gets even more feedback, but a much more mixed reception, with comments ranging from "excellent" to "worst piece of junk ever." The Reecom 1630 and Reecom 1650 are the highest scoring current weather alert radios of all, but get just two reviews apiece as of our last visit.
5. Amazon.com	Emergency and weather radios Contributors to Amazon.com As of Feb. 2008		Amazon.com is an online retailer that lets users post reviews of the products they purchase. The quality or "helpfulness" of the write-ups vary greatly, but weather alert radios at Amazon.com get enough reviews for a consensus to emerge. Amazon has increased the usability of its owner reviews by placing the rating and the number of reviewers on the main navigation page and by providing a side-by-side listing of the most helpful favorable and most helpful critical review as reported by users. Currently, the Midland WR-300 seems to be a top choice, with more than 290 readers giving it an average score of four and a half stars. Positive comments far outweigh negative ratings, with some complaints about programming problems and its utility as a clock radio. The Midland WR-100B also seems to be well regarded here. The Eton FR300 is the top choice among emergency radios.
6. Cabelas.com	Radios Contributors to Cabelas.com As of Feb. 2008		Cabela's is a popular outdoor store that lets users post reviews of all the products it sells. The site includes a list of "Top Gear Picks," but it doesn’t explain what a product needs to do to qualify. Currently the Eton FR300 and FR400 emergency crank radios with weather band reception and an emergency siren/alert are listed as Top Gear choices. Both get good user reviews, but the Midland WR-300 does even a little better. Weather radios don't get their own category here, so navigation is a little cluttered.
7. RadioShack.com	Weather Radios Contributors to RadioShack.com As of Feb. 2008		Radio Shack is yet another top retailer of weather radios that lets users post product reviews. Radio Shack sells its own brand of weather radios, along with radios from several other manufacturers, and is the best -- if not the only -- place to get any feedback on the former. Navigation is straightforward, with both the rating and the number of reviews posted right on the main landing page. Reviewers can add structured responses as to pros, cons, best uses and information on themselves, as well as general comments and a bottom line judgment on whether or not they would recommend a particular weather radio to a friend. This site is best as a resource for opinions about Radio Shack weather radios, as those get more reviews than radios from other makers. However, top scoring weather radios that also have a fair number of reviews include the Radio Shack 12-259 portable weather radio and the Midland WR-100B.

Weather Radios Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Weather Radios Ratings Comments on Reviews

8. RadioIntel.com	Eton FR300 David Cardillo Jan. 2005		RadioIntel.com is an enthusiast website dedicated to the hobby of shortwave radio listening (SWLing). Though the Eton FR-300 does not have coverage of the shortwave band, reviewer David Cardillo is impressed by its overall performance and an ability to pick up stations on the weather (WX) band, including some that are as many as 45 miles away. He commends it for its good sound considering its price, saying "this is a pleasant sounding radio to have in a pinch."
9. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	Radios for Power Outages Editors of Consumer Reports June 2006		Though Consumer Reports does not report on weather radios, it does take a disappointingly brief look at emergency crank radios. Information is scant. Particularly noteworthy is the lack of any information about whether any of the three radios discussed (one of which now discontinued) includes weather band coverage (none do). Testing seems to be focused solely on how long each radio will play with a given amount of cranking, but even the cranking time is not the same for all radios, making that information less useful than it could be.
10. Cabela's Outfitter Journal >> Details/Subscribe	Grundig FR300 Emergency Radio James C. Powel Apr. 2007		This brief article details the real world experience of James Powell, the associate editor at Cabela's Outfitter Journal, as he and his family braved a "record-setting winter blizzard" with the Eton FR300. Stranded for days, part of the time without power, Powell appreciates how the radio kept him informed and entertained. He says that the crank power really works and that the LED flashlight proved adequate in his "pitch black basement."
11. RadioReference.com	Midland WR-300 review Contributors to RadioReference.com Mar. 8, 2007		RadioReference.com is a radio communications website that includes a Severe Weather/Storm Chasing forum. Though there’s not a great deal of discussion about weather radios there, we did see some generally positive feedback for the Midland WR-300. One thread includes a nicely detailed, well-illustrated user review of that weather radio. That review and the subsequent discussion are certainly of value.
12. Epinions	Weather Radios Contributors to Epinions As of Feb. 2008		Though most user-review sites are hosted by retailers, Epinions provides an independent forum where contributors can express their likes and dislikes about products that they own. Some of the reviews are brief, but others can be quite long and detailed. However, Epinions ranks below most user review sites in our view because it simply does not get enough traffic -- few weather or emergency radios get more than a review or two. One exception is the Sony SRF-M37V, a Walkman radio that includes weather band coverage. It gets good feedback and a large number of reports -- by Epinions standards -- but few address its performance as a weather radio.
13. Make it a Masterpiece	Reecom Weather Radio Review Don June 5, 2007		Make it a Masterpiece is a blog written by a Minnesota runner and cancer survivor. In this article, he talks about the Reecom 1630, which he purchased to replace an old weather radio that had failed. Though the article isn't terribly long, the writer does a good job of detailing the pluses and minus he found. His bottom line assessment is, "It works as advertised; I'm quite pleased with it."
14. Yahoo! Video	Weather Radio Reviews – ExpoTV Contributors to Yahoo! Video As of Feb. 2008		The ExpoTV Channel at Yahoo! Video is a resource where users can post video reviews of products they own. Like most user reviews, the quality of these videos varies greatly. Most provide a rundown of features and a comment or two about what the videomaker liked or disliked about the radio. In many ways, these reviews are less helpful than others -- including other user reviews -- because they express only one consumer's opinions about a product and don't provide any ratings. However, they also drop the cloak of anonymity that leads most to give user reviews less weight, and most of the reviewers are quite earnest in pointing out things big and small that could matter very much to you when weighing the merits of a specific radio.
15. WXForum.net	Weather Radios Contributors to WXForum.net As of Feb. 2008		This weather enthusiast website includes a discussion forum on weather radios. Unfortunately, traffic is rather low, so there is not that much feedback here on most weather radios. One exception is a thread titled, "In the market for a new WX radio," which generated some detailed and largely positive comments about the Midland WR-300 and the Reecom 1630.
16. AssociatedContent.com	Product Review: WR-300 Midland Weather Radio "MYOB" July 24, 2007		Associated Content is a website that lets individuals publish content "in any format" and "on any topic." Much of the content here is unpolished and ultimately unhelpful, but this single weather-radio review of the Midland WR-300 manages to rise somewhat above the rest. The article does a good job of detailing various features and how they work. The overly positive tone -- no negatives of any kind are mentioned -- and the lack of discussion of other alternatives are drawbacks.

Weather Radios Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Weather Radios Ratings Comments on Reviews

17. About.com	Top 10 Handheld and Portable Weather Radios and Scanners Rachelle Oblack Not Dated		About.com's guide to weather, Rachelle Oblack, provides "an unbiased list of weather radios and scanners." However, we are not sure how Oblack came up with this list as none of the radios appears to actually have been tested. Further, the list is not a ranking, as Oblack says products "are in no particular order because every family has different needs and budgets." Readers are invited to submit their own reviews of the radios mentioned, with a promise to publish, so this might become a more worthwhile stop in the future. (Note that ConsumerSearch and About.com are owned by the same parent company, but are not affiliated editorially.)
18. AssociatedContent.com	Buyer's Guide to Weather Band Radio Receivers Z. Perry May 2006		While we found some redeeming qualities in this single-product review of the Midland WR-300 at Associated Content, this so-called buyer's guide at the site has little to commend it. There is a rather superficial discussion of the types of weather radios, but despite a promise of "details" about weather radios in a subheading, they are nowhere to be found. Instead, the author simply lists some examples of radios without explaining why those were selected.