Portable AM/FM/SW/LW/WB Weather Radio with NOAA Alerts - Battery Operated Shortwave Receiver, Bluetooth Speaker, MP3 Player, SOS Alarm & Sleep Timer - Perfect for Emergency Preparedness, Outdoor Adventures & Home Use

Product arrived on time and well packaged. For the record, I am NOT a short wave expert. I am a casual user who likes to surf the bands at times, so this radio and others like it are used for fun as well as for emergency preparedness.I also have a Sangean 909X, which easily cost 4+ times as much as this radio when I bought it back in 2011. That radio is my comparison source.First things first however. This radio has a solid build feel to it. The switches have a nice tactile feel to them. I love the use of the 18650 battery for power (The radio cannot be powered with the battery removed....It MUST be present) because I use that same battery type in many of my high powered flashlights. Now my understanding is that the battery provided in unprotected, meaning that it lacks safety circuitry to prevent overcharge, short circuits, and other issues that could lead to a battery fire. I would highly recommend purchasing a protected 18650 to use in this radio and yes, they DO FIT. I cannot guarantee that every brand will fit, but I was able to install two protected name brand 18650 batteries in this radio with no difficulty. Do not charge the battery unattended. Now all of THAT said, even the lower capacity 18650 battery provided with this radio should power it for a LONG time versus any AAA / AA batteries and likely even better than those that might use C or D cells. Since I can solar charge my 18650 batteries this makes it a great tool for emergency preparedness as well.Now those buttons.....Some are a bit confusing so I do find myself referring back to the operating manual at times, but that should improve with usage and familiarity.The sound quality from the speaker is quite good at this price point. It is mono of course and do not expect Bose quality, but again at this price point...I am very happy.Reception on both FM and shortwave seems to rival every other quality (And much more expensive) radio that I own. I have mixed feelings about AM. It does not seem as good as my other radios but to be fair... I really need to try to outside. It it as good as my CC Radio Plus DX? No, but it is darn close. FM reception was outstanding. On shortwave this radio easily outclassed my Sangean 909X during an indoor test. Yes, it actually did pick up more channels when in scan mode. Now some of that COULD be in how each radio's software is set up...What it selects to stop at versus what it skips. But again...at $45 after the coupon discount?!Obviously at this point I cannot speak to durability, but I can say that I am VERY pleased with my initial impressions. At this point in time I feel that this radio is a bargain at this price due to the speaker's good sound quality and surprisingly good FM and shortwave reception. I will close by saying that I thought about this radio for quite some time before I decided to make the purchase, primarily because I could not believe it would be this good at this price point.....$41 after a $15 coupon.