Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bought this to add to emergency kit and tested it out when I received. Very, very pleased with this compact little unit! Seriously everyone should have one in their car- if your car battery dies and you can't charge your cell on it, this will give you plenty of charge to call for help. I plan to bring when camping, too. Only 5" long, great item to add to survival backpack, keep in car, and at home for emergencies. Simple and inuitive to use which is good in an emergency situation. After prepping the battery with 3-5 min of cranking I tested the light, radio, and USB charger. After testing all those things I was still able to charge my iphone from 75% to 92% on that initial crank and it didn't take abnormally long. The flashlight works fine and the radio works great on WB for NOAA station and on FM. For some reason AM reception is a little scratchy static-y, though pointing antenna in to find best signal helps. Also the dial tuning makes it easy to find a signal, plus there is a signal light that comes on when you find the best signal. Awesome! The unit is a bit hard to hold when cranking as you can't wrap your fingers around the unit when cranking or crank will hit fingers. Best way seems to be to hold upright on the edge of a surface (table, knee, etc) and secure with one hand pressing down and cranking with the other. Due to coupon promo on this unit, I also purchased the MD-093 unit in red from Runningsnail which is larger and heavier, with a bigger battery, clock with screen display(also displays radio station), and metal clip to hang from a belt. This unit was more complicated and didn't seem to work, had to read directions several times and finally figured out you need to switch the small switch on bottom from AAA to LI-ION. Not good in an emergency, especially if someone needs reading glasses and doesn't have them with them in emergency situation. I prefer the 088 because it is smaller, easier and more intuitive to use, and seems to receive AM signal better than the 093. Also the 093 has button tuning instead of a dial which makes it much harder to find a signal as you need to stop at every station to see if there is signal, whereas with dial you can listen for signal while turning dial. Plus there is no tuning light on the MD-093. The 093 includes a micro USB cable and iphone adapter which fits my 5SE, which is nice but does not outweigh the the negatives. I was afraid the smaller 088 unit wouldn't charge well enough but it will be adequate. I ordered both to decide which I like best before ordering more, and while I am not returning the 093, I will be buying more of the 088's.