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Top 3 Best Survival Radios In 2024

Want to know what are the best survival radios?

In this guide we have done an extensive review of the best survival radios and we rated them according to Functionality, Reliability, Battery and Value for Money.

Number 3. Kaito KA500 – Best Budget Survival Radio

Kaito Voyager KA500 is an excellent mix of versatility and value. It is a NOAA-certified weather radio, can pick up a variety of signals, and is affordable.

The radio handles its analog interface elegantly. Half of the radio’s face is dedicated to the speaker, while the remaining area shows some knobs and a prominent frequency display selector.

The first knob opens selection for one of the seven NOAA channels. Next comes the band selector – it works with FM, AM, SW1, SW2, and NOAA weather bands. Finally, there’s the power selector, which includes the option to keep the radio on the weather alert setting.

KA500’s weather alert works on PEAS (say Public Emergency Alert System). It’s a useful and adequate system, though I feel SAME (say Specific Area Message Encoding) is a better choice for survival radios.

On the right side of the radio is the frequency tuning dial, volume control knob, and an LED flashlight. Though tiny, the flashlight is strong. The use of an LED chip instead of lamps shines quite literally in this case.

While we’re on the topic, all lights on the radio are functionally decent. The reading light has five LEDs that provide sufficient ambient light. A dimmer would have made these better, but the current function is acceptable too.

Then there’s the red SOS beacon that blinks when activated. It should be sufficient to catch someone’s attention (for example rescuers) should you find yourself in a fix. The SOS beacon and the reading light are located on the top of the radio.

The left side holds the hand crank to get the dynamo rolling.
At first glance, the crank and its attachment look flimsy – as if it would break once you start cranking this emergency radio. Thankfully, its working and connections are all solid. Cranking for 2-3 minutes charges the battery enough to last for 10-15 minutes.

Speaking of the battery, the radio features a rechargeable 600 mAh NiMH battery. It’s adequate to run the radio and even charge your devices, like a mobile phone. Though, as you may have noticed, the battery capacity is low.

As such, the phone charging is very limited. You can probably nudge the battery indicator up by one or two percent when the phone battery is low. For an emergency, the charging should be enough to give you a minute or so of talktime.

Kaito Voyager KA500’s versatility is partly due to the way this radio draws power. It’s conventionally a four-way power radio, which means it can draw power from four different sources. However, it uses some modifications, which increase the options to keep the radio powered. These are:
● Hand crank.
● Solar panel.
● AA batteries (three).
● 5V AC/DC input with power adapter.
● 5V USB input (e.g. from a power bank).

It’s also possible to use a replacement NiMH battery. The well-secured battery compartment includes room for the rechargeable battery and the AA batteries. Right beside it is a protective rubber flap that covers many connectivity and charging options.

These include a headphone jack, micro USB jack, AC power adapter jack, and a USB jack. A tiny on/off switch controls power to the USB jack for easier handling.

Overall, Kaito Voyager KA500 is a decently built survival radio with a good range of features and versatile functions.

Number 2. Eton – Sidekick – Best Premium Survival Radio

Eton Sidekick is a radio that can be a sidekick to your adventurous self. This is an excellent survival radio and it also packs small conveniences like Bluetooth, a reading light, and a remarkable speaker.

No wonder, this model is also called the Eton Ultimate Camping Radio.

The Sidekick shows clear benefits over comparable models like Eton FRX3 and FRX3+. These models are lower on the totem pole and miss some of the “luxury” features like Bluetooth, aux connectivity, and a USB port. Even though their designs are almost the same.

Admittedly, these features are optional for an survival radio. But if you are carrying a radio along for camping and any outdoors activities, might as well have all the cool features! The design language of Eton’s FRX series is pretty cool, yet modern and utilitarian.

The crank seamlessly blends with the design of the radio, rather than sticking out. It’s still easy to pull the crank into position and move it to charge the battery. Turning the crank for four minutes will charge it enough for 10 minutes of radio operation.

Solar panels for the Sidekick too are embedded neatly at the top of the radio. Place it in the sun, and the solar panels will completely charge the 2600 mAh lithium battery in about five hours.

Alternatively, plug in the micro USB with an AC wall adapter or power bank, and the radio will come to life. You can also charge your devices like a mobile phone through the radio by connecting to its USB port.
The front of the radio holds its crank, speaker, display, and knobs for volume and tuning.

An ambient light with a dimmer that covers most of the radio’s back. It’s understandable why they call it the ambient light and not the usual lingo of “reading light”.

The light is bright enough to light up a small space rather well. The presence of the dimmer gives a nice touch of control over the light intensity and thus, the ambiance.

Other lights on the radio include a bright LED flashlight and a red beacon for SOS signaling.

The radio works with AM, FM, and NOAA weather channel signals. An excellent quality is the inclusion of Specific Area Message Encoding or SAME (for short) signals, which provide weather alerts more specific to your region, set by county.

For most users, SAME is a better choice for receiving weather alerts over the PEAS system that most other radios employ. SAME alerts are better targeted and more relevant. Although, if you’re driving or moving across counties, you will have to remember to keep the SAME codes on the radio updated.

SAME uses county-specific codes and this excellent survival radio will do the rest. The alerts it issues are related to the county and the areas or counties in its neighborhood.

Number 1. Midland – ER310

The Midland ER310, like other portable emergency weather radios, doesn’t receive S.A.M.E alert notifications but does scan the 7 NOAA weather channels and receive weather alerts.

A small red light to the left and above the operating buttons comes on for an hour after a weather notification comes in to prompt you to check the NOAA weather channels for the last update. You have the option to set the radio to scan by channel or frequency.

It comes with both day-to-day and emergency features. It has AM, FM and the NOAA weather radio stations but while you can switch between the three, you can’t pre-set the stations so you will return to the last one you were on in each mode.

Compared to the older model Midland ER210, the ER310 is slightly bigger and sturdier, has an easier hand crank, longer battery duration and additional battery capacity by containing an additional battery space for 6 AA batteries in case you need an alternative to the proprietary Midland battery.

The lithium ion battery is fully rechargeable via a USB cable from the mains over about 6 hours.

The battery can also be recharged using the solar panel, also taking up to 6 hours. Once charged the battery should last 32 hours compared to 25 hours for the ER 210 model.

Hand cranks are useful for emergencies and you can get a few minutes of charge from it after a decent burst of cranking.

In addition to the instructions, USB cables, and battery, the set comes with an emergency kit checklist – a thoughtful extra! Seriously though, you must make sure you test and maintain this survival radio if it is part of your camping or survival kits. Don’t leave it plugged in all the time, but do set yourself a reminder to check, test and recharge the battery every 1 to 3 months.

The 2600 mAh batteries are proprietary to Midland so replacing them is not always straightforward. Make sure you also have fresh AAs in your kit.

The radio has a flashlight with high, low and strobe settings. The low setting will prolong the battery, and the strobe is bright enough to attract attention, along with the silent for people, dog whistle for rescuers if required.

The LCD display will show a dog icon flashing if the dog whistle is on so use this to double check you’re not freaking the neighborhood dogs out. The display screen shows the time which it alternates with the radio station playing, has a battery life indicator and can be backlit.

The LED display stays on and will drain the batteries over time unless you take them out. In addition, you cannot disable the weekly alert test on this emergency radio unless the batteries are flat or removed.

The speaker volume has 12 settings and can reach around 87 dB, again good for attracting attention when using the siren. Sound quality isn’t great but is adequate to hear messages. It has a nifty little tuck-away slot for the antenna, but it can be quite hard to pull out and push back in.

The connector ports are under a rubber seal, for earphone jack, battery and USB charger and the radio can charge your mobile device if required.

Overall, it’s a pleasantly compact portable survival radio with a comfortable grab handle and plenty of useful functions for day-to-day outdoors and in emergencies.