10 Best Portable Radio for Camping in 2022

Looking for the best portable radio for camping? Congratulation! You’re in the right place.

Camping radio is more than just your source of music. You can also receive warnings if ever bad weather is headed your way. Some models offer extra features, so they’re useful in lots of ways.

They can work as your reading lamp or flashlight, or act as the power bank for your mobile device. These radios can be so helpful that after you’ve used one, you won’t leave home without it.

If you’re little bit busy and have no enough time to read full reviews, then check below comparison table. We have shortlisted 3 top camping radios in the market. You can trust us for sure.

What are the Best Portable Radios for Camping?

You might be looking for an outdoor experience. Camping is ideal, and radio is one of the must-have accessories. We summarize the top 10 portable radios for camping in the market that will offer you what you will need when camping.

Best Overall: FosPower Emergency Portable Camping Radio
It offers you different charging options, is compact, and offers you NOAA weather channels, and with the powerful sounds, it produces it is the best radio to take camping.

Most Portable: Midland ER310 Emergency Radio for Camping
It is small in size but has a rechargeable battery with up to 32 hours of continuous use while still giving you emergency alerts.

Best Reception: Kaito KA500 Weather Alert Camping Radio
It has an advanced semiconductor circuitry design and antenna that work hand in hand to give great AM/FM, two band shortwave, and NOAA weather channels’ reception.

Editor’s Choice: iRonsnow IS-388 Real NOAA Alert Radio for Camping
It is easy to carry, compact enough for outdoor use, great battery life, and user-friendly.

Best for Emergency: Eton Ultimate Camping AM/FM/NOAA Radio
This radio comes with Specific Area Message Encoding that allows you to connect to weather and warning alerts specific to your area.

Best Classic Look: Panasonic RF-2400D Lightweight Camping Radio
If you are into the old-fashioned radio look, then this radio is for you. It has large manual knobs for tuning and volume and has an analog display for the station.

Best Charging: Greadio Solar Radio for Camping Outdoors
You can charge it with a solar panel, 3AA batteries, turning the hand crank, or a micro-USB cable in only 5 hours for up to 15 hours of use.

Best for Outdoor: Sangean TB-100 Portable Camping Radio
This radio is compact, waterproof, dustproof, and shock-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about rain or your radio getting damaged when it falls during your camping trip.

Best Battery Life:  C. Crane CC Skywave Shortwave Portable Travel Radio
It uses 2AA batteries that give you up to 60 hours of continuous use and extendable to 70 hours if you use earphones.

Most User-friendly: TECSUN R-9012 12 Bands Shortwave Radio
It has a carrying strap for easy carrying and has large dials to tune the radio and volume control easily.

 

Best Portable Radio For Camping – Buying Guide

There are some important factors you need to consider when you want to buy a portable camping radio. Look for the following features:

Compact

Sure, your audio system at home sounds great. But it won’t be practical for you to bring your multiple components along with huge speakers to a campsite.

Portability is the main issue here. The best radio for camping needs be small, lightweight, and easy to carry. Find something that fits nicely in your backpack, or maybe even in your pocket.

Durability

One of the main problems with bringing radio to your camping site is that this will increase the chances of dropping to radio on the ground. That’s not good news for fragile radios. What you need is a tough unit with ample shock-proofing, so that drops like these won’t affect the radio.

Another feature you’ll need is waterproofing. It might rain and your radio can get wet. You may also drop the radio into a puddle. Your campsite may even be at the beach or lake, and you may drop your radio into the water. A good waterproof camping radio able to survive in these situations.

Audio Quality

In a campsite, you won’t have walls that can reflect the sound waves and improve the acoustics. That’s why your smartphone doesn’t sound all that nice outdoors.

But the best camping radio can offer bigger and better speakers, and you can get much improved sound quality. Try to get a radio with ample bass, even though portable radios may not be big enough for truly booming bass. At the very least, you can get better bass than what you get with your “treble-only” smartphone speakers.

Power

The most common option for camping digital radio is to use batteries. Just have spare batteries in your backpack.

If you have a rechargeable battery built-in, there should be multiple recharging options such as solar panel and hand crank. Remember that some campsites don’t have convenient power plugs so you can use an adapter to recharge the battery. In case of emergencies, you need to know about weather alerts for your area.

Radio Options

Regular radios generally offer FM and AM radio. However, the camping weather radio will give you access to the NOAA weather channels. You can even get NOAA alerts even when you’re playing music or even when the unit is turned off.

Additional Functions

There are other functions you can look for that makes your camping radio a lot more useful:

Some radio models can act as power banks for your smartphone, which is crucial if you need to call for help.

Some survival camping radio also works as flashlights and reading lamps. They may even emit SOS lights and buzzers to get the attention of emergency responders.

For more music variety, see if your cap radio has a micro-SD port or an aux-in jack so you can play your mp3 collection.

Best Portable Radio for Camping – Reviews

With plenty of camping radios available, which ones are the best? You can save yourself a lot of trouble by starting your search with these 10 terrific radios for camping:

 

1. FosPower Emergency Portable Camping Radio

Let’s start this list with a truly versatile camp radio that offers plenty of emergency functions. This radio offers both FM and AM channels, so you can get music and the news. But this also gets emergency broadcasts from the NOAA weather channels. If there’s an emergency, you’ll receive an alert even if you’re listening to an FM station.

This also comes with some handy LED lights that can be of some use in a campsite. There’s a reading light, so at night you can check out a paperback while trying to relax right before sleeping. But it also works as a flashlight so you can get around in the dark.

For power, you have 4 options. This comes with a 2000mAh power bank that can recharge your smartphone. This means you can use your smartphone to get news online and to call for help. Even if you’re not in an emergency, it’s always a good idea to make sure your smartphone is always charged.

You can also get this going with 3 AAA batteries. For backup, you can use the solar panel here. Finally, you can even regenerate power manually by using the hand crank.

This is one tough radio, so bring this with you just in case. It’s tough enough that FosPower thinks this will last a lifetime.

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2. Midland ER310 Emergency Weather Radio for Camping

If you’re camping and then you find yourself in an emergency, what you don’t want is to end up holding a useless smartphone with no power. At least bring this radio as backup as it may save your life in an emergency.

This can provide extra power to your smartphone, as it has a rechargeable 2600mAh battery. If you don’t use it as a power bank, then its power can let you use your radio for 32 hours straight.

You can also recharge this battery by using the solar panel during the day and by turning the hand crank. As backup, you can also put in 6 AA batteries.

This is an FM/AM radio, so your music needs and news are covered. The speakers are adequate, and you can use headphones with this. There’s also a USB output port and a USB input port, so you can play your mp3 collection.

But this is a true camping radio because it also gets the NOAA weather channels and alerts. It will scan the 7 NOAA channels and give you the strongest signal, and the alert will sound if there’s a weather emergency.

The LED screen is easy to read, and it gives you the time. In the dark, you can use this radio as your flashlight to get around. There’s a Low setting to conserve energy, but the Bright setting can be used to signal your location if you’re trying to get the attention of first responders. There’s even an SOS emergency beacon that can emit the SOS signal.

There’s even a button here for the ultrasonic dog whistle. If the human first responders can’t find you, maybe their dogs can.

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3. Kaito KA500 Emergency AM/FM/SW/NOAA Weather Alert Camping Radio

This comes with several color options, but we opted for the bright yellow so it’s easier to find. However, it has a lot going for it aside from its looks.

First of all, you have plenty of options on how to power this radio. This comes with a built-in NiMH replaceable and rechargeable battery pack, which you can recharge in several ways. There’s a micro-USB DC charging port, a DC-in charging jack, and a USB DC output port. You can use the solar panel during the day, and the hand crank at any time. For backup, you can also put in 3 AA batteries.

All this power gives you a radio that offers AM and FM radio, along with the NOAA weather channels, 2-band shortwave, and the Public Emergency Alert System. The reception is excellent due to the advanced semiconductor circuitry design and the 14.5-inch telescopic antenna. Set this on Alert Mode, and you can get alerts at any time from the NOAA weather stations.

You can also use this as your power bank, so you can keep your smartphone charged. That gives the ability to call for help, and to just go online if you’re bored.

The radio itself is tough, as it is shockproof and water-resistant. The speaker here is nice, and definitely sounds better than your smartphone speakers.

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4. iRonsnow IS-388 Real NOAA Alert Weather Radio for Camping

You won’t ever have to worry about getting the news whenever you want to when you’re at a campsite. This radio gives you AM and FM radio, plus shortwave (SW1 and SW2). You also get access to the 7 NOAA weather channels, and you can automatically receive any weather alerts if there’s a problem.

This comes with a 2300mAh rechargeable battery, and you can use this radio to recharge your smartphones. You can use the micro-USB port to recharge this battery, though you can also use the solar panel and the hand crank. For backup, you can also put in 3 AA batteries.

This may be a compact radio at less than 8 inches long, but it offers plenty of uses. You can put in a micro-SD card filled with your mp3 collection. It also works as a flashlight and as a reading lamp at night.

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5. Eton Ultimate Camping AM/FM/NOAA Radio

When Eton says this is the “ultimate” camping radio, they weren’t kidding around. They’ve packed this with enough communications technology to really make sure you get the alerts you need in case of an emergency.

This gives you FM and AM radio, for entertainment and for news. Then you also get the NOAA weather alerts. The NOAA access is terrific, as your radio will automatically broadcast emergency weather alerts.

What sets this radio apart is what Eton calls their “Specific Area Message Encoding” technology. You can just enter your county code (you can enter for up to 25 locations) and you’ll get any sort of warning or advisory pertinent to your location. Your radio even emits bright warning lights so you do miss it.

To power this radio, you have a rechargeable battery that you can also use to recharge your smartphone. There’s a solar panel that can recharge this battery fully in just 6 hours. There’s also a hand crank that you can turn for just 4 minutes to give you 10 to 15 minutes of music.

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6. Panasonic RF-2400D Lightweight Camping Radio

Panasonic is one of the more iconic brands in the radio industry, and this simple-looking radio helps explain why the brand is so highly regarded. It’s simple, but it’s a joy to bring along on a camping trip.

Most of the front is reserved for the 10cm speaker, and it’s big enough to give you nice audio when you’re listening to music. To the right, you have a simple analog display for the station ID. This also has a large knob that’s easy to turn to find the music station you want.

If you’re alone and you don’t want to disturb anyone else with your music, you can always just connect your earphones and enjoy your music in private.

This is compact (about 9 inches long) and lightweight, and comes with a large handle so it’s easy to carry. Bring it along plus some extra AA batteries, and you’re in for a more enjoyable time camping.

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7. Greadio Emergency Weather Solar Radio for Camping and Outdoors

This outdoor radio isn’t really too big. It’s about as large as a high-quality flashlight, and it’s not surprising that this works as a flashlight too. It comes with a sizable handle on top, but it isn’t too hard to carry since it weighs just over a pound.

This is powered by a 4000mAh rechargeable battery, which you can recharge fully in just 5 hours. That will give you 15 hours of radio use (or 17 hours of flashlight use). You can recharge this with the micro-USB cable, with the solar panel, or by turning the hand crank. For backup, you can also put in 3 AA batteries.

This gives you AM and FM radio, and there’s also an aux-in jack so you can connect your smartphone. That means you can play your smartphone music but use this radio’s 2 large speakers for better audio quality.

This also gives access to the 7 NOAA weather channels, and these can give you any weather alert for your location.

At night, you can use this as a regular flashlight to move around a dark campsite. Or you can sit and relax, and use this as a reading lamp just before you sleep. This can also emit an SOS alarm to get the attention of emergency responders.

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8. Sangean TB-100 (Toughbox) AM / FM / AUX Portable Camping radio

Yes, this looks tough. The main body is surrounded by a rubber roll cage on all sides so that dropping this won’t cause any damage. The body of the radio itself is made from tough ABS. In addition, this is also water and dust resistant. You won’t have to worry about the rain, as even the speakers are waterproof.

The speaker in front is quite large at 5.25 inches, which gives you the nice audio you want for relaxing in your campsite. You also get a nice, readable LCD screen with backlighting. Then you have 5 1-touch buttons for your favorite AM and FM stations, giving you 10 memory slots all in all.

Or you can just use the aux-in jack to connect your smartphone or mp3 player, so that you can enjoy your own digital music collection.

This comes with a 9-foot attached AC power cord, which is great if your campsite has a power outlet. That means you don’t really need to set this up too near the outlet. You can also just use 4 C batteries, while you wind up the electrical cable at the back of the radio.

All in all, this is a tough radio that offers excellent music. In a campsite, that’s basically what most people want to have a good time.

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9. C. Crane CC Skywave SSB AM, FM, Shortwave Portable Travel Radio

This certainly isn’t cheap, but then you get a long list of features here that make you ready for any emergency. Even in a zombie apocalypse, this will help. That’s somewhat surprising when you consider its small size.

If you’re looking for info, this radio can provide it. This offers AM and FM radio, but you also get the NOAA weather channels and alerts. In fact, you even get Single Side Band (SSB) and VHF Aviation (Airband).

On every band except the weather band, you get fast or fine-tuning. It also offers 400 memory slots for your favorite stations.

This comes with a backlit LCD screen, which can display the time in 12/24-hour mode. It also offers lots of buttons for direct station entry and for getting to your favorite stations. Other features include an alarm along with a stereo headphone jack.

Your purchase actually comes with high-quality earphones along with a faux leather case for this radio. You only need 2 AA batteries to run this for at least 60 hours (70 hours with earphones). However, you can also buy the CC Skywave AC power adapter 5V DC 300 mA with mini USB tip to power this.

All in all, you really get your money’s worth.

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10. TECSUN R-9012 AM/FM/SW 12 Bands Shortwave Radio

At first glance, it looks like an old-fashioned radio. It’s tiny at just 5 inches long, and it only weighs 200 grams (about 7 ounces). The front has the speaker and the large analog radio ID display, plus the switch for FM, AM (labeled as MW here), and SW.

On the sides, you have the large dial on the right for tuning. On the left you have the volume control. It’s easy to use.

But that’s really all you need if you want to get music and news from your radio. To power this, you can connect a DC 3V adapter. But you can also just put in 2 AA batteries.

This offers great reception despite the size, with low noise issues. The built-in speaker works well enough, but there’s an earphone jack as well. It is compact enough for easy carrying, and there’s a carrying strap too.

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Overview of Portable Camping Camp Radio

It’s true that a lot of people go camping to enjoy the sounds and silence of nature. But that can be boring after a while. Eventually, you may want to listen to music as a way to fend off boredom. A good portable camping radio will help you in this situation.

Why Do You Need a Camping Radio?

Music is great when you’re camping. This is especially true when you’re camping without anyone else with you, as the music somehow makes you feel less alone. But even if you’re with friends and family, the music can help provide a more festive atmosphere during the day and especially during the night.

1. It gives you music so you’re not bored.
2. You can tune in to the news.
3. The best portable camping radio can give you weather alerts so you can prepare for bad weather.

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3. Recommended loudest bluetooh speakers with FM radio.

 

FAQs on Camping Radio

Why doesn’t my camp radio have AM radio and instead it has MW radio?
AM and MW both refer to the same band of stations. AM radio is sometimes known as medium wave, which is why it’s called MW.

Why do I need a shortwave radio for camping?

While you don’t absolutely need shortwave radio, it adds variety to your usual AM and FM stations. Sometimes you can even get broadcasts from other continents!

How much power does the hand crank camping radio offer?

It doesn’t offer much, which is why it’s mostly for emergencies only. Each minute of cranking gives you maybe 2 minutes of radio music.

How many spare batteries do I need for camping?

Always bring an extra set of batteries for your radio when you go camping. To be on the safe side, bring 1 set of batteries for each day of camping.

Conclusion

Safety is always a concern when you’re camping because inclement weather can suddenly head your way. Boredom is another issue, especially if you go camping alone. All these problems can be solved with the best portable radio for camping.

Bring one along the next time you go camping, and you won’t regret it. You don’t risk much—they’re affordable and easy to carry. But the benefits you get will be tremendous.

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