When you go off on your summer holidays, be it a UK camping holiday or an exotic beach holiday, one thing you can do with having is a nice little portable radio. There are a number of options open to you, but we went with a budget priced product that has worked well for us.

We bought a wind up/ solar powered radio which suited our requirements and was sold under the Duronic brand name. Its a good little gadget as it requires no batteries and is portable enough to slip into your case or hand luggage without taking up too much space.

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The Duronic Apex AM/FM Radio has lots of useful functions packed into it. It can be solar powered if its left in bright sunlight, as it has a small solar panel on the top of the radio body. This in itself is a fantastic idea for a small holiday radio.

This solar function is something that has been so simple to use. When you are away in hot sunny climates, just leaving the radio in the sunlight when ever you remember is enough to charge up the unit. At home, the solar features still work just as well in bright sunlight when outside. Its also amazing that just leaving the radio in a sunny conservatory or by a window can charge it really well too.

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Our little Duronix Radio came simply boxed with a set of instructions that showed the product. It wasn't fancy but it did the job of protecting the radio prior to us buying it. When we opened the box, we found the radio to be of a reasonable quality which was what we hoped it would be.

The instructions that came were not all that clear and easy to read as the print was a little small. We found that the instructions did describe the functions of the product and that was of help to us. The main features of the radio and its functions were described well enough and after a good read through we felt able to understand the basics of how to work the radio.

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Thinking about how best to describe the radio, I feel its best to say that its look feel and sound is that of a budget brand. As we didn't buy it for its amazing looks and didn't expect it to sound amazing, we were not at all disappointed when we first listened to the sounds it made.

We paid £14 for the radio from a small retailer and on reflection, I feel that we got value for money. When you think about how many times you might have to buy and replace batteries for a small radio like this, or even how much you may need to spend charging up rechargeable batteries to power the radio, you are saving money on not having to do that.

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The feel of the radio is slightly soft and rubbery. The shape is rather unusual and the main on and off dial and the tuner dial are set at either end of the radio. The ends of the radio have a nice easy grip feel to them, almost camera like in a way and so you can easily hold the radio when adjusting volume and tuning.

There is a small yet rather bright blue LCD display which shows the time clearly. Along the top of the radio there are buttons to control the torch, the time settings, the AM or FM bandwidth, etc. There is also a headphone in/out jack which is placed at one end and can be easily accessed if needed. The solar panel is also placed in the centre top of the radio, which means you can stand the radio in the sun and charge it easily.

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The radio ariel is set to one side and can be extended if needed in order to get a better/ clearer signal. Often depending on how you angle the radio, we have found that we haven't always had to have the ariel fully open. The sounds that come from the radio are not as bassy as you may want, but they are clear enough.

I feel that you do need to remember that the radio is an item that is suited to situations where a normal radio would be unsuitable for usage. Therefore it would be expecting too much for an item that is so cheap to buy and has all the extra functions that this one does, to be of super duper sound quality too.

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All I can say is that it works and it works well. Its not going to be the most enjoyable listening experience ever as the treble seems to be rather tinny at times and bass sounds are lacking. However as an over all product which can be used in so many situations, we have been really pleased with our purchase.

The fact that we can if needed, either charge our radio via the sun or by a quick wind of the winding/ charging arm makes this a little gem. We haven't had to do much at all to get the radio working well and its been very low maintenance. The radio is small and compact and is something we find very useful indeed.

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We can take this with us almost anywhere and it will keep us updated with local news, we can set an alarm if needed, we can also use the torch facility. We can charge the radio via the sun or by a manual charge. The torch is set onto the end of the radio and is bright enough to be used when out and about on camping trips etc, where it can prove very helpful.

If you want to listen to the radio and not disturb any one else, you can easily attach some headphones via the headphone jack. This is another very useable feature of the radio that we have made use of. The radio will function for several hours when it has been charged for a short period and if the indicator light turns red and you need to charge the radio up, a quick wind of the charger arm, will keep it working for a little longer.

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In summary this little radio is very handy. It can function to a decent standard and will not let you down by running out of power. Its easy to charge and use and the torch feature is a welcome addition. The headphone jack is another nice feature, as is the alarm (although thats a bit loud at times).

In terms of rating the item, I want to give it 5 stars. Its not the greatest sounding bit of kit you will ever have, but it more than makes up for that with its easy to use features. As a product to take on beach or camping holidays, or to use in situations where any other form of radio would be difficult to keep charged, this product is ideal.