Freeplay Energy - Companion (radio, torch, mobile charger)

I wanted a flashlight/radio combi that would work regardless of battery availability, enter the Freeplay Energy Companion. Quality is top notch, form factor small and compact, battery life superb, what a cracker! I am suitably impressed. The battery charge lasts and lasts, especially if left in the sunlight (solar panel) and the sound reproduction is superb for such a small device. You can't expect mega bass, it is what it is, a device that acts as an emergency light source and mini one way comms device in one. The product ooozzeeesss quality, it ROCKS!!!

This radio/torch has been brilliant, I take it everywhere with me to listen to football or music. The sound is ok for a small device. The word of caution is to use the winding handle gently and take care with the head phone jack as the handle broke on mine (It was after a year of hard use)and the external speaker stopped working (I think due to strain on the jack plug). Having said that I have bought a new one and hope with care, to have it for years.

My daughter bought this for me as a fathers day gift. I have had its predecessor [ Freeplay Ranger ] for several years, and wanted one for upstairs, and one down. I am really impressed with its performance for such a tiny radio. Easy to operate, good volume and clarity and holds its power for ages. Only drawback is the winding handle which is quite fragile and requires care to wind [ unlike the Ranger which I have been winding for years without apparent damage of any sort ] however, for the price, a brilliant little radio.

Good quality radio, great torch, phone charger, and all very well put together. For anyone reading review, worth noting this is a relatively small product, and so the volume level you get from the radio isn't what you might expect given the cost of the item.

Brilliant, take it everywhere with me, even to the greenhouse when pricking out seedlings! Solar works very well, just leave it on a windowsill to recharge. Good to have a torch too that will never let you down in a powercut. Smaller than my last one (that I broke by dropping it on a hard floor) so even better really. Sound is surprisingly good, fine for speech, not quite so good for music, but ok.

This is a nice little device for camping, but there are other solar-powered, crank-powered radio torches out there. This device stands out from the rest because of the mobile phone charger. Unfortunately, the cable that comes with it only connects to old Nokia phones. However, if you connect that cable to the 'U-Bop Nokia 3.5mm Large Pin to Nokia Micro USB Charging Adapter Lead' (which you can also get from Amazon), it allows you to charge anything with a Micro USB port. Just for the record, that's pretty much all new mobile devices. Hell, you can charge your Kindle with this!

The winding handle broke after about a year and now, after 18 months, the wind up mechanism has failed completely. Not what I expected in terms of reliability. I shall not be trusting Freeplay as a brand until they get back to the glory days of their earlier robust radios.

Extremely well built, robust radio and torch that will work after a lot of abuse. charges well in sunlight, and the winder really does make it work for a worthwhile amount of time for the effort put in.The mobile phone charger only works on Nokia phones, it looks like you could charge a smart phone off it with the right lead, but you can't, and i'd say that that you ought to know that before you buy it, hence 3 stars. i've had other products from this brand before and they've been very good in terms of durability of the batteries, and being extremely robust, hence not 0 stars!