C. Crane CC Pocket AM FM and NOAA Weather Radio with Clock and Sleep Timer

The speaker on the CC Crane is much louder and cleaner sounding than the speaker on the Sangean DT-400W. The CCrane speaker is more trebly sounding than the Sangean. This is OK with me as I can hear talk radio much clearer and louder. The Sangean is more mellow and richer sounding but volume has to be kept low or it starts to sound harsh. The Sangean is made to be listened to up close to appreciate the sound. The CCrane can take a bit higher volume and remain cleaner sounding. The CCrane can be listened to much louder and still sound nice and clean. I can listen to the CCrane from further away and still hear it clearly and loud. The CCrane is much easier to listen to then the Sangean because it can be turned up louder and the sound is clean even at higher volumes. The Sangean has a small speaker sound while the CCrane has a bigger speaker sound. Even though you can turn up the volume on the CCrane, it doesn't ever get very loud. But it is loud enough.I am liking this radio a lot the more I listen to it and use it. It is a keeper. You pay more for the CCrane than the Sangean for a reason. It sounds much louder and clearer when volume turned up. It has great features that the Sangean doesn't. I like the 5 separate buttons for saving favourite radio stations. I also like the different shut-off intervals whereas the Sangean only has one, 90 minutes. I used the 30 minute one on the CCrane Pocket radio last night and it worked perfectly. I have not yet used the Alarm feature. Overall, the CCrane Pocket has better and more useful features than the Sangean. The CCrane has good reception of a faraway station in Montreal, CJAD about 200 kilometers away. This is only during the daytime but shows it is sensitive enough to pull in such a far away AM station.I have the following radios to compare with. Sangean DT-400W. Sony ICF-F10. Panasonic RF2400. Sangean PR-D5P. Kaito KA2005. Sony ICFP26 and the older silver coloured model before this one.The best fitting case I have found for this radio is a brand called Insignia. (18I20W) It is a nice firm but comfortable fit with just a tad bit of room at the top. The case has clean lines when zipper is closed. Slim pocket in the front. CCcrane Radio with belt clip attached. The Insignia is the minimalist case for the CCcrane radio. A roomier case is the Case Logic DCB-302. It has a roomier front pocket. See photos showing the Insignia and Case Logic side by side.

C. Crane CC Pocket AM?FM Radio with weather, clock and sleep timer and external speaker is great! The wide ranging volume control lets you fine tune its volume, which is great if you want to listen while resting your eyes or going to sleep. You can get it whisper quiet or really loud. All other radios have a narrow range of volume that is not as user friendly as this one. While I don't use the external speaker, preferring to use headphones, it is nice to know it is there when you need it. The supplied ear buds, while of fine quality, are not my cup of tea, as I prefer on the ear soft foam headphones over in ear buds, so I don't use the supplied ear buds. Pulls in stations really well and battery life is excellent. Small size makes it easy to put in a pocket. Has a lock feature so once you select a station, you won't accidently tune off it if you inadvertently hit a button.

Has quality build. Functional design and feels good in your hand. The shape and thin silicone sides make it easy to hold, unlike cheaper radios that feel like a bar of slippery soap. There are plenty of possible presets, to save your favorite stations. In my location rural Northern Calif, the AM choices come in great and all the FM’s are there but benefit greatly by plugging in the supplied soft small antenna. The earbuds also function as an FM antenna whether you wear them or not. Great sound from the earbuds... I’m a musician and these earbuds are better than the pricey name brand one’s in the market in my opinion. Ten pairs of earbud tips are supplied so you can attach the exact fit for your ears. The headphone jack, volume, on/off are conveniently on the top of the radio. Amazing someone thought of that!! So you can have in your shirt/jacket pocket or clipped to your belt with provided clip, AND access those three things without removing/handling the radio! Great! Clock, alarm, weather band are easy to use. There’s even a very handy lock feature to assure bumping any buttons will not change your selected settings.So here’s my reason for buying a simple handheld radio, like my Dad always had on hand: I live in Mendocino County fire country. We have had deliberate week long power outages due to last week’s huge uncontained fires in the entire north bay. Internet down. Cell towers overloaded and not working. The ONLY source of local fire and community information was from good old fashioned AM/FM radios. The corporate utility company promises there will be more power outages soon as they trot through Calif testing/replacing their ancient poles and wires that spark these horrendous fires. SO, radios, generators, battery powered lanterns, flashlights, batteries, and propane bbq grills have been flying off the shelves. This C Crane radio will be my connection for info on any emergency communications (evacuation orders, gas availability, open grocery stores, etc) in real time right here where it’s all happening. I first bought a $20 radio and immediately saw it was a piece of ****. I returned it the next day and researched more and decided on this C Crane. Perfect. Everything I want and more. (And I love the fact that the company is located in our sister Humboldt County to the north)Thanks for listening to my entire story. My reason for buying is clearly for use during a local emergency. If you’re reading this, you’re researching. I highly recommend this humble little C Crane handheld for a modest price, over the other brands/models that are less expensive.