Review of Sangean MMR99 (English)

[@Lucas52581]

Nice review! I'm not sure if I would use it to wake up every morning but it certainly fits what I'm looking for an emergency radio

[@Vardagsprepping]

Thank you very much! Yes, it has everything I need. :)

[@deltawing9]

Thank you for this video! Awesome radio, only the non-replaceable battery surprised me. If I prepared for emergency I would have stocked charged 18650-s in hard shell. Real emergencies last longer than 16 and 3/4 hours. The benefit of the smaller 18350 battery in the predecessor is that you can lift the voltage of the smaller capacity battery with fewer cranks.

[@rejnokarl2514]

I've been in contact with Sangean and the battery is replaceable. You have to undo the screws and open the radio. The battery is not a standard battery but Sangean will stock spare batteries. As long as you are careful with the rubber gasket the IP55 will not be compromized as you screw the radio together again.

[@deltawing9]

@@rejnokarl2514 thank you, I appreciate this. Still. I'm coming partly from RC modelling and two decades of studying the flashlight evolution. Cylindric Li-ion batteries are now generally available, there are awesome chargers and storage devices. I would prefer Sangean putting a removable, sealed door for quick and safe battery replacement. But this way one can still maintain external batteries and use them in powerbank shell like Xtar PB2S to add runtime to these radios.

[@rejnokarl2514]

@@deltawing9 I agree. A standard battery would be much better than the "laptop-style" battery Sangean has in the MMR99. That way end users would be free to source batteries from wherever they are available, not only from Sangean.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Yeah i talked to Sangean's team on their youtube channel and asked them to consider a few things for the successor model like having AA battery alternatives as another energy source and also making the rechargeable battery easily replaceable again like on the MMR-88. We'll see how it turns out. I haven't opened up my MMR-99 yet because i don't wanna risk damaging the dust & water seals.

[@deltawing9]

@@KRAFTWERK2K6 the previous model had 18350 removable battery. Many reviewers found that format weird and hard to get, but in fact 18350 became the flashlight world's ultimate small hotrod format'a battery. Benefit of smaller capacity built in battery is that fewer cranks can get more voltage. May be users should consider keeping external power banks for extended service.

[@clasleandersson6229]

Alltid intressant att se hur saker fungerar, viktigt att lära känna sina prylar ! 👍Tack för bra video 😃

[@Vardagsprepping]

Tack Clas! 😊

[@KJ-yq5gm]

Thanks, great review it's perfect for what I am looking for.

[@Vardagsprepping]

Wonderful! Thank you for watching :)

[@KJ-yq5gm]

@@Vardagsprepping I finally bought it it's great

[@BigSkySmoker]

Can this unit be plugged in and used as an ordinary shelf radio?

[@ullebullebagarbengt]

En dum fråga kanske men jag hittar inte svar på nätet. Är det ngn skillnad på grön, blå, svart och beige. De kostar olika mkt.

[@Vardagsprepping]

Hejsan! Det är ingen skillnad i funktion, endast färg. Däremot finns det en FM-modell (vanlig radio, något billigare) och en med FM samt DAB(digital mottagning - denna är dyrare) 😊

[@burstfireno1617]

Jeg tror den dyrer version har powerbank. Den billigere version har måske ikke powerbank funktion

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

The Ants just wanted to listen to some radio too :P It's a great model. A bit pricey and the battery cannot be easily accessed (unless you open up the radio) but it's pretty sturdy and really seem to withstand a lot of beating. I would however suggest to not use the Handcrank all the time to not wear it out and really ONLY use it as an absolute last resort option to charge it in the absolute emergency. The fully charged battery will basically run the radio for ca. 24 hours, if you don't charge a Phone via USB in Powerbank mode. Apparently on really sunny days the solar panel on top is able to power the radio for 100% of its energy consumption, it aimed directly at the sunlight. I would suggest to check the power status of the battery every now and then since the radio seem to drain some energy from the battery even if turned off (for the Clock i think) so don't let it become too low. The battery lifetime can be increased by keeping the charge between 70-60% which is enough to not self discharge too much and also keeping enough energy in the cells to not underpower the battery :) If the battery would be removable i'd simply suggest removing it at that capacity. But sadly... on this model it's not possible unless you tear the radio apart. Let's hope Sangean fixes that with the next model. Other than that the radio itself is fantastic.

[@Vardagsprepping]

Thank you for the awesome comment! Agree on the hand crank part - don't use it for anything other than emergency charging the radio for radio use. I believe I have a coming project in the future where I change the battery. Let's see how it goes :)

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@@Vardagsprepping I'd love to see that :) Especially where the weather seals are, how they look and if they can be replaced as well.

[@MissDiamondsMM]

It is by the way ' A Great Radio' ( just arrived and has' A Wonderful Sound ' ! Thanks for Your Good Video 👍 Warm Greetings Marilyn from The Netherlands 💎

[@Vardagsprepping]

Thanks for watching :)

[@piotryczek9114]

Martin super video 😀👍 radio Ok.💪👍👍👍

[@Vardagsprepping]

Tack! :-)

[@lailamadsen3504]

Hahahaha the ants got me! Thx for the review

[@dimatha7]

would it be possible to open it and inform us if the battery can it be replaced or not?

[@Vardagsprepping]

I think I will try actually :)

[@dimatha7]

@@Vardagsprepping that would be amazing, that would sky rocket the sales of the radio if replacing is easy, ask for some free products from them

[@dimatha7]

@@Vardagsprepping that would be amazing, thanks

[@SvenM.Ekeren]

​@@Vardagsprepping You should make a video on it 🙂👍

[@HuplesCat]

Nice review. The 88 is available in Canada but not the 99. Bit bulky for hiking but and interesting alternative to our usual emergency radios

[@Vardagsprepping]

Thank you for commenting! Agree, the 99 is a bit bulky for hiking but an excellent choice when you don't need to think so much about weight :)

[@issacnewton9767]

I talked to their rep, and they said the MMR-99 will release in the US and Canada February

[@jameshopkins365]

It would be nice to see a size comparison between the 88and 99. We use the 88 at the cabin thanks for the video 🇨🇦

[@jaypaans3471]

Hey, Are you sure that _red_ button - next to the white light and fog light - is to trigger an *audio* alarm? I "think" it's for a SOS flashlight.

[@Vardagsprepping]

Glad you pointed this out. And I'm not spreading false information :) The emergency button makes the lights flash yes. And it also emits an alarm sound that increases in strength the longer you have it activated.

[@jaypaans3471]

@@Vardagsprepping ah, then we were both right 😅

[@jamescolton8513]

Is it a digital tuner that may not hit the correct frequencies that are in the U.S.A?

[@Vardagsprepping]

This version is an FM version that seeks out the current channels. I am somewhat unsure on however you're still going for the FM/AM or have decided to migrate to DAB?

[@issacnewton9767]

I talked to their rep, and they said the MMR-99 will release in the US and Canada February

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

It's a DSP based receiver and it covers the frequency Spectrum for FM for all regions. No matter if USA, Europe, Japan or other regions. It can be all selected in the radio settings. So it's really no problem :)

[@mrkesu]

@@Vardagsprepping MMR-99 should have FM and DAB+ as far as I can tell

[@DavidDoster-u1r]

What are you watching?

[@mykhal]

Nice. But, according to specs, it has DAB (and no AM), which is bad or good (both would be better).

[@Vardagsprepping]

Hello! Thank you for commenting! Actually, the MMR99 comes in two different versions; the "ordinary" one and the DAB-version. The version reviewed is the AM/FM-version :)

[@Tearstank]

Do I need the dab option? The 99+ has both dab and fm but cost 50 euro more

[@Vardagsprepping]

@@Tearstank DAB is extremely important to take into consideration if you are a prepper. DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcast and means that it will recieve on the digital band which is more narrow. This means that you need to check whether your country or state have, or is planning to shut down the analog FM band or not. If they are planning to shut it down, I would recommend the version with both alternatives. If not, then you are fine with the cheaper, analog version

[@morzh1978]

@@Vardagsprepping Most of NATO members have no DAB sources whatsoever, or you have to relay on military to prepare enough DAB transmitters to put into service right after nuclear blasts and other EMP sources have just finished for sure. It is somehow optimistic.

[@petter5721]

In Sweden there is no AM broadcasts, only FM and DAB.

[@stighenningjohansen]

Have an MMR-99 DAB+, its nice, works very well ,nice sound, very good battery life, but not AA backup..

[@MissDiamondsMM]

😂👍🐝

[@joistein]

To big to have in your rug sack.

[@Vardagsprepping]

Agree, it eats up a lot of space in your backpack. But as a radio in your cabin or hose - perfect! :)