Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterTop pickWith easy-to-set alerts and a massive battery, the ER310PRO is a durable radio that doubles as a bright flashlight and a portable charging station.The Midland ER310PRO outshone the competition in multiple tests, delivering on the basics with reliable reception and attention-grabbing alerts but also impressing us with its extra features.We trust its ability to give you alerts. Although we test a lot of features on each model, the most essential requirement for choosing an emergency weather radio is whether you can trust it to receive and broadcast alerts during a disaster. After receiving both test and real emergency weather alerts from the ER310PRO, we’re confident in its ability to do just that.Setting the radio to receive alerts is simple, as you just toggle it with a button below the display. It confirms the choice by flashing “WX” on the screen, which also shows the time, temperature, and battery percentage. In our tests, when the alerts came through, they were jump-out-of-your-seat loud, tying those of the FosPower A6 for the highest decibels I measured. The alerts also illuminate the display and the flashlight, which was by far the brightest among the 11 that I tested. To turn alerts off, you can press any button, which triggers the ER310PRO to play your weather-band station for more information.Reception is another key component of delivering alerts, and I found that the Midland ER310PRO was able to catch a signal both indoors and outdoors, though it did struggle a bit to cut through the static in the more rural, mountainous areas I brought it to for testing. Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterThe Midland ER310PRO (left) is about twice the depth of the Midland ER210. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterIt has by far the biggest battery we’ve ever tested. The ER310PRO’s 10,000 mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery is nearly double the size of the second-largest batteries we tested, the 5,200 mAh batteries of the Eton Quest and FosPower A6. Throughout months of testing, I struggled to make a dent in the ER310PRO’s charge, even when using it to repeatedly charge an iPhone16 Pro. The majority of other radios we tested (including this model’s predecessor, the Midland ER310) struggled to give the same phone even a small percentage bump.In fact, I left the ER310PRO on for over six weeks without plugging it in. Like some other models we tested, the ER310PRO has a solar panel and a hand crank, though I found that these only modestly increased the battery life. But when I plugged it into its USB-C cord, it charged back up quickly.It’s durable, versatile, and portable. Offering Bluetooth support, a flashlight, an SOS blinking setting, and a display that provides both a temperature reading and a clock, the Midland ER310PRO would be a great camping companion. It survived a 7-foot drop onto a sidewalk unscathed and never activated when stored snugly in a backpack, so I would toss it into a go bag without worry. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter, MidlandFlaws but not dealbreakersThe sound quality is solid but not necessarily enjoyable. If you want to listen to the radio regularly, you’d be better served by the C. Crane CCRadio Solar or Midland WR400, both of which provide a more pleasant sound than the slightly muffled broadcast of the ER310PRO.It’s a newer model. We’ve recommended models from Midland for nearly a decade, including the ER310PRO’s predecessor, the ER310. The ER310PRO is comparatively new, so we’ll continue to monitor our test unit and online reviews to see how it holds up over time. This model is also less widely available than some other radios.
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