Midland ER40 Review: Specs, Alerts and ER40 vs ER310

The Midland ER40 is a small emergency radio that does four jobs: it sounds a siren when the National Weather Service sends an alert, it plays AM and FM news, it lights the way and it gives your phone a little charge. It charges by USB, by hand crank or by sunlight. Below is everything Midland's own manual and spec sheet say about it, where it falls short, and how it compares with Midland's bigger ER310.

Editorial Research & Review

Reviewed by

Lena Thornton, Weather Station Analyst & CWOP Contributor

Based on

Midland's ER40 owner's manual, ER40 spec sheet and ER40 product page; Midland's ER310 product page and ER310 spec sheet; and the National Weather Service's NOAA Weather Radio pages. We did not test these radios ourselves. All numbers are Midland's; nothing was measured by us. Where we give our own opinion, we say so.

Research last verified

October 20, 2026

Midland ER40 Specs at a Glance

Feature	What Midland says
Radio bands	AM, FM and the weather band (WX)
NOAA weather channels	7 channels, 162.400 to 162.550 MHz
Weather alert	Audible siren and flashing flashlight, then the radio switches to the weather station you tuned
Alerts when switched off	Yes, if alerts are on and the radio is tuned to a local weather station
Alerts while charging a phone	No
Battery	3.7 V, 2,600 mAh lithium-ion, size 18650, replaceable, included (Midland part BATT26L)
Other batteries	None: the manual says it does not support alkaline batteries; use only the Midland battery
Charging the radio	Micro-USB port, hand crank, solar panel
Charging your phone	USB output port (no output current or list of supported phones published)
Flashlight	Low, high and an SOS Morse code beacon (no brightness figure published)
Display and clock	Backlit LCD (always on, 5-second timer or off), 12 or 24-hour clock
Reception	Up to 50 miles from the weather station, depending on location, weather and terrain
Other	Telescopic antenna, headphone jack, wrist lanyard, low-battery indicator
Run time	Not published by Midland
Size	Not published for the radio itself; the gift box is 6.8 x 4.3 x 2.0 inches and weighs 1.0 lb
Warranty	One year; accessories, including batteries and charge cables, 90 days; water damage is not covered

Sources: ER40 owner's manual, ER40 spec sheet, Midland ER40 product page. Checked October 20, 2026.

What is in the box, according to Midland's product page and spec sheet: the radio, the rechargeable 2,600 mAh battery, a wrist lanyard and the owner's manual. Midland's manual mentions a provided USB cable three times and says "Only use the provided Midland USB cable for charging", but neither box list names the cable, so check the box when it arrives. The charging port is micro-USB, not USB-C, which matters if your drawer is full of USB-C cables.

How the ER40 Weather Alert Works

This is the reason to buy a weather radio, so here are the steps from Midland's manual, in order:

1. First use: turn the radio over and pull out the yellow battery tab completely.
2. Switch on: press and hold the power button for three seconds.
3. Pick the weather band: press the power/band button until you reach WX.
4. Find your channel: use the tune buttons to select the weather channel for your area, or press and hold to scan to the next active channel. The manual points to weather.gov/nwr/counties to find the channel for your location.
5. Turn alerts on: press the weather alert button. The WX icon on the screen flashes when alerts are active.

When an alert comes in, the radio sounds a siren, the flashlight flashes and the radio switches to the weather station you tuned, so you hear what the alert is about. Press any button to stop the alert. To turn alerts off, press the alert button again: the WX icon stops flashing (in weather band) or disappears (in AM/FM).

Two notes from the manual matter more than all the others:

• The ER40 receives alerts when it is powered off, as long as it is tuned to a local weather station and alerts are activated. You can switch alerts on and off while the radio is off, and the screen then still shows the clock, the battery status and the alert icon, so you can see at a glance that it is armed.
• The ER40 does not receive alerts while it is charging another device. If the radio is on when you plug in a phone, it switches itself off and goes into charge mode.

For better reception, Midland says to pull the antenna all the way out and turn it until the sound is clear; indoors, a spot near a window usually helps.

About SAME: SAME is the code that lets some weather radios sound only for your own county. Midland's ER40 manual, spec sheet and product page do not mention SAME. In our reading, that means the ER40 alerts for whatever its weather station broadcasts, which can include nearby counties. If county filtering matters to you, see how SAME codes work on a Midland radio. Midland's ER40 documents also say nothing about the weekly test broadcast or about customizing alerts, so we do not claim either way.

How to Charge the Midland ER40

Everything runs on one battery: a 3.7 V, 2,600 mAh lithium-ion cell (size 18650). You can fill it three ways, according to the manual:

1. USB: connect the provided Midland USB cable to a USB power source and to the radio's micro-USB port. The manual says to use only the provided Midland cable.
2. Hand crank: turn the crank. Midland says the speed and the length of time you crank decide how much charge goes in. It does not publish how many minutes of radio one minute of cranking gives.
3. Solar panel: put the solar panel in direct sunlight.

While it charges, the battery bars on the screen cycle from none to three. The manual also says: use only the Midland lithium-ion battery, the radio does not take alkaline batteries, and setting the backlight to "always on" shortens battery life. Need a spare BATT26L battery? The manual lists Midland Customer Service at (816) 241-8500, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm CST.

Charging your phone from it: plug your phone's own USB cable into the port marked USB on the side. Midland says the radio should be fully charged first. Midland does not publish the ER40's USB output or which phones it supports, so in our view treat it as a small top-up for a call or a text, not a full phone charge. And remember the catch from the alert section: no weather alerts while it charges your phone.

Our routine (in our view): charge it by USB before hurricane or storm season and after every use, and treat the crank and the sun as backups for a long outage. A crank radio is a bit like a spare tire: great to have, not how you want to drive every day.

Midland ER40 vs ER310

	Midland ER40	Midland ER310
Battery	2,600 mAh lithium-ion (18650), replaceable	Lithium-ion: 2,600 mAh on Midland's spec sheet, 3,500 mAh on its current product page
Backup batteries	None (no alkaline)	6 AA batteries (not included)
Run time from Midland	Not published	Up to 32 hours (spec sheet) or up to 45 hours (current product page)
Charging the radio	Micro-USB, hand crank, solar	Micro-USB, hand crank, solar
Flashlight	Low, high, SOS Morse code	CREE LED (spec sheet); the product page lists 1,400 lux; low, high, SOS Morse code
Extras	Wrist lanyard, headphone jack	Ultrasonic dog whistle for search and rescue dogs
Phone charging	USB out; no alerts while charging; Midland does not say which phones it supports	USB out; Midland's FAQ says newer iPhones (X and later) and Android phones can draw too much power for it
Weather alerts	7 NOAA channels, siren and flashing light; alerts while switched off; the weekly test is not mentioned	NOAA alerts; Midland says it receives all area alerts, including the weekly test
SAME county filtering	Not mentioned	Not mentioned; Midland says alerts cannot be customized
Size	Gift box 6.8 x 4.3 x 2.0 in (radio size not published)	Radio 8.0 x 3.4 x 2.4 in on the product page (the older spec sheet lists 9.61 x 6.85 x 2.95 in and 1.46 lb)
On Amazon	See the ER40	See the ER310

Sources: ER40 owner's manual and spec sheet; Midland ER310 product page (including its FAQ) and ER310 spec sheet. Midland's two ER310 documents give different battery and size figures; check the listing you buy from. Checked October 20, 2026.

Which one, in our view? The ER40 is the simpler radio, and Midland calls it a "compact design" (its radio size is not published). The ER310 is the one for long outages: it can run on 6 AA batteries from any store when the lithium battery and the sun both let you down, and Midland publishes a run time for it. If you already own an ER310, the ER40 makes sense as a second radio for the car or a go-bag, not as an upgrade. More on that model in our Midland ER310 review, and Midland's ER210 is compared in ER310 vs ER210. Prefer a crank radio from another brand? See our Eton Quest review and ER310 vs Eton FRX3.

What the ER40 Does Not Do

• No alerts while charging a phone. This is the one to remember on a stormy night.
• No SAME county filtering in Midland's documents.
• No AA or alkaline backup. If the lithium battery is empty, you crank or wait for the sun.
• No published run time, and no crank-to-minutes figure.
• Micro-USB, not USB-C, for charging the radio.
• No water resistance rating. Midland lists none, and its warranty excludes water damage, so keep it dry.
• Reception is limited: up to 50 miles from the weather station, according to Midland, depending on location, weather and terrain. The National Weather Service gives about 40 miles on level terrain as typical (NWS).

Should You Buy the Midland ER40?

A good fit: a go-bag, a car, a camper or a kitchen drawer for hurricane season, when you want weather alerts, AM/FM news and a light that do not depend on the power grid or a cell signal. Ready.gov's hurricane advice: "Be sure to have several ways to receive alerts" (Ready.gov). A weather radio is one of them.

Skip it if: you want a bedside alarm that sounds only for your county (look at a SAME desktop radio such as the one in our Midland WR400 review), or you want a radio that runs for days on store-bought batteries (look at the ER310 above).

In our view, the ER40 is an honest little radio for its job. Just set it up before the storm, not during it: finding your weather channel with a flashlight in your teeth is nobody's idea of fun.

Where a Radio Fits in Your Hurricane Plan

A radio is one piece of the plan, not the plan. Know what the alerts mean (hurricane watch vs warning), know your evacuation zone before a storm comes, understand storm surge, and know where to follow a storm officially. And always follow your local officials.

Midland ER40 FAQ

Update Log

• October 20, 2026: First version. ER40 details from Midland's owner's manual, spec sheet and product page; ER310 comparison from Midland's ER310 product page and spec sheet.

Sources

• Midland ER40 owner's manual (alerts, channels, charging, battery, menu, reception, warranty)
• Midland ER40 spec sheet (features, battery part number, box contents, box size)
• Midland ER40 product page
• Midland ER310 product page and FAQ
• Midland ER310 spec sheet
• National Weather Service: NOAA Weather Radio coverage by county
• Ready.gov: Hurricanes

More radios: Midland ER310 · ER310 vs ER210 · Midland WR400 · Eton Quest · Weather radio for power outages