What Is It?

The Radius is a small, compact, battery operated mosquito repellant that uses Thermacell’s patented heating mechanism to disperse vapors into the air and cast a wide net of protection around you.

Unlike the MR450, the Thermacell isn’t as much for on-the-go, portable protection and is more for use at home, or for applications where you know you’ll be able to recharge it after several uses. What you trade in ruggedness and portability, though, you gain back in the amount of protection you get. After giving the Radius 5-10 minutes to heat up, it puts up an incredible 110 square foot barrier around you. That can cover an entire patio, or an entire area of a family sitting spaced out at a ball game. It’s amazing how much space it truly is when you use it in real-life situations.

But I don’t mean to say that this thing isn’t portable. It’s still extremely small! Smaller height and width than a standard slice of bread, and as thick as about 3 or 4 stacked together. That’s totally manageable. I’ve never been packing it away and thought, “man I wish this were smaller”.

The Radius uses specially designed cartridges that they fill with their proprietary liquid. There is a little “stick” that protrudes out of the cartridge and absorbs the liquid. You place the cartridge in its designated slot, and the Radius heats the stick up while it very slowly burns off the liquid into a vapor. The cartridges come in 2 varieties. 12 hour and 40 hour. One 12 hour cartridge is included when you purchase it.

One of the most compelling parts about the Thermacell line of products in general is that none of them give off a detectable odor! That is so counter to standard repellant products that typically use smell as their primary line of defense. Honestly I have no idea how an odorless formula works haha, but it absolutely does!

Typically the battery lasts around 6 hours, which is usually more than you’d ever need for a single use, and often allows for several uses before needing to recharge. It takes around 5 hours to fully recharge the battery. It uses Micro USB for its charging port and comes with both a cord and a power block in the package when you purchase it. 

5 Fav Features

• Amount of Protection
  • I haven’t found anything on the market that allows for this amount of protection (110 square feet) while still being a stand-alone unit, let alone being odorless! This is truly the Radius’ differentiating feature.
• Rechargeable
  • I hate it when I have to use AA or AAA batteries for a product that is typically used for extended periods of time. I’m always stressed the whole time and thinking, “Shoot do we need to turn that off? Do we still need it?”. It’s so nice to be able to use it as much as needed and have the peace of mind that all I need to do it plug it in to juice it back up.
• Compact Size
  • While it’s not as rugged as the MR450, it’s still extremely portable! It’s actually smaller than the MR450, it’s just that you can’t beat it up quite as much so you have to take a bit more care when packing/transporting it.
• Reusable Cartridges
  
  • One of the primary ways that the MR450 falls short is that the repellant pads have to be used once they’re opened. But the cartridges that the Radius uses have a lid and can just be closed up after use and stored away for extended periods of time. Allows you to get it out and use it, even if you only need it for 30 minutes, without worrying about using up an entire pad.
• Battery Life
  • The Radius’ battery lasts about 6 hours. That’s plenty of time for a single use, and usually allows you to get several uses out of it before needing a recharge. 

Let’s Get Practical

All of the above describes the product itself, what it does, and how it differentiates itself from others like it.

But let’s talk about what it all comes back to. What does using this product actually look like in day-to-day use? Awesome…it has a bunch of cool features…but in practice, are they actually helpful?

I can answer that question only with my experience. With how I put this product to use in my own life to make it easier, more efficient, more consistent, more fun, whatever the case may be. Your experience will, of course, be different. But this should give you a place to start. You can at least read on with the knowledge that no products make it on this site without being a thoroughly tested, tried-and-true part of some area of my life!

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One thing that people may not know is that you can actually operate the Radius while it’s charging! This really comes in handy if you ran the battery low the last time you used it and you forgot to recharge it. Instead of being unable to use it the next time you go to turn it on, you can just plug it in and it will charge while it runs!

Another practical bit of advice is to spring for the 40 hour cartridge. If you add up the price of just over three 12 hour cartridges, it totals far more than how much the 40 hour cartridge costs. If you know you’re going to use this thing with any sort of consistency, you’re going to burn up 40 hours…so might as well save the money by buying the larger one up front.

One thing you may be wondering, but can’t know without actually using it, is if it can accidentally turn on in you bag. The button is very exposed and there is no “lock” feature. I was certainly nervous about that when I bought it. but fear not! Thermacell thought of that too. The Radius breaks in two pieces that are held together by magnets. All you need to do is separate the two halves and no matter how many times you tap that button, the unit won’t turn on and you won’t drain any battery.

Summary

• Pros
  • I love how wide the Radius disperses its protection. That to me is what makes it truly stand apart.
  • I also really like that it’s rechargeable, and that the battery has a strong run time of about 6 hours.
  • Reusable cartridges allow you to use it for as short or as long of a time as needed.
• Cons
  • The status light ring that is around the “on” button is hard to see in any kind of brightly lit situation. If you’re in the sun you have to full on put it under your shirt or something to see if it’s actually on.
  • The MR450 has a status indicator light that tells you when it’s heated up enough to start working. I wish the Radius had the same feature. I’d like to know when I can actually expect it to be working, since a heating up period is required.