Two-Way Radios Reviews

I bought these radios online a few years ago. Have used it since for weddings, road trips, ski trips, camping, vacation, cruises and in hotel rooms. The radio is great with ranges from 1-4 miles depending on the terrain you are in. Just used them up at Lake Tahoe and the range is great! We had friends in the registration lodge as we were on the other side of the mountain and could hear them fine!

Con: I can't tell what other Motorola models are compatible with the "Motorola Spirit GT Professional 2-Way Radio". Wish there was a list somewhere.

We have used them for three years vevery day in our Auto Salvage business. They have enough chanels that we can program them to work in busy metro area without getting lots of bleed over from other radios. Our guys are very hard on them so we seem to get about a year out of them. Inside employees radios are still fine after three years.

Boot Hill Auto and Truck Salvage, Denver,CO

Any product, when tested, shows its true colors. If the testor is consistent, using valid tests then the products behavior becomes known. Motorola Spirit Two-way radio. Distance line of site a least 4 miles. Obstructed: varies, but 2 miles in town. Battery capacity 10 hrs with 10/90 usage. Climate compatable between 20 degrees and 96 degrees. Light weight and comfortable to use.

I bought this as a replacement for my fullsize cobra unit that was "borrowed" from my car without my knowledge. Overall I really like this unit. It is small, compact and can be easily moved from vehicle to vehicle. The best part about it is that you can either have it wired in the car or run it as a handheld. The only downside to the unit is the fairly small speaker, but if you turn down the radio there really is no problem. In terms of performance, I think this little radio works better than any I have had before. I am able to pick up the NOAA weather stations much clearer than I was before. Overall a great product for the price.

Nice radio. gee Luke did you want the thing deivered before you ordered it? I guess maybe you should have spent the extra 15.00 bucks. Amazon service is fast! This is a great product.

To me this radio works better than the small two way radios, thats why I bought it. Yes it's a little bigger than the 2 way radios, but what I really wanted was more clearly transmission and a longer range which is what I got.

Never got it. It arrived at the postoffice and was returned because the postoffice had a temporary employee on at the time and wouldn't deliver to the address. And since you wouldn't redeliver or place somewhere for me to contact you about this problem I had no way to get it resent before you put the money back into my account. Won't happen again.

Thanks,
Artie.

I work security and use the motorola two way radios a lot. The ear piece headset works well but only if you have big ears. I have small ears and the earpiece would slip off a lot. My co-worker likes it because it's lightweight and fits snug. He has larger ears than I do. I recommend this product if you have large enough ears for the earpiece to hang on to.

I purchased these mic's for my wedding videography company to use during all day film shoots. They stand up to the constant use and reuse. I highly recommend if you're in a high paced industry. They hold up and maintain performance as advertised.

I got these radios for about $40. there not bad. I havent been able to really try them. I think they could go sicks miles in an open space. They are very simple(but yet add some very cool features like call rings and scan) and provide some fun as well. For spring break im going to Florida so my family is going to take them there!
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Pros:
Good Clear Voice
Easy to Use
Recharable
Simple

Cons:
Might lose your range after about 3 miles.(But what Wakie-Talkie lives up to its real range?)

Great for:

Bikes
All family occasions
Parks
Six Flags( those places)
Big Buildings
Trips
Car to Car talking.

Not good for:

Going to Safeway and asking your wife what she wants.
Getting directions from others(one house to a car)
Basically, long range stuff.

In the past, I used another brand (begins with an M: T5420's) for skiing and fishing. While those models worked well, they only got about 8 hours on 3 AAA batteries (each unit). Over a weekend trip, this caused a problem.

The Unident's I now have are truly leaps ahead of other models I've used. The rechargeable battery option is perfect and I found the range to be more than adequate. (My family used 4 units over an entire ski resort and had no problems at all with reception: moutain terrain, etc and they worked great).

I highly recommend these units and can speak from experience from using other manufacturers models.

Hope this helped...

After extensive testing, the library where I work switched to these radios based on the price and features. We use about 20 of these to keep people in touch as they move all around a VERY large, two story building in a downtown urban environment. Because they are rechargable, we save a ton of money on batteries (our old radios went through a set every 2 weeks). As for clarity - we have a very strong signal no matter where we are in the library building or on the grounds (an entire city block). The concrete of the building doesn't even keep us from communicating via these radios.

Though I cannot comment on the claim that they will reach six miles (because we don't use them like that), I can say that we enjoy very clear voice conversations with no significant "interference" from outside radios. For our purposes these radios have been perfect!

BECAUSE OF AN ILL FAMILY MEMBER, I MUST LEAVE THE 2-WAY RADIO ON ALL NIGHT. THE STATIC WAKES ME UP. ALSO, BATTERIES HAVE TO BE REPLACED TOO OFTEN. THE ON-OFF BUTTON IS DIFFICULT FOR SENIOR CITIZENS TO USE.

I'm quite disappointed in the performance. We got these radios, opened them up, put in the batteries, and the first one worked perfectly, but.... the second of the two "static-free" had nothing but static until you keyed the talk button. We couldn't even leave it on because even on the #1 setting of volume, it was very loud and annoying! I certainly hope I can get this problem resolved with the company or I'm definately going to want my money back!

When I received these 2-way radio's I was very very pleased. First of all, I think that it is convenient that it comes with a belt holder so you don’t have to hold it all the time. Secondly, the 2-way radio has 14 clear channels, a green light that lights up the screen so you can see at night, and it has an incoming call feature.

The range I am very pleased with. I tested it with my brother and we got about 1 1/2 miles until the radio got a little static but I could still here him clearly. But it got static because he was deep in the woods, with all trees around. On clear land without any huge buildings around or any trees the 2 way radio can reach up to 2 miles.

They're very reliable for everyday use. Plus the batteries last a really long time.

These work very well in amusement parks, malls, sport complexes, between cars, etc.

They also include a speaker and headphone outlets on the top of the 2-way radio.

Overall I am very pleased with these radios.

5 stars!

After receiving this boon mic, I found it did not work consitently. Losing contact with lost words, and the mic had to be held to the lips, therefore it was not truly hands free. I require a mic that I do not have to touch to work and can be used with VOX

I used this headset for about 3 years, first using it on a t289, then upgrading to a t6400. It was used as a convinient way to listen to radio broadcasts in a crowded situation and with a touch of a button, I can easily respond to any transmissions I need to.

The only con about this product, is that sometimes I forget that there's a mic near my mouth. Case in point, when I drank from a water fountain or from a cup, sometimes the liquid hits the mic before my mouth, but after numerous times doing that it still works, picking up my voice whenever I press the button.

I did try it with the VOX option on, but since I'm a heavy breather it always sent my breathing over the air to other users, so I learned to disable that, but it didn't interfer with my usage of the product.

This headset works great with my son's Motorola walkie talkies. Couldn't find anything in the local stores that would work. This is actually his second set and he loves using them with his friends.

Bought this set to use for various things (fairs, boating, camping, around the home, etc..) Great thing was that it came all as one package. Battery packs, clips, charger. Everything I could think of was there. I put these little things to the test and was amazed at the range. In the city was 1 or so miles depending on terrain. Tried it over water and was amassed again at the mile or 2 range. I decided to put it to the last and final test. I took them to the fair where I found out that everyone had them. This pair DOES NOT have the digital sub codes so I heard everyone there. This made the set useless because it was basically a giant party line. Not only could the other person hear what we were saying but so did anyone at the fair. Overall, good units for home, school, camping, hiking. But if your considering using FRS in a large public place consider spending the extra money and getting the digital sub-codes for added security.

I really like this radio set. I'm not in love with the belt clips, but they are so small I just put them in my pocket. My family just got back from DisneyWorld where we put these to good use. They performed great and sounded better than what most others were using. I really like the "done" tone on the end of each transmission and the call feature is great for getting someone's attention.

You cannot beat this deal! Two FRS radios, charger and battery (hopefully you will get the NiMH batteries - they are better than Nicad's)
My wife and I use these extensively everywhere-- on the road, in big grocery or department stores, while one of us goes across the street to buy bread (or lottery tickets), or in the basement to put stuff away....time and again these Cobra FRS's have been helpful for inexpensive two-way communication.
In the US, I am sure that there is channel saturation in places (malls and sporting events); still, these are so handy if someone is in the car and needs to drop the other person off to get directions or find a parking spot...you will be amazed at the number of uses you will find for them.
This model has about everything you might need....remember that 500mw is only going to go so far...the laws of physics do not change even if the brand name of your product does! UHF transmissions are best when you and the other party are in "line of sight" and not blocked by large buildings, lots of trees, etc. This is just a fact of life.
But in stores or malls, these radios come in sooo handy...one can shop at the "guy store" while your wife looks at clothes or kitchen junk....and each can brouse to their heart's content, then ring the other when it is time to go the opera (or baseball game!!)....grab this deal, it's a winner!

I bought these to use at an event - the reception wouldn't carry across the building, and when it did work the quality of the sound was pretty poor.

I bought fifteen sets to use at our school. They've been knocked around and dropped and still work pretty good. Some of the units pick up a lot of static especially as the battery starts to run low. We still can't figure out all the features and the display. The displays are confusing and some of the features appear to be meaningless or possibly aren't working. The battery indicator doesn't seem to work consistently. Some of the transmit buttons are stubborn and have to be pressed HARD. One of the transmit buttons don't work at all. The belt clips pop off, (resulting in the unit hitting the floor) especially if you're fat and you bend over. Hah! Anyway, the bottom line is that for the cost, they've been serving their purpose.

This product has quite a number of things going for it. Firstly it's an excellent FRS radio with excellent range (have not been able to test the two mile range 'cause of my terrain), coupled with the headphone set it allows for ease of communication for a variety of purposes, I use it for security in-store as well and they work marvellously. Also, with the drop-in charger and rechargeable batteries the savings gained in the original great price is magnified 100X over a similar motorolla product, which does not even have battery rationing and is certaily not rechargeable! (these average 2AA batteries per day on continous use!) Ideal choice for the budget conscious shopper who wants a greater bang for the buck.

I like this radio.
Good points are
1. tough antena
2. came with nimh batteries
3. Good range through trees
4. earbud
5. very easy to open up the squelch and keep it open with having to keep pushing a buttion
Bad points are
1. Belt clip is easly broken
2.VOX dose not work with the earbud
3. When scanning the radio dose not show the sub coad of the radios it picks up.
4. can not connect a exturnal antena
5. No lanyard loop

If you get a deal on one of thease go for it. Other wize go for one of the new 2 watt mortorla radios. Or get a midland G11. I can't say I would buy them again but they are overall good radios.

After considering the uniden GMRS 480 and Audiovox 1535, I chose the Cobra GMRS 900-2-DX because of size, the layout of buttons,overall feel, two year warranty, and more price competative if you didn't want the charger etc.. All of the ones I considered appeared to be 2watt with similar specs. (althought the Audiovox may have been 1.8 watt). Both the Uniden and Audiovox did have NOAA but since my wife and I were going to use them mostly in mall shoppoing, weather would not be a problem. The Cobra could fit in my shirt pocket or wife's purse with no problem. The longer antenna in the uniden may not have been as convenient to carry although may get a little better range and audiovox's screen and buttons were smaller, which may have caused a problem with my bad eyesight. The Cobra range is around 1.3 to 2.0 miles,depending on terrain, obstacles etc., sound is adeqauate but high frequency lacking. Compared to FRS I can achieve 4 times the distance since I could only get 0.5 - 0.8 miles with a 0.5watt FRS radio. I don't think you will ever achieve 5 mile range or even 3 miles unless you are on top of a 5 mile mountain talking to someone on the ground. Overall I am pleased with the Cobra. The FCC license fee is a bit pricey at $.. but that's life.

This is a nice machine. Lotsa features, I get pretty good reception. Bought mine at Farm & Fleet for 60 bucks a piece. Figuring that you can easily spend that on a 500mw radio, why get anything else. As previously written by another reviewer, the sound quality lacks but is still audible. It is missing the highs so it can be a little muffled. Would I buy it again? Yes.

On the jobsite or in the workplace, professional two-way radios
provide instant communication with individuals or multiple groups.

Business communications made simple! The Spirit GT+ radio
is ideally suited for retail stores, restaurants, schools,
hospitals, event coordination, small businesses and more.

Special "wait-to-talk" feature requires that you wait for
all the other conversations from the other companies that
share your frequency to stop transmitting so you can talk.

Spirit� Professional two-way radios operate on business
radio frequencies, (not FRS) which adds to congestion on
the already overcrowded business radio service.
Not recommended for personal use.

Two channel operation allows twice as many users to
share the same frequencies with you and requires frequency
coordination with other companies in your area.

"Up to 4 mile range" means that you will recieve interference
and unwanted chatter from everybody else within a 4 mile radius.

Regardless of which 2 of the 8 frequencies you choose,
there will always be somebody telling you to "get off my channel!".

When you ask that person for their license information,
they will explain that "I don't need a license!".
When you explain the rules to them, they will argue
"your rules Do NOT apply to me!", then they will
start jammming you.

Here is a list of low power itinerant business radio frequencies:

1 464.5000 Brown
2 464.5500 Yellow
3 467.7625 J
4 467.8125 K
5 467.8500 Silver Star
6 467.8750 Gold Star
7 467.9000 Red Star
8 467.9250 Blue Star

Spirit� Professional two-way radios operate on
radio frequencies that are regulated by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). In order to transmit
on these frequencies, you are required to have a license
issued by the FCC....

GT Plus does everything the T280 does, but it is much harder to switch frequencies & channels. The T280 is a much better product at a lower price.

This is a decieving radio. You need a business FCC license for it so you must apply for it and state your business need for these radio's. Its better to stick with GMRS or FRS unless you want to violate FCC R&R and use them for non-business use. There are FCC listeners everywhere that monitor the use of these frequencies and I have returned these radios and switched to GMRS. The claim that you have a 4 to 5 mile range is in perfect conditions, using these radios for the short time I had them gave me only minimal range increase from my FRS radios I've previously used. Range is dependent on the antennae and battery strength.