Two-Way Radios Reviews

Be warned, Circut city is not shipping the rechargable units. They are shipping the units that take AA batteries. I spent much time on the phone with their India-based customer service only to find that they do not carry the recharable model.

The value of this radio is hard to beat. I bought it first for my 8yo daughter who likes to play "spies". I was so impressed with the quality of the sound and the range that I took it with me to Ecuador, on an adventure trip in the Amazon. They held up great - very durable. It worked well in the jungle, though I never pushed the range over 1/3 mile.

The lock feature on the channel selection is a good idea. The on/off button is located on top of the radio and would get inadvertantly pushed sometimes - my biggest complaint.

Unfortunately, I lost one of the sets in a cave(in a deep pool of water). No big loss considering the price. I will buy another set.

Plain and simple ... this thing is a battery hog. Expect to go through batteries quickly. Take batteries out when in storage as they still will drain.

Find another product. I wish I could return mine (I bought 2 pairs ... ahhhhhhh).

No fancy features here (nothing like weather band or quiet codes). They do have a "call" key, that sends a ring sound on the selected channel.
Just a pair of small, easy to use, easy to carry walkie-talkies, with great sound. They even work fine with rechargable batteries (have tried Ni-MH).
Only problem: the manual does not specify which are the FRS and which are the GMRS channels. (You need a license to transmit on GMRS.) After using these units and some Motorolas (FRS only) together, I could find that FRS are the first 14, GMRS the last 8.

I bought these radios so I could keep track of my son when he was outside playing. They never reached two miles, first of all. And he is rough, so that may account for how "beat up" they got soon after we got them. They drain batteries like I don't know what. We had to change them (4 per radio) every week, it seemed, even if we only used the radios on the weekends. For the price I paid for them, I could have just added a few more dollars and bought a better pair that can be recharged. That's what I'm doing now and what I suggest others do before wasting the $40 on these.

One radio worked, the other radio didn't. Returned the product for a refund.

This is my 2nd pair of frs radio's. The other set was a uniden set which lasted over 2 yrs. I have had this pair for almost 2 weeks now. They are simple to use. Easy on and off buttons, push buttons for channel change and volume control. Range has been tested to about 1 mile flat line of sight. It was clear as if you were only a couple feet away. If you are looking for a simple set of talkies, this is the way to go. The only thing I didn't like was the warranty was only 90 days.

I think for someone who only wants simple talkie function. This is the way to go. There are others that have tons of bells and whistles, but this set is simple to use. 14 Channel easy to select. Pretty much pop the batteries in and set channel and go.

I purchaed these radios knowing they would never provide the 6 mile maximum range shown on the package, but I never thought the range would be so poor. I actually followed the law and purchased an FCC license to use the GMRS channels.The best I've managed outdoors--granted there were trees and houses--was about 1/2 mile--once. Otherwise, they are only good around the yard and house and maybe a block or two.

The weather radio works well, and really, for the $39 I paid, I received two fairly good weather radios. That's about it. I'm just glad I bought the units with the NOAA weather radio, otherwise I'd have nothing better than the walkie-talkies I had when I was a little kid.

I purchased these radios (under $40 for the pair) for use in my pool service business. They are great on residential job sites and working in building complexes; however, any use beyond that and the range is too poor. I tried using them between two job sites several blocks away (about 1/4 mile) and they were useless. I had hoped to use the radios for hunting/hiking/etc. but I don't think the range is adequate. Still, you can't beat the value for short range applications. For more demanding applications, I would research using a more powerful commercially available radio system.

These do a pretty good job for the money. I haven't tried them on water yet, but in the city, with houses, trees and other things blocking the line of sight, we get a little over a mile in range. The NOAA weather stations come in loud and clear so far. This will be a great feature when we're out hiking. They're also pretty compact and light. When you consider the fact that these come with NiMH rechargeable packs (or you can use 4 AAA's per radio) and the recharger base, you get quite a bit for your dollar. On the other hand, it looks like the Uniden GMR855 might give you a little bit better range (without the NOAA weather feature) for about the same price, but if you can get these on sale or with a rebate, it's hard to lose.

The battery is the problem. I wish I just stayed with conventional walkie-talkies for my sons. Stay away from this product until they fix the problem.

They worked well for a few months and now the sound does not come out of either one. Customer service has not been called yet to figure out the problem.

The radio worked great for my kids. The range was limited, but better than I expected. It fit good, did not come off, strong case, and even sounded good on both ends. They worked great about 10 times, but then the batteries would not even charge. I have lots of NiCad's and even a timed charging station so they did not get over charged. These special (not to be found anywhere else) batteries are just junk. They are easy to swap, but I am not sure I want to put up with customer service or the price trying to get more.

The output signal quality was so bad, the range was less than 1/8 mile. One of the digits in the LED failed, so I never knew what channel I was on. I threw it in the garbage.

This is greate because you can just put it in your trunk or where ever and pull it out when you need it or want to fire up channel 19.

I would suggest getting a mobil magnet mount antenna with it to give it that boost it needs to reach other CB'ers out there.

It could use an autoscan feature but overall it's a great little unit. Comes with a 12 volt cigarett adapter so you don't have to worrry about keeping fresh batteries in it all of the time.

Also great for hicking and camping. Full legal power and great range 5-7 miles out in the woods. Reach base camp no problem.

Not sure of the battery life yet. Takes 9 AA's and has a low/high power output 1/4 watts

SPEAKER FAILURES: Turns out the speaker - mic - charger jack is defective on many of these units. After a few charger plug insertions the contact that cuts out the speaker when using a headset fails to make a good connection when the charger plug is removed. Appears to be a class manufacturing problem... Jack contacts are accesible from battery compartment. Press a fine sewing needle point into the small loop contact (use magnifying glass)to make the loop buldge a little more and make a better connection with the other contact. The speaker will then start working again. Problem solved

These were on sale a while back, so I bought a pair.

Since they include GMRS, I made the stupid assumption that they also had sub channels... wrong!

Also, the VOX feature (voice activated transmit)... takes about 5 or 6 seconds to actually engage. This boils down to the fact that you need to start making noise 5 or 6 seconds before you say anything that will be heard on the other end.

The sport club that I belong to, makes heavy use of the sub channels (there are so many people using FRS type radios now... you REALLY shouldn't bother buying anything that doesn't have sub channels).

From the reviews I've read, these guys have come a LONG way from their early models. However, without the sub channels, and with such a delay in the VOX feature... it's a neat "toy," but they still have a bit more to go before they become truly useful.

-D

The product seems to be well made, but is designed for the Kenwood Freetalk "e" and does not fit any of the Kenwood radios sold on Amazon. You can force it onto the UBZ-LH14, but it was made for a radio with a fixed antennae on the right hand side and buttons in different positions. Now that I have it, I may keep it because I need some protection for the radio. If I had known that it didn't fit I would have tried something else. Unfortunately Bodyglove does not make a case for the UBZ-LH14.

I have had these walkie talkies (Cobra PR 165-2 VP microTALK) for a couple months now. They work fairly well. Be aware that since this is a dual band radio you need to be careful what channel you transmit on if you don't have a license from the FCC. The manual tells which channels are FRS and which are GMRS.

These radios are small and easy to carry. They work well for kids to use in a limited area.

The range is closer to a half mile than the 6 miles they state. That's normal for FRS radios from what I hear. Near the end of the range the sound cuts in and out, and is hard to understand.

One problem: on one of the radios the push to talk button is sensitive, it just barely works and you have to hold it just right or it cuts in and out.

One irritation: you can't turn off the roger beep that gets sent after you talk, and it's really loud! If that doesn't bother you, these radios will work fine for you. If that's a problem, find a set that lets you turn the beep off.

the charger on this Garmin vhf 725 relies on 2 small prongs meeting 2 small contacts that are not visible. If something would say it is charging then you would know it is going to be usable when you're ready. If the contacts aren't lined up, and usually they are not, you can not use it when you are ready. When it does work though, it works great.