Midland GXT1000VP4 GMRS Two-Way Radio (50 Channel, Long Range, 142 Privacy Codes, SOS, NOAA, Rechargeable Nickel Battery, Black/Silver 2-Pack)

I bought the 3 pack to be able to communicate with my party in the Arizona desert. The radios worked crystal clear at nearly 3 miles, and showed no signs of weakening signals. That is as far apart as we got this time, But I believe that they will work to any reasonable distance. The headsets, now they were not made to the same standard as the radios. I have small ears and I had trouble getting one mounted on my ear. I had to stretch the ear loop to get it onto my ear. It was very uncomfortable and the mike was a great distance from my mouth. I tried to adjust it close to my mouth. It took five tries to get it bent enough to be close to my mouth, the mike ended up bent almost 45 degrees to the ear piece. Then even on max sensitivity it would only pick up my voice if I talked really loudly, and then it sometimes cut out in the middle of my transmission. It also didn’t pick up my voice all the time. Not only that but the ear loop is hard plastic and becomes uncomfortable quickly. My two companions also had the same problem. So we ditched the earpieces and just used them old school. We were more than happy with the radios and give them five stars. I will be purchasing better headsets from Midland to use with these radios. I recommend the radios for anyone wanting a great radio for short to medium range communications, these are perfect. Longer range requires more wattage. Under the right conditions and minimum obstructions, you MAY get close to the advertised distance, but if you get 3 to 5 miles, that is super for ANY GMRS radio. And for the price you can’t go wrong. For me, they perform the job that I needed with room to spare. Try them, you will be pleased. Update: Last night I was sitting in my RV and started playing with the radios. I asked for a radio check, expecting that any response would be from close by. I received a check from a base station that is Close to 8 miles from my location. I was inside an RV in the desert about 8 miles from town and communicated with a base station in the edge of town. Both radios were coming in loud and clear. This was in flat basically open desert. I don’t know what the range would be in town or in the woods, but I am happy with these little radios.

Bought a set of these a little over two years ago for the intended purpose of using them to help herd a pack of Cub Scouts around on various outings. Originally, I needed a set of radios that would work over a mile, mile and a half range of various terrains. Tested when received over the ground I initially needed them for, mostly flat, but the longest range was not line of sight and partially screened by a copse of trees. Radios worked just fine. Since then I've used them in more varied terrains from heavily wooded to urban and in ranges of up to three miles (that one urban) with no issues. My original usage intent was at our yearly Cub Scout day camp. Sometime we would need to split off a group of the boys to go to different locations with a set of adult leaders. (Like a trip to the john, nurse or Webelos activity.) One radio would stay with the main group and one would go with the others so we'd have a means of linking up should the main group have to move on to the next activity before the others returned. I've also used them on hikes and nature walks with the pack. I'll put one at the head and one at the rear of the column in case line of sight contact has been broken. (Just try and stay in sight contact in a corn maze - LOL!) If we need to spread out even further, I have an older, cheaper set of FRS/GMS radios with less power which I can distribute through the group and we can relay messages if the lower power units don't have the juice to transmit all the way. We've also used them when spread out over a larger, urban area to co-ordinate during our Scouting for Food Drives. They've worked out well. We have an effective means of maintaining contact without resorting to shouting at each other and trying to get the others attention. Battery life has been more then sufficient for a one day outing. Bear in mind though the more you transmit, the faster the batteries are used up. That's just common sense. I love having the ability of swapping the battery packs out for AA's if necessary. This brings me to one peccadillo about these radios which is mentioned in another review, but I believe is buried in the comments section, so I'll bring it up in the actual review. When recharging one of the battery packs, even though the battery is completely recharged, when placed in the radio and switched on, the unit fails to operate. There is an easy fix for this. Simply take the battery pack out of the radio and switch it on for a while. Then replace the battery pack and the radio should function just fine. Not sure why this is, and it's certainly a bit annoying, but there ya go... In my opinion, most reviews lack a discussion of two things: First, the weather alert function of these radios work extremely well. Living in the Mid-West, weather can blow up, especially in the summer, very quickly. The safety of my Scouts is my primary mission. Being alerted to changing weather is absolutely critical. My MIL lives in a very rural area and I took these radios along when we visited last. A line of tornadoes blew through the area and these radios warned us when we needed to take cover and when it was safe to come out. Secondly, to operate these radios legally in the GRMS band at maximum power (and maximum range) you NEED an FCC license. The current cost of the license is $85.00 (although there is talk about dropping the license requirement) which seems steep when compared to the roughly $59.00 cost of the radios. However, the license is good for 5 years, which breaks the cost down to $17.00 a year. Now, obviously, your chances of getting busted by the FCC is virtually nil, but it would be my luck to be Mr. Nil. (Plus I'm using these with my Scouts, so I feel obligated to be "morally straight" and be licensed.) If you don't want to spend the money to be licensed, simply use only the FRS bands or throttle down the power on the GRMS bands. At low power you don't need a license, but be advised that you're lessening your range doing so. So, I'm pleased with these radios and do recommend them. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat. Just bear in mind the range claim is wishful thinking in the extreme. If you have needs like I outlined above I have every confidence you'll be happy with them, too.

Can't say they work as far away as they say (maybe on a flat prairie). But they are simple to use, great sound quality, durable, and held a charge ALL DAY and well into a second day. Very impressed so far. I would have given it 5 stars but bought this set because of the ear pieces. Wish the ear pieces that came with them were more comfy. I will probably have to replace those. They also made it very hard for them to hear me.

I know I’m not using this radio to its full potential but knowing it has all the bells and whistles is a comfort. Not only does it have excellent audio but it’s easy to use. A huge selling point is its ability to charge through the cable plugged into the wall or vehicle when the docking station is not available. Get the magnifying glass out to read the manual because it’s at a font 2.

These walkie talkies are SO FUN!!! We hunted for days for "THE BEST" walkie talkies to use on our RV trip with 2 other families. We are rookies to RV camping so we eventually asked our camping "expert" what walkie talkies they use. They recommended these. So we purchased them and the other family did too. They proved INVALUABLE as we drove from Arizona to MT Rushmore. The ability communicate between our vehicles while on the road was essential to our success and planning stops together. Wifi access was non-existent in some of the mountain ranges but these walkie talkies worked perfectly between the cars. It was SO MUCH fun to talk with each other and point out sites along the way. When one of the vehicles needed to make a stop they could just click on the walkie talkie and all families could hear the message at the same time. When we got to the campground we had to find different channels as several other campers were on our channel but we always found an available channel. One family used these for long hikes with the kids so they could always stay connected. When we got home we found the walkie talkies to continue to be a great support of our life. My husband had surgery and was in a room that I couldn't hear him when he needed something. I gave him the Walkie Talkie and he could quickly get to me. We also use them on our large property when he is outside. I know you think you can just use your phone but these are faster and you communicate instantly. Of special note..........they are really helpful when you are trying to back up your 5th wheel. LOL!! We highly recommend these!!

These work.great. clear transmission of sound

I wanted better 2-way radios for ski trips for my wife and I, and these worked great on our recent ski trip. I almost dismissed any brand besides Motorola, but I am very glad that I looked into these Midlands. I selected these since they have the highest wattage (5 watts) on consumer FRS/GMRS radios that I could find. I've tested them in the city, local ski hill, and in the mountains: In the city (not just a neighborhood...there were several tall buildings and concrete walls between us): about 1 mile of range. Fairly clear at the 1 mile range, and got better as I got closer. Beyond 1 mile, there was a lot of static. Local small ski hill: only could get about 3/4 of a mile apart at the ski hill, but we were each at the bottom of the hill, with the hill between us and dense forest. Clear as ever. Ski resort (Big Sky): farthest that we tested was when I was waiting in line at the tram for lone peak, and my wife was on the Shedhorn double chair, and it was also clear as ever. If you're not familiar with Big Sky, we were on opposite sides of Lone Peak, with the massive Lone Peak directly between us - this was valley to valley with a high mountain peak in between, and it was still extremely clear. Having 2-way radios on a ski trip is much more convenient when you're trying to find the other person as compared to cell phones. I highly recommend these! My only minor complaints are about the batteries (I have only used the included rechargeable batteries): The one time that I ran the radios nearly completely dead, the batteries were showing full battery life. Then, once the batteries were nearly dead, the indicator dropped directly to 0 bars/0 battery (even though there are a total 3 bars on the battery indicator). So it seems that it is tough to judge actual battery life remaining, because it seems to go from showing completely full directly to nearly dead, with no in between. Also, these are ni-cad batteries, and it is not a smart charger. Therefore it is best to always let the batteries nearly fully discharge, and then charge them fully. A full recharge is supposed to take 12 hours, so you have to remember to unplug them after 12 hours (setting a phone alarm or reminder is helpful). Apparently the advantage of using a ni-mh battery pack instead of lithium batteries, is that you also have the option to run standard AA batteries - which can be helpful. Other minor complaint: you have to use the charging base with the proprietary adapter plugs. It would be nice if you could charge the radios directly with a micro USB so there is one less charger to pack. To me, the slight disadvantages of the batteries and charger are far outweighed by the features and performance of the radios, and I still highly recommend them!

Good working walkies but not the same camo as the advertisement photo

Supero mis espectativas, se escucha muy bien, los uso en distancias cortas, no mas de 1/2 kilometro, en ciudad y con edificios de por medio y no tiene ningun problema, por el precio es muy recomendable. El paquete esta muy completo, sobretodo poderlo cargar en el coche, aunque la bateria le dura bastante tiempo.

Buena recepción de sonido, buena calidad

Me gusto la calidad del producto y lo que incluye en el paquete

Work perfectly

Excelentes radios para comunicarse a distancia en las montañas, las baterías le duran el día.