gmrs-frs two-way radios

After having bad experience with my old Motorola TalkAbout 250 radios, I decided to give these a try (I didn't want to reward Motorola with another sale, many of the Motorola radios were receiving mixed reviews here on Amazon, and I really like my Uniden cordless telephones).

These are really good radios. Audio quality is very good, and their communication range far exceeds that of my Motorolas, even when they were working correctly (which wasn't very often). I was able to communicate clearly through flat, wooded terrain with the radios 2 miles apart. I also like that the PTT button is where it belongs on the side of the radio, not in the middle of the front as on the Motorolas.

The Unidens have some nice features like weather radio, selectable call tones, a nice big display, VOX when you use the radios with the included headset/microphone (a feature that I don't like to use, but might be useful to some people), water-resistant construction, channel scan, etc. But the main feature I was looking for was long communication range, and I got that with these radios.

I have some issues that keep this from being the perfect (5-star) radio; you decide if they are show-stoppers for you:

1) Volume Control--These radios don't have a continuously variable volume knob; instead they have +/- push buttons to select 8 different volume levels (one of which is fully off). The problem is that the lowest volume level that isn't fully off is too loud if you're in a really quiet environment. It's fine if you're outside or in a noisy mall or something. But if you need to set the audio whisper quiet, you can't do it with these radios.

2) Size & Weight: These radios are bigger and heavier than many on the market. This is a natural side effect of buying a radio with more transmit power than most of the competition. These radios run on 4 AA batteries vs. 3 AA batteries in my Motorolas. To give you a sense of the difference, the Uniden's dimensions (not including the antenna or belt clip) is 5.25" long X 2.25" wide X 1.375" thick. The Motorola TalkAbout 250's dimensions are 4.5" long X 2.5" wide X 1" thick. I don't have a scale, so I can't tell you how much heavier the Uniden is, but I can tell that it does weigh more.

Other than those two complaints, these radios are perfect. It's up to you to decide, based on how you'll be using the radios, whether these issues are show-stoppers for you or not. They aren't for me; I'm delighted with the performance of these Uniden radios.