Midland GXT1000VP4 50-Channel 36-Mile Waterproof 2-Way GMRS Radio with NOAA All Hazard /Weather Alert, Rechargeable Batteries, Dual Desktop charger 12 Volt Vehicle Adapter and 2 Headsets (Pair, Black/Silver)

These radios offer the max, which the FCC will allow for this type of radio service. Very nice radios. And by the way, range does depend on conditions; with a ham radio handy talkie with the same wattage output and like (UHF) frequency, a ham operator can easily talk to the astronauts aboard the ISS!

The product is decent, but not very useful for my applications. I am a supervisor for a security company which provides service to bars, dance clubs, sports leagues, and other clients.

In the bars and dance clubs, any loud music totally distorts the sender's voice, no matter how it is held, pointed, or oriented. Whisper mode with the Security Headsets I bought with it helps a little, but it's often a best-guess as to what is being said. Any dense metal nearby (such as an overhead I-beam) completely scrambles the transmission, whether or not the metal is in the line-of-sight to the receiver.

At our sports league (a large indoor facility with brick walls), reception is decent, but ranges over 200ft get incrementally staticy, and often require transmission repeats.

When using the PTT, the button must be held for one full second before transmitting. While I appreciate the value of this to prevent accidental keying, it is inconvenient when calling a colleague for an emergency situation.

There is little difference between the range of the low-power FRS and high-power GMRS channels, maybe only a 10% increase in range, and even that is at the cost of clarity. I would expect an increase from 0.5 W to 5 W to give a more pronounced range and clarity boost. I haven't tested this in the open yet, but the range is still disappointing. I understand that the "36 miles" is pretty much only valid on open water, but I expected at least 3 to 6 miles in the city; I am lucky if I get more than 6 to 8 blocks (and that's with pervasive static). Our old Kenwood radios at least get a mile, and I didn't have to pay $85 for an FCC license to use them.

The included boom mic headsets are atrocious. I can't speak to the sound quality on them, because they're always transmitting. All six of them (I bought three pairs of radios) seem to have a short in the PTT that makes it continually transmit, with intermittent (less than one second duration) breaks. I am still working with Midland to resolve this. I am glad that I bought the separate security headsets, or the radios would be totally useless to me.

I like the feature set, especially the dual-monitor. WX band has poor reception, but I suspect that's largely due to the city environment (even though my city has a NWS station). The programming is fairly straight-forward, but the manual does not go into much detail about the "Group Mode" and how it can be used. The "Direct Call" feature is tone-only, while the description implies that it supports and private conversation (which it does not). The "Call" button is too-easily pressed, and we are plagued with accidental 5-second call tones (the Call button is not locked by the "Key Lock" feature).

Battery life is much better than other radios I've owned, about 24 hours of use on FRS channels (haven't tested extensively on GMRS high-power, but I imagine it's less). The battery indicators do not accurately reflect the amount of battery life actually remaining; the display typically goes from 3 bars "full" to zero bars "almost dead". There is very little warning that the battery is about to die, and this causes problems for us.

The radio itself is not very durable. On one radio, the best clip snapped off while I was attaching it to my belt. On another occasion, with the radio clipped to my belt behind my back, the antenna snapped off when I leaned back against a wall (and not even with all of my weight)! I'm afraid of what might happen if the radio is accidentally dropped or bumped in my line of work.

This is decent, durable radio for quiet, open surroundings. If you plan to operate in the city or in a loud environment, or in any situation where you wouldn't put a china vase, keep your expectations fairly low and you'll be happy. Is it worth the price? Absolutely. Does it deliver on ts promises? Not even close.

I recently purchased these back in January. I have had Motorola and Cobra's before, but not that happy with their range, about 1-1 1/2 miles. I took these out with me on a day hike 2 weeks ago. I live in Idaho and it was cold and snowing a lot. My partner's wife decided to wait in the truck, so we used this to test these radios. Very hilly terrain. Conditions sucked, cold, blowing snow. We got about 3 miles separation is all for the day, but they worked great. I dropped mine in the snow several times, banged it on trees, sat on it. It held up great. For the money these are great radios for in the field. I love them and have since purchased two more. Oh ya the batteries held up great as well, we had them on for about 6 hours.

Well... These radios are a really fantastic ones, in terms of price/characteristics relation.
They have a good constrution, quite strong enough.
They come with 700mAH batteries, which I strongly recomend to change them immediatly, because if you use these radios with full features and for a several hours in a day, the original batteries won't help you.
I'm using Duracell Type AA rechargeable batteries, 2650mAH and it is more than enough for several days.
About range, I believe they can do 36 mille, but... you must be at an environment with no obstacles at all and with excellent weather conditions. Other way, you will never reach 36 mille.

Until this moment, the best range I did get from them it was almost 5 mille with lots of obstacles, because it was in a city environment. Off course there was a lot of broadcast noise, but they did the job.

But any way, if you planning some outdoor activities like mountain bike, climb, or else; some off-road trip; or some 'airsoft' game like I mostly use them, this set of radios will be fantastic and will do the job.

And honestly, you will never regret yourself about the money you spend to buy these superb radios!!!

Very happy with these radios for what they are. Th range in good when open field and pretty good with obstructions. Buy these, you'll be happy.