Uniden GMR1235-2 2-Way 12 Mile 2 Pack GMRS/FRS Radios

The battery life is terrible. If you read nothing else in this review, know that. But first:

Upon opening, the first thing you'll realize is that no matter how small you think they are, they are even smaller. They measure about 3 inches tall. Maybe 4.5 with the antenna. They are quite easy to grip though, and look and feel rugged enough to live through a few drops without an issue.

The sound quality in close proximity is great. Anything under 100 yards is very clear, even if you are going through brick walls and steel doors. I can hear my roommate just fine through 3 highrise apartment complexes. At distance, however, the quality breaks down quickly. No one expects 12 miles from a 2-way labeled as 12 mile capable, but 3 miles? 2 miles? Not likely unfortunately. If you get 1.5 residential area you should be thrilled.

The design seems rather straighforward, (volume up and down, channel up and down, power, scan, lock, squelch)The onlything I find odd is the placement of the belt clip. You need to remove it before you remove the battery cover. Makes replacing the battery a little more of a chore since the clip doesn't come off very easily.

Finally the battery life. This comes with 3 batteries for each radio. In the first use, our batteries lasted 4 hours. Now keep in mind, this was not constant communication. This was 90% standbye time. The manual says that after 2 minutes of non-use, the radios will switch to a power-save mode. That seems a little long to wait. They're fine for very casual use, but in any type of emergency situation I wouldn't be able to trust them. It's unfortunate, but I'm going to have to purchase my third set of walkie talkies simply because of the batteries.

Overall, it does fine for the cheap price. I didn't expect to much, but I'd look elswhere for a rechargeable unit if you need to rely on communication for anything critical.

I didn't test it to the extent of 12 miles, so I can't comment on that part. For the price, this thing seems to work well. The quality of sound is very good. No channel is complete clear--I had it on for a day just to see what's going on, and now and then I caught people talking. But it didn't bother me too much.

The biggest problem is, the batteries die in one day, let's say, 8 hours. So if you have to leave it on for a long time like that, no charger is a big problem. Each one uses 3 AAA batteries. So I bought another 2 sets of 4-pack rechargeable batteries. So adding this price on, this walkie talkie isn't as cheap as it looks like. I wish I had bought one with charger.

Since there are a bunch of perverts lurking out there, this was bought for my daughter for her safety. I love the style and its portability. It takes three triple A batteries which sometimes last an hour or two depending on the brand of batteries. If you don't have the recharging type, then you will spend more than the price you bought these talkies. I tested on the 12 mile it claimed and failed. These talkies are for use half a mile away. There are several interferance which can get irritating. But other than that this is just okay...

With Walkie Talkies you get what you pay for... $19.99 is not going to get you a strong performer. I took a pair of these Unidens with me to Peru to hike the Andes and found them to be a poor performers. They tout a 12mile range, sure, hill top to hill top, with no obstruction, on a perfect day, no wind. Best we could get in hiking terrain was about 1.5 miles max... that's right. These walkie talkies eat batteries, as they have no power save function. Think 3 alkaline batteries a day. These Unidens have no channel lock (not good) and have crappy sound, hey what's not to like? Look if you are serious about communicating, stick with Motorola (like the MH230), I wish I had. Don't get suckered in by the price or those that tout 10 or 12 mile ranges... that is irrelevant, unless you are hiking death valley, in the valley that is. I do not recommend these walkie talkies, there are much better.

I ordered these for a camp, in order for the adults to be able to instantly communicate with each other, as some of the cellphones would not work well, due to various carriers not having service in that area. These radios worked out great. I realized that I needed more and I have since ordered more for next years camp. Every adult decided they needed to have one. This new enhancement has taken our camp to a higher level. The sound is crisp and clear. The range of them is excellent for our needs. It has a range of up to 12 miles, but we only needed like 2 miles. It has many channels to select from. I have no complaints whatsoever. I took extra batteries and was prepared to switch them out every other day. No big deal for me. The value of them and the use of them outweighed the need to switch out batteries.