FRS-Two-Way-Radio Reviews

I've had 2 Cobra FRS-250 radios for several years, and I loved them. Being impressed with their quality, functionality and performance on ski slopes, I decided to stick with the brand and purchased a pair of PR-1100 when I needed 2 more radios. After some time of use, here are my impressions:

Pros:

- Very good effective range. The signal was strong enough to punch through 22 stories of a concrete building! I can also communicate between 2 buildings about 2 miles away from each other, through multiple walls on each end.

- Full coverage of FRS band for full compatibility with FRS radios.

- Traditional Cobra signal strength meter.

- Pretty good sound quality.

- Switchable transmitter output between 500 mW and full 2 W on GMRS channels

- Long battery life.

- Useful features like 10 NOAA weather channels.

Cons:

-The functions are hard to get to. For example, it takes 7 presses of the Mode button to get to the scan function that I use fairly often, 10 presses to disable the roger beep, 12 presses to get to the stopwatch.

- Useless gadgets like compass, clock, and stopwatch that serve no practical purpose but overcomplicate the menu, making it harder to get to useful features like scaner and channel memory.

- For some stupid reason, Cobra decided not to use their traditional cradle charging system in this model. Even though the radio can use the same FA-BP NiMH battery pack as most other Cobra radios, it cannot be charged in a standard Cobra charger such as FA-CR because it lacks metal contacts on the back of the battery compartment. The included wall charger must be used instead.

- The charger is not a rapid charger, and it takes up to 18 hours to fully charge the battery. Other Cobra radios that use the FA-CR cradle can be rapid charged in 2 hours!

- To make matters worse, the radio turns off when the charger is plugged in, which renders it unuseable while the battery is being charged - for 18 hours!!! It is impossible to have it on a continuous stand-by, unless you are willing to take your new radio apart and disable the autoturnoff feature by soldering together 2 contacts in the charger jack, like I did.

- When you take the radio apart, you discover that there is no way in hell it can be waterproof. Splashproof? Maybe. Waterproof? Nah. There's a rubber gasket around the battery compartment, but this is only there to impress the user. There are no gaskets between the two plastic halves of the case, and the seams will inevitably leak. Submerge it in water for 5 seconds and see what happens, I dare you!

- Transmission volume is not very loud. You need to hold the unit close to your face and speak up. The mic gain is insufficient and non-adjustable.

- No removeable antenna.

- No privacy (voice scramble) feature that old Cobra FRS radios used to have. Looks like Cobra is not offering it in any of the new models. A shame.

The verdict:

A poorly engineered, cheaply made, hard to use but fairly functional FRS/GMRS radio.

Hi!

I have obtained pair of PR1100 for about $65 via eBay few weeks ago. Because I've read that Cobra antennas are not very good I have done little modification - I have installed a socket for removable antenna (simply using glue). Instead of small 7cm lengh Cobra antenna I installed 5/8 selfdone telescopic antenna. In full size it has about 37cm and in short size it is about 14cm. Before giving detailed data about range few remarks about features:
- PR1100 seems to be PR950 with compass installed (the same circuit board - only compass module installed)
- compass - rather toy (only 8 positions - N, NW, W, ...) - for the difference in price between PR950 and PR1100 Cobra could install full 360deg compass I think
- vibra aler, bells, memory, scann - very usefull
- VOX - super - I will use it as baby-phone
- sound quality - very good - if You plug in simply walkman earphones and Your wife is wispering to You when You are walking along beach is amaizing experience :)
- charg socket - very usefull but it takes long time to charge bateries
- assuming that Cobra gave 2W output power on 4 1.5V bateries (6V) installing 4 rechargable bateries (1.2V) gives 4.8 V (80%). So the power is about 64% (1.3W)
- power indicator is very fine but using rachargable batteries You can see that indicator shows 4 dashes and few minutes later 1 and radio displays "battery low" - but it is common rachargable batteries parameter
So now about tests:
- I did it on the Polish seaside - my wife with my 8 months old son were standing on the little hill in town Wladyslawowo and me with my father were driving along cape Hel - all test were done with me standing by the water - so there were no obstacles - only water. Wether - a little bit foggy
- 1st point was about 3.8km - short antennas and low power gave 1 dash, long antennas and low power 2, and long antennas and high power 3 dashes on level indicator
- 2nd point was in town Chalupy 6.5km - long antenna and high power 2 dashes (in car 0 dashes - only antenna icon was blinking)
- 3rd point was near town Kuznice - 10km - long antenna, high power - 1/2 dashes
- 4th point was neat town Jastarnia - 15km - long antenna, hing power - 0/1 dash
- the last point was behind Jastarnia - 18km - no response from my wife - but the was obstacle (small headland) and my wife complained that radio showed battery low.
- probably max range (using range extender button - removing squelch) is about 20km

On the beach - 3km - long antennas, high power - radio showed 1/2 dashes - I had no force to walk farther with my son sitting on m shoulders :)

In the city - difficult to say - because each building changes the range extremly - for example, when my wife is sitting in our flat on 3rd floor, the windows are situated on East/West walls and I'm in the park which is on the south we can achieve only 1.2km. Now I'm thinking about installing outdoor antenna.

In few words - I recommend this radio!

regards

Marek
PS. Thanks to my wife Beata who has to survive with my hobby :)

This product doesnt says if there is 1 or 2 radios included !
please help

Not good for car to car talk on highway at highway speeds. Distortion due to the speed of the vehicles.
Good for hiking and backpacking.
They work better the further away from eletrical interference you get.
Rating of 2 miles is for little inteference. In a shopping center there is A LOT of interference!

It's my first time buying a pair of these Family Radios, and I'm very happy with the Uniden FRS420. With 14 channels, 38 subcodes, 5 different call rings, and a vibrating alert. It can't be beat for the price.

These Uniden FRS radios are great. My friend spent about three times as much for a pair of Motorola radios, and they lack some of the features included on the Unidens.

I really like the different call alert tones and the ability to use a vibrating alert. The carabiner clips are nice for attaching the radios to you belt loops or the straps on a backpack.

Overall, I think these are great radios for the price. You can spend a lot more, but you're not going to get any more features or better performance.

Not good for car to car talk on highway at highway speeds. Distortion due to the speed of the vehicles.
Good for hiking and backpacking.
They work better the further away from eletrical interference you get.
Rating of 2 miles is for little inteference. In a shopping center there is A LOT of interference!

It's my first time buying a pair of these Family Radios, and I'm very happy with the Uniden FRS420. With 14 channels, 38 subcodes, 5 different call rings, and a vibrating alert. It can't be beat for the price.

These Uniden FRS radios are great. My friend spent about three times as much for a pair of Motorola radios, and they lack some of the features included on the Unidens.

I really like the different call alert tones and the ability to use a vibrating alert. The carabiner clips are nice for attaching the radios to you belt loops or the straps on a backpack.

Overall, I think these are great radios for the price. You can spend a lot more, but you're not going to get any more features or better performance.

Bought this set to use for various things (fairs, boating, camping, around the home, etc..) Great thing was that it came all as one package. Battery packs, clips, charger. Everything I could think of was there. I put these little things to the test and was amazed at the range. In the city was 1 or so miles depending on terrain. Tried it over water and was amassed again at the mile or 2 range. I decided to put it to the last and final test. I took them to the fair where I found out that everyone had them. This pair DOES NOT have the digital sub codes so I heard everyone there. This made the set useless because it was basically a giant party line. Not only could the other person hear what we were saying but so did anyone at the fair. Overall, good units for home, school, camping, hiking. But if your considering using FRS in a large public place consider spending the extra money and getting the digital sub-codes for added security.

I really like this radio set. I'm not in love with the belt clips, but they are so small I just put them in my pocket. My family just got back from DisneyWorld where we put these to good use. They performed great and sounded better than what most others were using. I really like the "done" tone on the end of each transmission and the call feature is great for getting someone's attention.

You cannot beat this deal! Two FRS radios, charger and battery (hopefully you will get the NiMH batteries - they are better than Nicad's)
My wife and I use these extensively everywhere-- on the road, in big grocery or department stores, while one of us goes across the street to buy bread (or lottery tickets), or in the basement to put stuff away....time and again these Cobra FRS's have been helpful for inexpensive two-way communication.
In the US, I am sure that there is channel saturation in places (malls and sporting events); still, these are so handy if someone is in the car and needs to drop the other person off to get directions or find a parking spot...you will be amazed at the number of uses you will find for them.
This model has about everything you might need....remember that 500mw is only going to go so far...the laws of physics do not change even if the brand name of your product does! UHF transmissions are best when you and the other party are in "line of sight" and not blocked by large buildings, lots of trees, etc. This is just a fact of life.
But in stores or malls, these radios come in sooo handy...one can shop at the "guy store" while your wife looks at clothes or kitchen junk....and each can brouse to their heart's content, then ring the other when it is time to go the opera (or baseball game!!)....grab this deal, it's a winner!

There is a license required for GMRS radios. It is $75. Funny how the merchants don't tell you that. Perhaps because of the "extra" cost? By the way... the fine for unlicensed operation of these radios is up to $10,000.

I have two of these radios which I use for recreational purposes. I have used them in urban areas and in the woods. While I cannot get 7 mile range, I do get 2.5 to 3 miles, which I am still satisfied with. The conditions I have used them in are rolling hills to small mountainous terrain of North Georgia which translates to very little LOS. Here, radios that are supposed to have a two mile range are lucky to reach 300 yards, so in comparison I think these are well within the ball park.

It is necessary to read and re-read the operators manual accompanying these radios to first familiarize yourself since some functions are not readily recognizable. Such as: The transmit power will vary based on the channel selected and/or the transmit power selected by the user. The manual could use some help from a technical writer to add more description of functionality. It is difficult to determine what accessories are available and specific to the 4000 unit but can be done using a combination of the Operators Manual, Cobra website and information on the container.

I recommend purchase.

I reviewed a number of radios and concluded that these were the best way to go. Now that I've been using them for a couple weeks or so, I've seen how great they are! I've been able to get good conversation with my wife for up to about 1.5-2 miles within the city (200,000+ people, no skyscrapers).

The call feature works the farthest--getting up to three miles or so.

One thing that other reviewers lack is knowledge about how radio signals work. You're only going to get the full miles on your receiver in the most optimal circumstances where there's not going to be a lot of noise (like outside of the city.)

The user interface seems to be decent; the only part of it I would change is the button named "lock" which really means "select". Other than that, it's been fairly user-friendly.

I've been using it for a while, and still haven't had to change the batteries yet. So, that's a plus.

So, if you want a good value for your money, go ahead and get these. My wife and I have been very pleased.

I like this radio.
Good points are
1. tough antena
2. came with nimh batteries
3. Good range through trees
4. earbud
5. very easy to open up the squelch and keep it open with having to keep pushing a buttion
Bad points are
1. Belt clip is easly broken
2.VOX dose not work with the earbud
3. When scanning the radio dose not show the sub coad of the radios it picks up.
4. can not connect a exturnal antena
5. No lanyard loop

If you get a deal on one of thease go for it. Other wize go for one of the new 2 watt mortorla radios. Or get a midland G11. I can't say I would buy them again but they are overall good radios.

After considering the uniden GMRS 480 and Audiovox 1535, I chose the Cobra GMRS 900-2-DX because of size, the layout of buttons,overall feel, two year warranty, and more price competative if you didn't want the charger etc.. All of the ones I considered appeared to be 2watt with similar specs. (althought the Audiovox may have been 1.8 watt). Both the Uniden and Audiovox did have NOAA but since my wife and I were going to use them mostly in mall shoppoing, weather would not be a problem. The Cobra could fit in my shirt pocket or wife's purse with no problem. The longer antenna in the uniden may not have been as convenient to carry although may get a little better range and audiovox's screen and buttons were smaller, which may have caused a problem with my bad eyesight. The Cobra range is around 1.3 to 2.0 miles,depending on terrain, obstacles etc., sound is adeqauate but high frequency lacking. Compared to FRS I can achieve 4 times the distance since I could only get 0.5 - 0.8 miles with a 0.5watt FRS radio. I don't think you will ever achieve 5 mile range or even 3 miles unless you are on top of a 5 mile mountain talking to someone on the ground. Overall I am pleased with the Cobra. The FCC license fee is a bit pricey at $.. but that's life.

This is a nice machine. Lotsa features, I get pretty good reception. Bought mine at Farm & Fleet for 60 bucks a piece. Figuring that you can easily spend that on a 500mw radio, why get anything else. As previously written by another reviewer, the sound quality lacks but is still audible. It is missing the highs so it can be a little muffled. Would I buy it again? Yes.

I bought these to use at an event - the reception wouldn't carry across the building, and when it did work the quality of the sound was pretty poor.

I bought fifteen sets to use at our school. They've been knocked around and dropped and still work pretty good. Some of the units pick up a lot of static especially as the battery starts to run low. We still can't figure out all the features and the display. The displays are confusing and some of the features appear to be meaningless or possibly aren't working. The battery indicator doesn't seem to work consistently. Some of the transmit buttons are stubborn and have to be pressed HARD. One of the transmit buttons don't work at all. The belt clips pop off, (resulting in the unit hitting the floor) especially if you're fat and you bend over. Hah! Anyway, the bottom line is that for the cost, they've been serving their purpose.

This product has quite a number of things going for it. Firstly it's an excellent FRS radio with excellent range (have not been able to test the two mile range 'cause of my terrain), coupled with the headphone set it allows for ease of communication for a variety of purposes, I use it for security in-store as well and they work marvellously. Also, with the drop-in charger and rechargeable batteries the savings gained in the original great price is magnified 100X over a similar motorolla product, which does not even have battery rationing and is certaily not rechargeable! (these average 2AA batteries per day on continous use!) Ideal choice for the budget conscious shopper who wants a greater bang for the buck.

...The FRS310-series radios themselves, they seem to be good quality for the simple toys they are. Reception is clear to a range of about six blocks when talking between car and wood-frame building. The claimed two mile range might be possible, over flat remote terrain, at night, in a period of low sunspot activity, but I doubt it. The preset squelch level is adequate for use in urban areas. Scanning works efficiently, and channels may be locked. Displays are NOT back-lit as claimed by the manufacturer, but side-lit LCD and therefore less legible than the back-lit type in low light. A nice feature rarely found in low-cost rechargeable devices of any kind (until recently) is a simple yet well-designed charging circuit that makes it difficult to damage the NiCd batteries by carelessly overcharging ("cooking") them. The radios also will work while they are being charged, a sometimes useful feature evidently not found in some other designs.

We purchased a large quantity of these radios to use in conjunction with our business. The radios work well, but have a failure rate that seems a little high (appx. 10%) - but the company was very good honoring the warranty - they immediatley replaced our defective radios with new ones.

I purchased two of these radios and I did transmit/rec. the 2-mile range with no problem.Purchased two GMRS and will advise on these later(had to get a license)

...The FRS310-series radios themselves, they seem to be good quality for the simple toys they are. Reception is clear to a range of about six blocks when talking between car and wood-frame building. The claimed two mile range might be possible, over flat remote terrain, at night, in a period of low sunspot activity, but I doubt it. The preset squelch level is adequate for use in urban areas. Scanning works efficiently, and channels may be locked. Displays are NOT back-lit as claimed by the manufacturer, but side-lit LCD and therefore less legible than the back-lit type in low light. A nice feature rarely found in low-cost rechargeable devices of any kind (until recently) is a simple yet well-designed charging circuit that makes it difficult to damage the NiCd batteries by carelessly overcharging ("cooking") them. The radios also will work while they are being charged, a sometimes useful feature evidently not found in some other designs.

We purchased a large quantity of these radios to use in conjunction with our business. The radios work well, but have a failure rate that seems a little high (appx. 10%) - but the company was very good honoring the warranty - they immediatley replaced our defective radios with new ones.

I purchased two of these radios and I did transmit/rec. the 2-mile range with no problem.Purchased two GMRS and will advise on these later(had to get a license)

BECAUSE OF AN ILL FAMILY MEMBER, I MUST LEAVE THE 2-WAY RADIO ON ALL NIGHT. THE STATIC WAKES ME UP. ALSO, BATTERIES HAVE TO BE REPLACED TOO OFTEN. THE ON-OFF BUTTON IS DIFFICULT FOR SENIOR CITIZENS TO USE.

I'm quite disappointed in the performance. We got these radios, opened them up, put in the batteries, and the first one worked perfectly, but.... the second of the two "static-free" had nothing but static until you keyed the talk button. We couldn't even leave it on because even on the #1 setting of volume, it was very loud and annoying! I certainly hope I can get this problem resolved with the company or I'm definately going to want my money back!

When I received these 2-way radio's I was very very pleased. First of all, I think that it is convenient that it comes with a belt holder so you don’t have to hold it all the time. Secondly, the 2-way radio has 14 clear channels, a green light that lights up the screen so you can see at night, and it has an incoming call feature.

The range I am very pleased with. I tested it with my brother and we got about 1 1/2 miles until the radio got a little static but I could still here him clearly. But it got static because he was deep in the woods, with all trees around. On clear land without any huge buildings around or any trees the 2 way radio can reach up to 2 miles.

They're very reliable for everyday use. Plus the batteries last a really long time.

These work very well in amusement parks, malls, sport complexes, between cars, etc.

They also include a speaker and headphone outlets on the top of the 2-way radio.

Overall I am very pleased with these radios.

5 stars!