Customer Reviews

Cobra PR 4000 7-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radios (Pair)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Good Points
- Solid, well built feel
- Loud and strong speaker
- Easy to hold in the hand and control basic functions without looking
at the unit
- Large display with good backlight
- Lots of config. options related to the unit's function

Could go either way
- Lots of extras (clock, compass, stop watch) that I won't use but
others might
- A tad big/heavy but not bad. I do like the use of 4 AA bats. even
though they add weight.
- Squlech seems a bit on the low side but I can't say for sure if this
is good or bad without more testing

Bad
- It can take a lot of button pushes to get to some functions like
Scanner
- Even at the lowest level the volume is still to high for very quiet
environments
- Some buttons are long as they curve around the face of the LCD
(which is a good design, IMO) BUT you have to press at a specific
point along the button to trigger it. Clearly this was a cost saving
measure as there could be no user interface design reason for it!!
- I would have liked a voice encoder
- Not a big deal but I would have liked an icon on the display telling
me if I am using a FRS only, GMRS only, or shared freq.

Range
In an environment of 2 story wood framed homes, 2-3 story brick
retail/comm. buildings, trees, and the like we got .5 miles LOS with
very good sound quality and .95 miles LOS until speach could no longer
be understood. One unit was placed in the 2nd story of a house and
the other was mobile in a car. Elevation was overall flat.

Now, the interesting thing was that it did not matter one bit what
power setting the radio was set on. .5, 2, or 3 watts we got the same
range and sound quality.

Other thoughts on the Cobras:

- Sound quality of OTHER communications (not generated by the Cobra)
were loud and clear (assuming they were in range of course) as posted
earlier. However,
- The units did not pick up sound well at all. I had to hold the unit
right up to my face and speak much louder than a normal conversation
to get anything like a strong voice on the other end. I thought there
might be a mic. setting to increase the gain but there was not.
- You have to have the volume very loud to pick up traffic from the
other Cobra unit. That works until another user near by breaks in and
then you get a blast of sound.

My bottom line:
I thought I would really like these units and felt they would be a
good middle ground between the really cheep $10 units and the high end
$150+ units. They are designed and built well and have a good UI and
a lot of settings. They are easy to use and understand and have great
battery life.

But, with a range of less than a mile in real world use and every
indication of a range not to exceed 2 miles LOS with no obstructions I
just can't see that they justify the...price tag.

Yes, they would be great for using around the park or between a few
houses but so would a $20 pair of FRS radios.

Since effective distance seems to be an item of intense interest, I attempted to replicate what another clever reviewer did. I set up a tape recorder on my kitchen table in front of one of the units, turned the units to a 3-watt channel and drove away in my car, doing periodic distance checks. I went three miles through residential neighborhoods--principally houses and trees.

At one mile, speech was still clear and crisp, but I began to hear increasing background noise after the first mile. However, at 3.0 miles, even though the signal was degraded, I was still able to understand speech with no difficulty.

Not bad at all for a radio in this price range. I have only had the radios for a few days, so I am unable to comment on other aspects yet.

I've been an advisor for the outing club at my high school for over 15 years. We've used several different makes/models but these are THE BEST!!! We've used the Cobra 4000 for cycling & sea kayaking (enclosed in a dry bag), but the situation where they really shine is during wilderness backpacking trips. We frequently split our large group into 3 smaller units. Each unit(usually 12-15 students + 2 advisors) has two radios; one in the front and one in the back. We keep all 6 radios tuned to the same frequency in case of emergency. It's not unusual for each unit to be 3-5 miles away from each other in the mountainous terrain of New Hampshire. We use the "High" power setting on all units and can speak between units quite well. Sure things get a little scratchy as the distances increase but that's to be expected.

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 cant believe how far these radios work. I have one at my house and another at my friends house (almost 4 1/2 miles away) and we get great clearity in ur conversations. I recommend this product to anyone.

I agree with Ross Henning, but the headset option in the Cobra Micro Talk line is only useful when hunting or during other applications when one would be talking very quietly. I say this because the internal microphones are incredibly sensitive. There's no need to take the radio off your belt... just push the button and talk. I did notice that the receiver volume is substandard with other radios (including other Cobra radios), that chargers aren't readily available, and that the radios are significantly larger and heavier than others. My wife and I own two of these, as well as three Cobra 950 radios. The 950's came with chargers, rechargable batteries and headsets. The PR4000-2WX did not. The 950 radios are smaller and lighter, and the range is very comparable. With the 950's, the receiver volume is louder and the headset jack utilizes two separate lines. The 950 (or 935... no apparent difference between the two) models are a better buy, unless you insist on weather radio and a compass. The weather radio with the PR4000-2WX is especially nice, but the compass feature needs to be calibrated frequently. (It is reliable and easy to calibrate.) To me, the greatest disadvantage of the PR4000-2WX radios is the extra size and weight. I suspect AA batteries (bigger and heavier) are necessary for the extra power, as opposed to AAA batteries in the other models. All in all, if you want a compass and weather radio, buy the PR4000-2WX. Otherwise, I highly recommend the 950/935 series. By the way, my seven year old daughter carries a 935 while bike riding nearby. One day she called and asked me to pick her up, but that I should bring a towel. Her voice was unusually faint and I couldn't understand why. When I arrived, I found that she crashed in a mud puddle. The radio was soaked in mud, but still worked well. Bethany was crying, and I thought she was injured. Turns out, she was upset because she thought her radio was broke. We let the mud dry, then easily cleaned it 'good as new'. Cobra phone support has been great. These radios have me wondering why I'm such a Motorola fan.

My family have owned four of the PR-4000 radios for almost year, and just purchased a PR-4250. They have consistently outperformed every other radio we have tried in the middle area of the market. The battery life on NiMh batteries is amazing. We have sometimes monitored our usual channel and CTCSS pair sometimes for two to three days at a time, including periodic usage!

As for the range, we get a range consistent with an urban use of a UHF transceiver with 3 watt output, and the receiver sensitivity described int the manual. (The switchable 3,2,.5 power output is much appreciated--especially when communicating with other radios using less power.)

Do not expect the seven or ten miles promised on the package. But this is true for any UHF handheld. I think the only way to get that would be for both parties to be on open water and climb the masts on their sailboats... (I really do wish the manufacturers would stop these milage claims.)

So far, these are the best for the money we have found.

As a handheld radio, these are probably pretty decent. However, for my purpose, I wanted to take advantage of the included VOX (voice operated tranmit) function. The purpose of voice operated operation is to allow full hands-free use. However, with Cobra's new design, they no longer use two seperate jacks for the earpiece and microphone. Everything is now reduced to one 2.5mm jack. I didn't think anything of this until I tried to use an earpiece with the radios in VOX mode. I couldn't get them to work properly, so I called Cobra's customer service for some assistance. It turns out that the VOX mode only works when using the built in microphone and speaker. When one plugs in an earbud microphone, it must have a push to talk switch. I can't think of any situation where one would use the VOX mode when they have to hold the radio up to their mouth to use it. Using the built in push-to-talk button would be much more reliable in this instance. Therefore, the VOX function is now basically useless, unless you want to set the radio on a desk in front of you and talk handsfree. I think that this is probably one of those cases where the designer folks wanted to make the radio more sleek looking but didn't consult with the engineering folks as to what impact it would have on the functionality to remove the extra jack. My radios will be going back to the store. I was looking forward to taking advantage of the extra wattage that these provide, and if you aren't in need of the VOX function, then they may be fine for you. However, if you need the VOX function, you'll have to look at another brand as all of Cobra's new line uses this same goofy design for the earphone/microphone plug.

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.

PURCHASED A SET TODAY AND PUT THEM THRU THE TEST. MATCHED THEM AGAINST THE SP21 MOTOROLA PRO. TESTED ON GMRS FREQS. FIRST THE 3 WATTS DID NOT MEAN ALOT AS THE DISTANCE WAS ABOUT ALMOST 2 MILES IN THE SUBURBAN AREAS TESTED. I GOT MORE DISTANCE OUT OF THE SP21 AND THATS ONLY 2 WATTS. NEXT THE SOUND QUALITY WAS POOR. THE TRANSMIT VOLUME WAS LOW AND NOT VERY LOUD AS A SP21. THE DISPLAY WINDOW WAS HARD TO READ=TOO SMALL OF LETTERING. VERY POOR BACKLIGHT,COULD NOT REALLY TELL IF IT HAD A LIGHT AT ALL. POORLY CONSTRUCTED,FELT CHEAP IN THE HAND. BUTTONS HARD TO PUSH. I AM TAKEING THEM BACK TO WALLMART FOR A REFUND. NOT WORTH ANY MONEY IN MY OPINION. DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL=BIG ZERO. ONE FINAL NOTE. IT HAS A GREAT DIGITAL ELECTRONIC COMPASS SO IF YOU NEED A COMPASS BUT IT BUT IF YOU INTEND ON USEING IT AS A 2 WAY RADIO FORGET IT.