Customer Reviews

Midland G-225C2 7-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

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I was very displeased with my Midland G-225 radios. I bought six G-225 radios so all of my hunting partners could stay in communication across a one square mile property. I chose Midland over Motorola brand radios because of the Midland's two watts of power compared to most Motorola two-way radios that are on one-half watt output. I assumed four times more power would increase communication distances. Was I ever wrong...

We found in side by side tests of the Midland G-225 and several different versions of Motorola's 1/2 watt systems that the Motorolas were far superior in reception across hilly and wooded terrain. At times, the Midland's could not communicate across distances as short as 200 yards, if there was any intervening terrain, while the various Motorolas had no problem with these conditions.

In addition, of the six G-225 units I purchased, two had major problems right out of the box, while two more went bad within three days of use. In my opinion, that is totally unacceptable quality.

We bought 4 radios to keep in touch while snow skiing. They replaced 4 older/cheaper radios that were 1/2 watt with no sub-codes. The Midland radios have the squelch unlock button right above the push-to-talk button. Both buttons are just little rubber-covered bumps on the side of the radio. A gloved finger can't tell the difference. We had to remove gloves to even use the radios because we couldn't tell when the button was pressed or which button we were pressing. An accidental double-click on the push-to-talk button activates the 3 second alert tone and shuts down all conversation. Three seconds is forever if it happens in the middle of your transmission. Half the time, we'd get only part of a transmission because the push-to-talk button wasn't getting pushed correctly. VERY FRUSTRATING! Remember that these were experienced radio users. We also found that any small hill between us would garble the reception. Friends who were with us were much happier with their 1/2 watt Motorolas. If I had my money back, I'd buy something else.

Bought a set of 4 to upgrade our entire hunting crew's radios with a common, long-range setup... failed miserably. The low-power, older Motorolas outperformed the range and clarity. That said, I've not used the newer, long-range Motorolas. It's possible they aren't an improvement either.

For hunting, the volume cannot be set low enough. Even on the lowest setting it is louder than you want it to be.

Also, the loud beeping alarm that is easily triggered is a terrible nuisance.