Customer Reviews

Midland GXT800VP4 26-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have owned several of the top rated Cobras and Motorolas. I already owned a pair of Midland's older "5 watt" radios, but I purchased the 800's to get the longer antenna and any improvements they might have made to the transmitter and receiver sections. The 800's have no great surprises. Range is very good for a GMRS consumer radio but we all need to start disregarding the outrageous published claims by the manufacturers on range and output. They are largely irrelevant. If you want more accurate information on output and range, browse through the very helpful two-way radio forum at: http://www.twowayradioforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4

According to the FCC, actual radiated power from these units (at the antenna) is a bit over 1.6 watts, but that's very good when compared with most other brands of GMRS radios on the market. In terms of usable range in a suburban environment, think in terms of 5 miles at the outside; less where there are hills, buildings or trees. Less yet from car to car.

The radios are a bit bulky but manageable. Sound quality is reasonably good, and volume is only OK. All in all, a good investment for the money and a 3 year warranty is one of the best. Based on my experience, I can recommend these radios for most consumer applications.

I do a lot of kayak exploring and thought it would be a good idea to purchase radio's that not only have the NOAA Weather Alert, but also be waterproof in case of a mishap. The radio's work great, and the weather alert has really come in handy, but the waterproof feature leaves much to be desired. The radio only says it meets JIS4 specifications. What is JIS4? I have no idea, but I can say it's not much. My radio was accidently droped in the water for just a second but was never submerged. The battery compartment got wet and the display fogged up. This caused the radio to stop functioning properly. After a few minutes under the hair dryer, it seemed to get better, but now I realize waterproof to JIS4 specification must mean it can only withstand damp air. I will be much more carefull next time. Good sound, good features, but don't let the waterproof fool you.

As another buyer noted, the volume could be improved. The radios are a little bulky and not for the novice user as there is a lot of technical setup and options just to get started. I don't know what the waterproof specification is that is advertized on these radios, as the battery pack cover most likely will not keep water out if dropped in a pool of water. Reception wise they don't go even a mile in the city on high power. I have yet to test them in open terrain. The combination over the ear piece and microphone are not very flexible and do not move independently, so if you get the over the ear part to be comfortable, the microphone may not be in the best usable position. I wouldn't buy these again having seen the size and compactness of other models on the market. Just not real impressed. The kids can still have fun with them though in the neihborhood and are good for on the same property communications, ie. from my house to my workshop. Battery recharger does not shut off, so you can easily over charge the batteries if left on for more than 24 hours. When the batteries begin to get low, there is little warning before they run out.

Good: {Range, price, features}
Bad:{Initial defect, charger}
As all GMRS the posted range(26miles) is under unrealistic conditions but the GXT800 do provide best range I've experienced for a consumer product.
The radio has all features you'd expect for GMRS plus it has weather(NOAA) which is a cool bonus. The radio "feels" a bit cheap compared to the Motorola but remember you didn't pay the price of a Motorola either.
It takes 12 hours to replenish the batteries and the charger DOES NOT turn itself off when charging is complete. This means if you forget your radios in the charger for a few days you will damage your batteries. My hearing is not as good as it used to be in loud, crowded places (Malls, amusement parks...) I would have liked the volume to be adjustable to a louder setting, but the ear piece can compensate for this (if you can bear wearing it...). I ordered 2 pairs (4 radios) and in one pair both radios did not charge in the charger, getting them replaced was a hassle because ANTOnline was distributing them and the have TERRIBLE customer service.

Recommended cheap improvements to manufacturer:
{louder speaker volume, charger with auto-off}
More expensive improvements:
{fast charge charger, more ergonomic casing}

Overall a very good product for the price. Audio on receive is a little soft- a design issue. As a ham radio operator, the claim of 26 mile range is very deceiving. Yes this is possible if you have line of site communications. For example mountain top to mountain top without any obstruction. Actual range will be approximately 1 mile in a flat wooded residential area and 5-7 miles over water and a few blocks in a big city. Another deceiving issue is that this product is not waterproof, it is splash resistant. If you want a waterproof radio get one with IPX7 standards-3 foot immersion for up to 30 minutes. The ear bud with boom microphone is a bit flimsy. The charger and stand is ok, but note this is not a smart charger and it is possible to overcharge your rechargeable batteries unless you manually unplug the charger after a timed cycle. The battery is a Nickel Metal Hydride battery. One should know that NiMHydride batteries have a high discharge rate when not in use and you will have to charge the radio before use or perform a float charge on a weekly basis to maintain these batteries in a charged state. I am sure the next generation radios of this class will incorporate Lithium Ion batteries as the price comes down. The grip feel of the radio is not as ergonomic as other brands but acceptable. I do like the ability to tone encode your transmissions. Overall this is an excellent product for the price and I would recommend it with the above limitations. If you want some waterproofing, put the radio in a sandwich bag.

I purchased this radio mainly to be used as a way to talk to other motorcycles. Initially it was tricky to adjust the VOX as I had 2 - the one on the radio and the one on the bike communicator that the radio connects to. But once I got both adjusted it seem to work ok but I wouldn't say perfect. Two of my friends had Motorolas and those seem to work well, but those were not waterproof.
One of the main reason I picked this model was that it is advertised as waterproof, but so far I did not get a chance to test that feature.
Another thing to be aware is batteries. It seem to use them fairly quickly. On an all day ride I used almost 2 sets. Luckily it also uses AA but that can get expensive, and in my case carrying a bulky charger is not my first option. I wish they had a compact cell phone type charger available. Charging time also seems long at 12 hrs. I guess I'll get a set of rechargeable AA's.
Radios seem to be well built and of good quality.

We got these to use around the farm so when one of us is down with the animals, we can still communicate with the other person in the house. For this, they work great. They have more features than we need so, if we were to buy 2-ways again, we'd probably go with a cheaper model. The reason we sprung for this more expensive set is that we figured if we were going to have 2-ways, we could also carry them with us when walking our dogs on the back of the property in case one runs off or somebody gets hurt, we could call to the person back home. But even just a quarter-mile from our house (let alone the 26 miles it's billed as working over), we can't communicate with each other. There's a hill between us, but again, it's just a quarter-mile of distance. I would've thought these could handle at least that, but no.

I can't say enough good things about this product. Working in construction we had a choice when it came to buy new radios for the site. We could purchase the older type Motorola like we were using at a cost of $400-600 ea with mediocre reception or try something new. We 1st purchased just a pair of the Midlands GXT800's to try with the crane and rigging crew and they worked out great. Now we have over 20 pairs on site and they have performed better then expected. Radios transmissions are clear and make communication between groups on site a breeze. We still find dead spots and areas where transmission is garbled but that was the same case with the more expensive Motorola radios. I was so impressed with the performance of these radios I purchases a pair for personal use.

Out of 4 sets of FRS/GMRS radios I've had over the last 10 years, these, by far, are the best. They are well made and powerful (for a GMRS radio). The ability to customize the units through the settings is very good. The only very, very minor downside is the slightly recessed PTT button. It makes it slighty more difficult to push the button and can take a while to get used to. Midland likely did this to prevent accidental transmissions. Again, you won't go wrong getting this set.

I purchased these radios to communicate between cars when our Corvette club takes cruises. We recently got back from a trip to the Berkshire Mts of Western Massachusetts. We had no difficulty talking to one another at distances up to 2 miles and in the mountain terrain. The radios performed exactly as advertised.