Customer Reviews

Midland SpeakEasy Ultra 75-515XLBPR 2-Mile 14-Channel FRS Water-Resistant Two-Way Radio (Pair)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The radios work great. As with all products that use rechargeable batteries, you get little advance notice as to when the batteries are about to die on you. The only thing I don't like about this product is the charging time for batteries. 10 hours for NiCads and 16 hours for NiMH. You cannot leave the radios in the charger after they are charged, so you have to keep track of time.

I was able to use these radios in Disneyland and with the digital codes available, I heard no interference from other yokels also with radios. (Even though they could still hear me.)

This package does everything it is suppossed to do. I've used the radios mostly in very rugged, deep canyons and have had no problem communicating. They have surived brief dunks when their owner has lost his footing fording streams. The radios seem to hold a signal better than some of the other brands I've tried. The recharger can be used with the included AAA NiCad batteries when they are in the units, or you can take the batteries out and charge them w/ another battery charger. This is great if you need to rotate battery sets so you have constant use of the radios. The units also work with regular AAA and rechargeable NiMH batteries, so you have lots of options. The automatic power stand-by feature is a big plus and significantly extends the working life of the batteries. The only negative I have is that the call button is too much, it sounds like a fire alarm going off. If you're looking for a pair of FRS radios with a charger look no further, this is the best setup for the price.

This is probably the best deal I've seen yet. The radios are of relative high quality, included are the chargers and the batteries, belt clips and lanyards. Has a VOX/PTT switch for use with other manufacturer's VOX sets. Has 2 sets of VOX jacks, 83 channel DSC in addition to the 38 channel CTSS, advertised as "water-resistant" though I haven't tested it out yet. Good range, picks up transmissions my other FRS usually can't. Crammed with features. Only complaint is that the buttons are a bit small and seem crowded, but that's a small quibble.

We used them with no interference on a crowded cruise ship and on a weekend at a major theme park. In both cases we saw many families with personal radios. Since, the FCC only set aside 14 channels, the ability to use the digital codes is a great feature. The rechargeable batteries and drop in charger are also excellent. Battery life is good! I shopped around and could not find any radio with these features at this price.

These little radios have exceeded my expectations. Based on reviews of similar products, I expected the range to be far less than the two mile maximum. Instead, we were able to use them at well over two miles with one person in a car and the other in a house. YMMV, but I was very impressed. There is some static near the end of the range but clarity is excellent at close and medium distances.
Battery life has been excellent. I've been using them for a couple of weeks on a set of alkalines. The batteries that ship with them are NiCd, not NiMH.
The units seem solidly built with the exception of the rubber flap that covers the top headphone/mic jacks. I don't use it but it might be irritating trying to close the flap.

I purchased this product not in small part due to the positive reviews I read. LUCKY THEM!!! There was unacceptable distortion on one of the units in the set. A quick replacement was forthcoming from Amazon
which worked well. Than the other original unit acted up. And another replacement was quickly sent by Amazon. Defective buttons!! So, at this point, I have one radio that works well and one radio that works fair. I suggest you look elsewhere if you want something of quality!

After looking at many brands, I decided to try these Midland units. I received 6 for all my sons friends in the neighborhood. They have great distance, quick recharge, and I think what I am saving in buying regular AA batteries, I am ahead of the game. These boys are all 9 thru 11 so these radios get a work out both in use and in the drop test. They stand up to the challange. I highly recommend them for play or for business use ( as long as you are in a 2 mile range, it gets to be a bit broken up over 2 miles)

I got this thing for when my friends and I play paintball, so that we could communicate with each other. Lets just say that these worked better than expected.

Some of my other friends have Cobra's and Motorola's and I think that these (my radios) came with better features and sounded clearer.

Definitely a good buy.

I was hopeful but greatly disappointed. Couldn't even communicate with family less than 1/2 mile aways with cracking, hissing and cutting out. No hills, electrical or other interferring objects. Greatly dissatisfied. Even more dissatisfied that I have to pay shipping to return something that doesn't work to begin with. This has been an all around discouraging transaction that makes me leery of internet purchases.

We took these radios to Disneyworld, and they worked great. My friends had cheaper models, with less codes, and their radios were awful in comparison. While they had to listen to Everybody;s transmissions, we were tuned in to our two radios only, like a private line, clear and easy to hear. However, when we tried to call and hear messages from our friends, I did have to deactivate the squelch (to get it back to the basic channel, without subcodes and digital subcodes), and I heard Everyone's transmissions as well, and that quality was substantially lower. Since the trip, I have sent the radios with kids on bike rides, and used them while shopping, to speed things up by sending the kids off for a loaf of bread or gallon of milk, and meet me at aisle 5. Works great.