Customer Reviews

Uniden GMR325-2 3-Mile 22-Channel GMRS/FRS Two-Way Radios (Pair)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Purchased 100 of these for our school alert system. Even with the radio off, will drain a NiCad inside of a week. Uniden tech support is non-existent. Would have to pay more to send them back then they are worth.

Stay away from this radio, and Uniden as well until their support improves.

Do not buy these, spend extra money for a better pair. The batteries last 1 1/2 hours max!!! By the 4th time I tried different batteries within a 2 week period, I wrote to Uniden demanding my money back. I haven't heard from them yet but trust me, don't buy these. On the one plus side, when they didn't run out of power, the range and sound was good.

i purchased these for my work and i had to put new batteries in every 2 days. was the case for all of them. definetly would not reccomend unless you own Duracell!

UPDATE:
I'd like to update my previous review of this product. I emailed Uniden customer service, and advised them how unhappy I was to get 30 minutes of battery life out of $5.00 worth of alkaline batteries. After a few emails back and forth, they offered to replace the radios with another unit, the GMR638. Two days later, a package arrived with two refurbished GMR638 radios and a prepaid mailer to return the GMR325 units. I was pleased to see that the new radios included NiMH battery packs and a charger. While it's hardly a comparable radio (MUCH larger) it has a lot more features (CTCSS tones, VOX, etc.), more range and terrific battery performance. Of course the battery packs and charger was a nice surprise too. (The radios will accept 4 AAA batteries too.)

So while I'm still disappointed in the GMR325 (which I specifically chose for it's small size) I have a lot of respect for the way Uniden chose to resolve the situation. I'll certainly purchase their products again...but next time I'll check the reviews here first! To anybody else who is dissatisfied with this product, don't hesitate to contact Uniden.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I bought these locally last Saturday so my wife could keep in touch with me from shore while I fished on a local lake. I installed new Duracell batteries, turned the units on, and confirmed that they worked before powering them off. The following Sunday, I got out on the water and gave her a quick call. The radios worked great for about three brief exchanges, and then the batteries abruptly died in both units! I kid you not, we're talking about roughly 1/2 hour of "on" time, and about 40 seconds of "talk" time before the batteries croaked.

Nice design work Uniden. If anybody here still wants a pair, you can come get mine out of the trashcan.

I had the battery issue with mine, they would last 4mins or less. I contacted Uniden via website(you can call them too) and shipped the radios to them for $4 shipping(open an incident w/them first).

They replaced faulty capacitors which would allow the batteries to drain fast on the radios for free. Batteries perform better now, radios are easy to use.

Uniden can do better in keeping customer up to date. I had to request status often. Had the radios back in 1.5 week. Uniden shipped the radios back via FedEx and provided me the tracking number.

These radios are nice since they have great features: scan, key lock, 22 channels, small size, easy to use push to talk button.

Uniden was nice enough to fix them in a relatively small time, for free(except my $4 to ship to them).

I bought these for christmas for my sons the batteries didn't even last an hour I thought it was just me or something I was doing wrong but after reading the reviews I see it's the product
I wish I had read the reviews first. don't buy this product

This is what I'd call a "long-term" review for the Uniden GMR325-2 radios [pair]
I purchased these off the Home Depot clearance rack for some insanely low price, like $15 bucks. I've had them for about five years and they work great for my purpose. I use them when working on a service call where one guy is outside and the other in the basement, attic etc. I also use them when camping with my son. He's six and had dropped a few times and it still works great. Fantastic weight/size for kids as well as adults. If you are looking for a constant "on" or daily all day use radio this is not for you. It does eat an huge amount of batteries. Rechargables or hi-end disposable lithium last a lot longer. Also shut off when not needed and remove batteries if not in use for more than a few days. Higher end current models have built in modern batteries and drop in desk chargers. I think overall they were a good value and for my level of use will probably get years more life outta them. Unless my son drops in a pond, toilet etc, but S**t happens so not loosing sleep over it. I would definitely buy this brand again.

As far as my thoughts on the whole FCC licensing thing some have commented on... Are you kidding? That's like J Walking then telling a cop that you J walked. I always say "ask forgiveness rather than permission." With the economy collapsing and companies and government crooks screwing us common folks every day, the last thing I'm gonna do is willingly put myself on some autocrats list and pay the government any more damn money than I have to!... Just my thoughts on that.

Played with them for less than half hour or so and the unit drained three AAA Alkaline batteries - amazing. They should be called "The disappearing battery trick".

You get what you pay for I guess.

Dont even waste your time with these.

Uses up batteries like crazy. Doesn't seem to do subchannels either. I need channel 8.2 for my club, but it I can't find a way to access that.

I bought a pair of these about 5 years ago, and one of them had the bad capacitor issue, and the other did not. If you can get past all the other bad reviews from those with the quality control issue, these are fine radios. Keep in mind, even my best radios may only last a day or two on fresh batteries when used frequently, and these are no worse, provided the capacitor is good. The battery cover is much easier to remove than the comparable Motorola FV150 (Black), which I also own two of. Being about the size of a pager, they're very easy to carry, and was an important factor in my son using it more often than he would have a larger radio. The audio is slightly better than my larger radios, meaning they sound solid and not hollow. That's an important factor for me, and no radio is going to do much better than 1-2 miles, and will vary tremendously with outdoor terrain. The only consistency you may encounter is within large buildings.

Just went to the park to do some range testing, and the Uniden did just as well as the three models of Motorola I own. Used a fresh set of Rayovac AAA hybrid recharge-ables in the Uniden, and with some long QSO's, it's still showing a full charge. They did fine up to the 3/4 mile tested with a pond, trees and mild difference in elevation, but hills are the most difficult obstacle for these to overcome. The small size makes them great for household intercoms, and am sure they'd do well in an industrial setting. So far the lack of ctcss codes is not a problem for us. The radios work fine a half mile to a friend's house, and saves us minutes on the cell phone.

Based on my findings, Uniden is the only other brand than Motorola (Giant International) that I'll consider for future purchases. I've also found the "Mini Cell Holster" by AVP and sold at Lowe's, work great for the ones missing belt clips, and the vinyl also protects against microphone wind noise.

GMRS License WQHW755