All manufacturers exaggerate the range of these little radios. I have used these to hear users on top of a 14,000 foot mountain from 6 miles away, but there were no obstructions between me and them. That's the best distance I've achieved. I had a lower power version of these and they worked well for several years before one of them died. I saved its battery as a spare for these and I can still use the one working with these. Most Midlands use the same rechargeable batteries, although you might carry at least four alkalines along if you expect to be away from the recharger for more than a day. If you're camping out you might want to establish a timetable to use them to extend battery life. They have excellent channel security, either with just two of them or in a group. Hearing other users of the same channel can get very annoying. The numerous privacy choices prevent that almost 100%. Like others, in a city or any enclosed space the range is very limited. The headsets can be handy of you're fishing or hunting. I've used 2-way radios for more than 40 years. The first ones I had were the size and weight of bricks. These are state-of-the-art, light, with good clips and among the best currently available. Midland GXT1050VP4 36-Mile 50-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) (Camo)
The Midland Outfitter Series GXT1050VP4 is no better then any other radios I have used. The GMRS side of the radio will not let you work repeaters for those that are licensed for this service. Range is a joke and the audio could be better the drop in charger only shows when the radios are charging but the light remains on after the battery is fully charged unlike the Talkabout Motorola radios I own. I feel this could shorten the battery life as they are always charging. I called Midland and they told me to charge the radios 8-10 hours max so I don't over charge and damage the batteries. You can not adjust the squelch on these radios as one radio does not hear as well as the other. Another call to Midland was of no help.On the plus side the ear microphones work well and the display is readable day and night.
I owned a pair from the leading competitor to midland and even at the same rating for range, could not receive or transmit through heavy urban obstruction from inside a vehicle for more than a mile. This Model was able to do both at 3 miles with the added problem of multiple Ham radio transmitters in line with my signal. In open country, The signal carried for a measured 12 miles, and that, because the radios were not farther apart. for $80. How can you go wrong when considering all the features and the performance.
These radio's work very well after you get over the fact that no portable radio will work long range in an urban setting. The advertised 37 mile range is not realistic in most settings. No portable radio will work over about a mile unless there is an unobstructed line of sight to the other party such as over water (or maybe mountain top to mountain top). These are 5 Watt radios. The FCC limits the power output on GMRS Radios to 5 Watts maximum. Some brands are not even 5 watts, however these are.
I use these radio's at our hunting camp in Central Georgia. In the thick forest, the maximum range is about a mile. As indicated above,I have used all major brands with Midland the best and Motorola coming in second.
What I like:
Maximum Range
Camo finish
Push to Talk (PTT) works very well, the switch is solidly built
The included headsets work well but are somewhat uncomfortable to wear
More features that you will ever need
The Value Pack with included accessories is a great value and better value than any other radio on the market.
Waterproof, ok to use in the rain
The Amazon price is a real bargain for the radios and all the accessories that are included.
3 Year Warranty (as far as I now the others are only guaranteed a year)
The rechargeable batteries last a long time.
What I don't like:
The unit is somewhat bulky and slightly larger that most radios on the market. However they still fit in your shirt pocket or on your belt with the included belt clip.
Summary:
If you want GMRS radios and accessories that work well at a bargain price, this is the one to buy.
Motorola MR350R vs Midland GXT1050--Both products received good reviews on Amazon and I had a hard time initially deciding which one to buy since I could not find detailed comparison between the two. So, I will try to be more comprehensive in comparison here hoping to help you make a decision suitable for your purpose.
I bought MR350R two months ago from Costco at $55 (tax included) to monitor my baby sleeping upstairs and to use during road trips. A month later I also bought Midland GXT1050 from Amazon upon good reviews and my dissatisfaction with some silly design issue associated with the MR350 VOX feature (which is critical for monitoring purpose).
Size and weight: MR350 is lighter (6.2oz vs 7.3oz for each handset including rechargeable battery pack and belt clips) and has a noticeably more agronomical grip, especially for kids or someone with smaller hands.
Setup and Change Settings: MR350 has more intuitively LCD display and signs/symbols whereas GXT1050 took me a couple of hours to set up and memorize what each symbol/letter means (It would be tremendously helpful if Midland can add a full list of all symbols/letters and their meanings in a simple table instead of diving this information into chunks and burying it into each individual function/feature section). I think a 10 year old can be taught to change settings on MR350 without a manual but that most likely won't happen with GXT1050 (with or without the manual).
Features: These two share many useful key features like Weather Scan and Alert. GXT1050 has more channels (50 vs 22 for MR350R) which may be useful for using in populated areas although I never run into issues with MR350 on this one. MR350 has a built-in LED light for emergency use, which is nice. GXT1050 can produce a loud SOS siren which maybe useful in certain situations (although I never used it for any real purposes). Overall GXT1050 seems a bit more versatile with features such as direct call.
Range: GXT claimed 36 miles range and MR350 claimed 35 miles--both claims are meaningless since nobody would ever achieve the advertised range unless standing on two mountain peaks with perfect conditions. In actual use, the effective range is more like 1-2 miles in a flat suburban environment and a bit more in open field. Some reviewers here found a slightly better range with GXT1050 although my test twice showed MR350R lasted a slightly longer range while me driving away from home with each model broadcasting from my living room.
PPT Button is the one needing to be pressed down when transmitting. MR350R has the button designed in such way you can press the upper part for high power and lower part for low power--made switch power a much easier task. Using GXT1050's mechanism you will have to pre-configure power level in the settings and is not very easy to change in a hurry. The shape of MR350 PPT button is made in such a way though, you would end up using the high power most of the time since the upper part of the button protrudes further out. Nonetheless, I like the MR350R design on this one.
VOX: This is one of the most critical features if you want to monitor baby sleeping in a different room or just want to talk hand-free. I agree with C. Hayes' review here that MR350R's three sensitivity levels are not sensitive enough (Hayes's wording made me smile, though a bit exaggerated.). GXT1050 has 9 level of sensitivities and the most sensitive setting (level 1) is indeed more sensitive than that of MR350R (level 3), however, the difference it is not day and night--both detected my baby crying after waking up when placed about 1-2 feet away and both failed to detect my normal talk volume from 1-2 feet away unless I yell loudly or put the radio within 2-3 inches to my mouth. When put in front of a PC speaker, I did notice that GXT1050 started getting into the transmitting mode a bit earlier than MR305R as I turned up the volume knob of my speaker. However, if you want to talk to you handset placed on your shoulder (like policeman does) with your normal voice volume without bending your head to get close to the ratio--good luck no matter which set you use. I really think both companies should increase the sensitive level here.
The biggest turn-off of MR350R is that its VOX feature would be automatically cancelled if you press PPT button, intentionally or accidentally, even if when all settings are "locked"--my baby likes to play with radio and sometime the VOX setting is accidentally cancelled because he squeezed the PPT button. I found this a ridiculous under-thinking (or over-thinking) by Motorola's engineers--I understand the need to preserve power if pressing PPT means VOX may no longer be necessary, but auto-cancel even though settings are locked? Does the word "lock" mean anything? GXT has no problem on this one--kudos to their engineers. I would have returned MR350R for this reason alone (thanks to the great Costco return policy.) if not because my GXT1050 set had a quality issue.
The Wishper feature of GXT1050 does give much loud volume which is very useful for baby monitoring if you don't carry your ratio set on you or right next to you.
Battery life: Both are pretty good (for the good unit I have). I followed exact instructions to do the initial charge (important to battery life) and subsequent charges. However, one of my MR350R unit would run out juicy twice faster than the other handset would--this may be due to difference in batteries or the radio circuit parts. Even worse luck with GXT1050 I had-- sometimes one unit would lose power during use even though it was newly charged and it would not even charge after being placed on the charger. Swapping batteries solves the problem temporarily but this issue reappears later. This caused me to return the GXT1050 to Amazon (thanks to Amazon's 30 day return policy) after on two occasions my baby woke up and fell off bed but GXT1050 failed to give me any warning in advance because of this very issue.. I don't know whether this was caused by a faulty battery or circuit component but I do think this is probably an isolated quality issue since most reviewers here seems to be quite happy with their purchase. One small thing to comment on the rechargeable battery installation and removal--MR350 got this one right with a ribbon under the battery to help you remove the pack easily. The GXT1050 rechargeable battery pack fit in so tightly and there is no ribbon there to help--it would take a few minutes and possibly a fingernail or two (and believe me, I am not exaggerating here) to remove it, especially if you are in a hurry to put in some alkaline batteries in the field. Midland--please spend a nickel or a dime and put in a removal ribbon here.
Charger: Both models do NOT have smart charger--which means the charge light is still red even when fully charged. IBoth companies should make an improvement on this for better battery power and life.
Compatibility: I checked their frequency charts and found that first 22 channels are on exact frequencies so they are compatible. However, I found this to be true only when privacy code is not used. When both models are set on the same channel using the same privacy code--they were able to scan and found each other SOMETIMES, but not always. What a bummer since I would be happy to have both sets (if without quality issues mentioned earlier) and use them in a group to suit different needs.
Waterproof: GXT1050 is splash-proof (JIS4 as the fine print specified), not really waterproof in the sense you can submerge it in water but this is still better than MR350R.
Price: GXT1050 package costs about $20 more but it also includes two headsets and a car charger adaptor--I would call a tie on this one.
Overall, each model has its own strengths--buy what suits your purpose. I had experience in building electronics and know for a fact that individual difference in parts/components sometime impact significantly in power consumption and transmit/receiving sensitivity. So, each unit may vary somewhat from one another --your mileage may vary when coming down to range, sensitivity, etc. So, celebrate if you get a good pair but don't get too hung up if someone else claims a bit better range or clarity or whatsoever.
I would have given 4 stars to both models given their solid performance before noticing quality issues mentioned above but 3 stars here due to quality/reliability issues happened to the set I received in addition to some much desired improvement in design--I hope the manufacturers read my reviews and take some actions--those are not expensive changes at all but would be much more user friendly. I would buy the improved version of either brand in a heartbeat. - Gmrs - 2-way Radio - Midland - Handheld'
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