Two-Way Radio Review

Surveying reviews of two-way radios

Two-way radios can be used in a variety of situations and are a useful alternative to cell phones, especially when camping and hiking or when otherwise out of cell-tower range. Not surprisingly then, we found the best current review for two-way radios at Boys' Life, the adventure-oriented magazine and website. Field & Stream, Outside and Sports Afield magazines also provide a few brief reviews. Owner review sites and user forums are also good places to find information. Consumer Reports has not reviewed two-way radios, and CNet.com's last review was written more than three years ago. We also found a few reviews at About.com.

Today's two-way radios are a far cry from the walkie-talkies of yesteryear. Smaller and more powerful, some have range specifications that exceed 20 miles. However, reports tell us that specifications and real-world use are not exactly the same, and sometimes not even in the ballpark.

A case in point is the Motorola Talkabout T9500R (*Est. $55 each). Although this two-way radio scored well with three reviewers it has received some strong negative comments from owners at user review sites, such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Dissatisfaction includes discrepancies with the advertised range of the Motorola two-way radio, which is 25 miles -- several owners report that this specification is a gross exaggeration. The overall opinion of some is that sound quality in general is poor and that voices are muffled or unclear, even at short distances of a few blocks.

Unfortunately, issues with the Motorola T9500R two-way radio don't end there. Battery life is reported to be very short. Several owners say that the rechargeable battery did not last very long, even when fully charged. Others state that this problem can be corrected by replacing the included battery packs with ordinary alkaline batteries or your own rechargeable AA batteries. We did find praise of the Motorola T9500R's design and features, but not enough to offset the long list of negatives.