I bought a pair of these two years ago and primarily use them when we are offroading with friends. I'll be honest, I'm not impressed and am looking for an alternative. Setting them up is easy enough, no issues there. On High power setting they get decent reception. But on Medium or Low I feel like we have to be super close to each other, like a few hundred feet at most. And if I put it on high, there's no way I can go a day on the battery. Next gripe: The batteries take forever to charge. They aren't lithium either, so of course they don't last long. One of my biggest gripes is if you leave the radio in the charger with the charger unplugged, it will discharge the battery!!! So let's say i'm driving along charging the radio in the charger connected to the cigarette lighter plug. Then we stop to have lunch and I forget to pull the radio out of the charger, it is now more dead that when you started charging it! This exact scenario happened during our last trip to Moab. We spent the last day without radios because of the poor battery life and idiosyncrasies of charging them. No USB charge! It's 2024! I think Midlands is just milking this cow as long as they can. No improvements, no developments for many years on this radio.

The normal consumer can only use 28 of the 50 channels the first 22 channels you must obtain a FCC license in order to talk on these channels , with that being said the range was week over a just a few miles with line of sight and no obstructions to hinder transmission. I found these radios were not much better than low end walkie talkies. The price point you pay is for all the options of bells and whistle not actual distance of radio contact. I would like to see if some one could test these over a flat area such as water for the advertised 36 miles range.

I recently purchased a 3 pack of these radios and had a minor issue with one of the units. Cheryl Hawkins from Midland Support was especially helpful and truly exceeded my expectations in resolving my issue. While I've been pleased with each of the previous copies of GXT1000 in my possession, it's amazing to have attentive support staff and good policies available when issues like mine arise. Gives me great confidence in the Midland brand! Thanks Midland and thanks again Cheryl! -AW

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products from time to time and for this trip I was given the opportunity to test the [Midland](https://midlandusa.com/product/gxt1030vp4-two-way-gmrs-radio/) Two-Way GMRS Radio in the GXT1030VP4 Series. **Pros:** * Easy to charge wherever you might be with both AC and DC chargers. * SOS & NOAA Weather features * Battery comes fully charged straight out of the box. * Lengthy battery life **Cons:** * Signal can be a bit hindered by terrain and you lose some of the 30 miles you are told you have for communication. I will say that before I hit the road I did a few tests on the equipment to make sure I fully understood the features. The communication from radio to radio was crisp in my tests up to 10 miles. Although I will say that after that distance I did have a little struggle. I feel like after reading the materials that it had a lot to do with the tree coverage in our area and my lack of previous experience in use to troubleshoot. With this particular trip I took both radios with me because I would be later meeting a friend along the way, but for this campsite I was most interested in using the radio for its NOAA weather alert feature. Recently, in Arkansas there have been a lot of flash floods in remote areas such as the one in which I was staying. These particular Midland Radios are ideal for allowing you to know when one of these is coming your way so you can seek shelter immediately. I scanned several times through the 10 NOAA stations and it did in fact pay off just before bedtime when I was warned of a severe storm which would be passing through. Had it not been for this I would have more than likely taken my rain fly off my tent for improved circulation since it was so hot and humid. In addition, I always make sure to keep something in my tent and on my day pack for emergencies and safety. I usually have a tool or some kind or a knife, but adding the Midland Radio to that for its SOS Alert was a perfect way to make me feel a bit more secure in my travel. The alert is a loud substation noise which can be heard for quite a distance when you simply press and hold down the SOS button located on the front face plate of the radio. I was a little worried about the battery life of the radio and leaving it on for the duration of an evening to feel secure. I fully tested the battery life when camping at Lenox Marcus, turning the radio on steady at approximately 8 p.m. and not off until 6 a.m. The charge not only held but was still full when I returned it to its carrying space in my front cup holder of my car. This was in addition to being turned off and on throughout the day when I would exit my car to explore sites. All in all, the Midland Two-Way GMRS Radio has made its way into my travel pack for more adventures. The features go on and on as to how it can benefit my hikes with friends, improve my overall awareness, bring efficiency to charging through both AC and DC connections and of course provide that SOS Safety net. I would give the Midland Two-Way GMRS Radio 5 stars!

After testing these radios out in some pretty remote areas, I was honestly shocked at how powerful the range is! I never lost signal and I can say that the range slightly exceeds that of what is advertised, so definitely a huge option for your communication arsenal! Great radios, for overlanding, offroading & now that we are on quarantine!

GMRS radios require a FCC license. Information was on bottom of the box in fine print. I overlooked that because no one puts important information like that on the bottom of the box. I emailed Midland about the information on their box. As for the radios, I was in my car 5 to 7 miles away talking to someone in a house that has a metal roof. It may have gone farther had we both been out in the open on flat ground. Voice was clear and sounded good. We were on a GRMS channel on high power. Good range for a hand held radio but I dont think it will get the 36 miles as stated on the box.

Don't be fooled by the "36 Mile" range claim. The package gives varying ranges depending upon terrain but all promise more than the less than 1 mile range actually available. Static and other users on a channel may be from further than the 1 mile distance of the second radio but there is no reception beyond that for the partner radio, even in fairly open valleys. Construction seems solid but the PTT button is soft and difficult to actuate, requiring a single finger at a 90 degree angle, much harder to use than standard hinged PTT's, especially with gloves.

Works great for our family ATV rides when paired with the APH2 full face helmet speaker and microphone set. Changes the ride from a mostly solitary experience to a shared family experience. Also, improves safety on the trail with communication. No hand held is going to provide maximum advertised range when in terrain. But these units have max legal transmit power and do as well as any handheld can.

I just got the radios today. Setup was straight forward and the instructions were easy to follow. So far, the only real use has been a test call between the two radios, but sound quality is good. and they seem to be solidly built for the price. My only con is the headsets--they don't stay on my ear.

With this radio bundle you have everything you need to stay connected with your friends and loved ones. Whether on the trails or in the mall you can reach your kids. A few weeks back we brought them to the beach and the range on them was wonderful. We were miles apart and could still hear each other like we were 10 feet apart!