Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
by Motorola
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List Price: Our Price: $22.98 You Save: $57.01 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
Customer Review: "25-Mile" can be misleading
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Although I am pretty tech savvy, this is definitely one of those products where you really need to read the manual (but don't worry, it's not that big) to understand all the menus and functions.
If you're not familiar with radios like me, the whole 22 channels can also be confusing. Whatever you do, you don't want to be on the default channel 0 because that's pretty much where anyone can interfere.
The 25-mile* can definitely be misleading. If you're in a urban area, the most you can get is actually 2 miles.
By holding the + (with the cloud image next to it) for 3 seconds, you can tune into the NOAA weather service.
One thing I wish it had is if both parties end up pressing the talk button at the same time, it should make some sort of special beep/notification to tell that they're both being cut off. With radios, unlike cellphones, you can't talk simultaneously. However, the good thing is that you don't have to say "Roger" after you finish talking because the other party will hear a beep after you let go of the talk button.
These radios aren't anything revolutionary, but for what it is and the price, it is decent. The battery charger is definitely a plus.
Pros:
- Fits in pocket.
- Comes with rechargeable batteries and charging dock for charging both radios simultaneously.
- Vibration
- Scan for channels
- Hands free operation (iVOX)
Cons:
- 2 miles max in urban areas.
Customer Review: good take on classic radios, but a interface needs work
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Motorola got quite a bit right with these 2-way radios: A classic design, easy operation, a very long range, little interference, a reasonable price, and not a lot of unnecessary or frilly features. The rechargeable battery pack that can be interchanged with disposables is a well-reasoned feature that I wish other vendors would use in their products.
What is lacking, however, is a modern take on ergonomics. With belt-clip attached, the radio is awkward to hold. For more than a few moments conversation, it gets annoying to have to hold down the "push to talk" button-- some sort of locking button (push to talk, push to stop) would have been nice. The inbuilt menu is not intuitive-- I hoped for a cell-phone-like interface considering Motorola's major handset business.
These are minor issues; but I did have one major quibble, which was my first spoken syllable was dropped when I first held down the PushToTalk button and started speaking. Perhaps I am too quick to speak, but I found myself having to pause and then start with a throw-away word to make sure the person on the other end heard my whole message. Otherwise, speech was clear and crisp in my tests.
These issues were enough for me to drop my rating from 5 to 4 stars, but caveats aside, the product works well and I can think of a lot of possible uses, so they are Recommended.
Customer Review: Good radio, nice price
Summary: 4 Stars
I got these radios to keep a safety contact when I'm nearby in the forest, with hills and of course lots of trees in between. The effective range was about 2 miles in this condition, which was good enough for me. The radios are light to carry, they come with a handy belt clip. There's a dock for easy recharging. Using it was rather easy and intuitive, although the menu key that has several functions seem a bit confusing at first -- just adjust all settings with the manual in hand and then don't touch them again :-)
I'm not sure how long the battery lasts: I've used it for whole mornings or whole afternoons mostly sitting there on standby with maybe a few minutes worth of chat and it took several days like this for the battery indicator to get down to 2/3rd.
It's a NiMH battery so it *will* have aging issues after a few years but by the time they start loosing their charge it will be more economical to simply buy a new set than replace the batteries.
I do give it 4-star instead of 5 just because of the "iVox" hands-free feature: I just couldn't get it to work and the manual is not too helpful on that one. I kept setting the mode on, then later when I'd try to use it nothing would happen and I'd realize the iVox mode had gone off in between. I'm dubious of the utility of that mode anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
If there's one feature I miss: I wish the radio would also display the current time. Like that I could skip carrying a watch. But then most people probably don't care about that :-)
Customer Review: Range overstated
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Wow! 25 miles! You see this on the packaging and you think all is going to be great. Well, in suburban/urban environments, it's more like 2 miles or less. Now that's not bad, but better off bringing your cell phone when possible..
After about a mile, things garble up on both ends. I didn't experience interference on any channels, so perhaps the filtering channels were doing their job, but I didn't test these out in a resort area either. The menu system (UI) also takes a bit of getting used to. You've got to push a bunch of buttons to change channels and such. The button placement is good and the size of the radios are reasonable. Rechargeable batteries that are included are fine, though charging time is 10+ hours, a bit high even for modern day NiMH. Li-ion would probably raise the cost significantly. Also, no hands-free accessories are included like similar packages (adding about $20 the cost if you need to pair), though there is supposedly an iVox function (works like a baby monitor.)
Better off sticking with cheap FRS radios here if you just need short distances, and then there's no need for the GMRS licensing (though I'm assuming most people go without this, but technically you're supposed to pay $85 to the FCC.)
Customer Review: A decent 2-way radio at a decent price.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Motorola T9500XLR seems like a solid reliable piece of equipment. Once out of the packaging, the 2 units are charged via a cradle. I have used these in my neighborhood and overall they worked pretty well. First off, keep in mind these are not professional level radios, they are merely entry level units for home & family use. They are ideal for road caravans, amusement parks, shopping malls, cruise ships, etc. As other reviewers have mentioned, the voice over the speaker is "tinny" and using them in extremely loud environments seem impossible. The range is definitely nowhere near the claimed "25 miles". In a typical setting, you are lucky to get half a mile in the city and 1 mile in the country. Just remember these radios cost around $50 for the pair and you simply cannot expect professional quality at this price point. The NOAA radio feature worked as described and battery life was never an issue since they recharge with the cradle. Overall, I wish speaker and talk quality would be improved and maybe add a water resistance feature.