I’ve never been much of a walkie talkie person, but recently while camping in an area with no service what so ever, we encountered some dangerous weather (a tornado) that went through near our campground. With no way to get reliable updates and no way to contact each other, walkie talkies seemed like a good idea. I chose these because of the weather alert and weather scan technology. Although we luckily did not get the chance to use the weather alert function, it is comforting to have this option if we were ever to go through bad weather again while camping. The product itself is really nice! I like that it came with the batteries for operation. The stand for charging is small and convenient to place anywhere while they’re charging! If you don’t have the space to use the charger, there is a USB cord that can be used to charge them as well which is convenient for charging t in the car in between hikes. As for using them, I enjoyed the clear quality of the audio. We used them on a hike in which we hiked opposite ways (about 5 miles each, so a total of 10 miles apart) and the reception was still clear, although it was spotty depending on what the area was like. For example, if very wooded the reception was a little spotty. They are very user friendly, as I have never used one before but it came naturally to me. The user manual is available on Midland’s product page, which was very helpful since this is all new to me. The battery life lasts an entire hike for us, which is what we wanted, and this would be about 4 hours on average. We have not tried to use them longer than this. Overall, I really enjoyed using this and found them to be of great quality. We will continue to use these on our hikes and other outdoor adventures!
I received the Midland talker two way radio's just about 30 days ago. Prior to receiving them I reviewed you tube to find out as much as I could about this product, most of the reviews were basic on the features. What I found first was I felt the user Manuel could of been much better than the little booklet that reminded me of the comics that came in bubble gum back in the 60's it was not senior friendly. After reviewing and trying the features I was impress with the quality of the unit and the clarity of the speech being transmitted. I had no issues with distance using the models but we never tried beyond 2.5 miles. I hope to try out boating and see how far we can get on open water. I find the 32 miles advertised would be amazing for the price of these units. The NOAA weather is a real plus for us out camping. Packaging was simple easy to open and identify the pieces. Charging was quick and the rechargeable batteries have a excellent life. Day one used the talkies for about 2 hours in the AM and then another 4 hours later in the afternoon. Day 2 was still plenty of charge and had NOAA playing for about 3 hours before I needed to charge the unit. Both units were on the lower channels uniting high power which uses more drawl on the batteries. Belt clip easily attaches to unit and clothing. The units also take standard batteries rather then the rechargeable batteries.
Very satisfied with this product. Sturdy and has good range. I've used a handful of different walkie talkies and I think these are among the easiest to navigate without having to read the instructions. I think the price point is a tad high and I think the battery life could be a little bit longer as well.
Tons of Features, great for the wide open outdoors
on September 1, 2020
Posted by: Kristin
from San Diego
Gender:Female
Verified Purchase:Yes
The Midland X-Talker T61 Two-Way Radios are a solid purchase. They have tons of available features, a slick design and a very easy-to-read LCD display. The light weight and compact design make it very easy to carry and use.
At this point in using the radios, we’ve experienced really good battery life and recharging time (about 3 hours for a full charge). The rechargeable battery packs are clutch, but it’s nice to have the option to use AAA batteries if needed when planning to spend a long day using the radios (especially on a ski mountain when all battery life typically cuts short). The recharging dock is small and easy to find a little desktop space to store it (comes in very handy in a small travel trailer with limited space), but you can also charge individual walkies using the micro usb port. It’s also a very helpful feature to have the option to connect a speaker/headphones. We find this especially useful while on bikes. This set of radios is pretty user-friendly and the instruction manual is mostly easy to understand. As a total novice 2-way radio user, it took me a while to get the hang of the menus and understand the privacy codes. If you’re a newbie like me, I’d recommend bookmarking the user manual (on Midland’s website product page) or keeping the printed version handy for the first couple uses. All the channels available on this set are license-free, which is good because, again, novice. Once you get on a channel (private or otherwise) with your radio partners, you have the option to lock the keypad so you don’t accidentally change channels and lose contact with your buds. I’ve also appreciated the ease of a full factory reset as I play around with the radios. With an easy button press, you can restore it back to “start” without having to navigate through the menu to reset.
So far, we’ve had good success using these radios at a moderate distance (1-3 miles). They’ve been good while out on the SUP or kayak and someone is on the beach and have been useful at campgrounds while doing chores and tasks outside. We’ve also used them while hiking in parks, though successful radius really depends on how forested the hike is. Desert hiking offers much better clarity at distances. Midland makes it clear that their claim of 32 miles of range comes with caveats, so we don’t hold them to that long of a range. However, users might be really disappointed with range if purchasing on that 32 mile claim alone. We’ve found that lots of conditions negate the useful range of the walkies, so tempered expectations are good. A small note inside the battery compartment upon opening reminds users to use the “Hi Power” setting for maximum range.
The weather alert feature is conceptually really neat, but so far I’ve only gotten one useful and clear weather alert. Otherwise, they’ve been very spotty with brief reception when an alert is found during a scan. I like to think this would be a really helpful feature, but it’s more of a nice-to-have and I wouldn’t rely on it being consistent.
Aside from the optimal claimed range of the radios being conditional, my biggest gripe with the radios is that this model (T61VP3) doesn’t come with the animal call alerts… only a series of agitating beeping tones. Personally, I’d much rather have a wolf howl, but alas, only the T65 has this feature. I won’t dock any stars for that.
Also worth noting, these claim to be water resistant, though I don’t know how resistant as I haven’t tested that claim yet. I do what I can to keep them from getting wet while out on the water and I imagine anything more than a moderate rain would be unchill for proper radio functioning, so I default to trying to keep them dry.
Overall, these are excellent 2-way radios for straightforward communication in the outdoors. We’ve consistently found these helpful in different circumstances, so they’ll hopefully be a solid part of our gear kit for a while!
I took these out of the package, stuck the batteries in and packed them for our trip. We used one in our side by side and our friend had the other on their 4wheeler for our 2 hour trip in a no cell zone. These worked wonderfully. I could clearly hear the other person even with the humming of the side by side. My son (9 years old) did most of the talking and loved the responsibility of communicating which came easily. These have a nice look, feel sturdy and are now an asset for our future trips. 10/10 will be bringing on the next trip and recommending to friends. Maybe I should have charged the batteries that came with it before hand as these lasted about 4 hours. I didn’t read the manual so maybe that’s average or above, I’ll look that up after this review. :)
Took these straight out of the box and on a hike. My husband stayed behind ( typical ) this time though it worked out. I took one radio and he kept the other at the camper while I went on a 4.5 mile hike around the lake. The radio sounded perfect even in the rain. ( I should have checked the weather first ) it’s easy to use and battery charged quickly. This will definitely be a product we continue to use.
Very visually appealing product! I love the look and they work great. The sound quality is very clear so long as no major obstructions come between the two radios. I would have liked to have rubber on the sides of the radios for a more high quality feel. I didn't drop them, but they feel a little fragile if I were to drop them. I used them to talk to a friend in a different car as we roadtripped together. It was a great way to keep the trip fun. I also used the radios as I hiked with my family to stay in contact with the group of my brother and his friends hiking ahead of us. They work best over flat, unobstructed landscape as described on the box. Overall great, functional product.