Customer reviews from midlandusa.com
Midland - X-TALKER 32-Mile 36-channel FRS/GMRS 2-Way Radios (Pair)
Average customer rating
4.5
(18 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 18 reviews
5 Stars
11
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Star
0
94%of customers recommend this product.
(
17 out of
18)
Customer Reviews for Midland - X-TALKER 32-Mile 36-channel FRS/GMRS 2-Way Radios (Pair)
Customer Rating
5
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.
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 would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Customer Rating
5
Fun and useful.
on March 12, 2018
Posted by: Wayne
from Texas
Gender:Male
I bought these on impulse a couple weeks ago and glad I did. They do what every other similarly priced 2-ways do, but I like them mainly because of the charging options.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Posted by: Crash69
from Dayton, OH
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
I bought these as an add on to a set of four already owned units. They all work well together and the distance works for us very well. The units have several available channels and they are clean channels with very little interference. We also bought the headset and they work good. Great quality for the price
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Customer Rating
4
Great Product!
on August 21, 2020
Posted by: Spence Nasty
from Provo, UT
Gender:Male
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.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Customer Rating
5
Easy to set up and Get started
on August 22, 2020
Posted by: AFitch
from Marysville,Ohio
Gender:Female
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.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Posted by: Jeeper1234
from Ohio
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
This does what I need in a small radio. Reception is great.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Customer Rating
5
Perfect out of service weekend radio
on August 24, 2020
Posted by: Area907
from Healy, Alaska
Gender:Female
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. :)
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com
Posted by: Dan P
from TN
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
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.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting midlandusa.com