BAOFENG GT-22 Walkie Talkies for Adults Rechargeable, Long Range Two Way Radios with 1500mAh Battery, Portable Handheld VOX Handsfree with Earpieces, Holsters (2 Pack)

I wanted some inexpensive, simple FRS radios for use with my family when doing outdoor activities, and with the kids' scout group. I'm a licensed Extra-class ham with several Baofeng UV-5R and GT-5R radios that I've been satisfied with, so I figured these would be a good bet.Turns out I was right, with a few caveats: they came ready-to-go on US FRS channels 1-16 (other comments saying they came programmed for European PMR446 frequencies concerned me, but seem to have been a mix-up that's since been resolved). Audio is clear, transmit strength and reception are good, and they're extremely easy to use. The radios charge easily from the included USB cable (or could use any standard microUSB cable.) They have the typical K-type socket for programming and using headset/microphones.Programming is a cinch: you can use CHIRP or the GT-22 software provided by Baofeng on their website. Setting up tone or digital squelch codes and adjusting power levels in CHIRP and the GT-22 software is easy: just tell CHIRP the radio is a Baofeng 888S or a Retevis RT22 (they have essentially the same guts) and it'll work fine.A few things to be aware of:- The plastic is textured ABS, but still comes across as feeling a bit "cheap". The battery panel pops off with a spudger or flat screwdriver but isn't water-resistant at all, nor held on with screws. The belt clip is satisfactory, but a bit underwhelming. It'd be nice to have a semi-permanently attached belt clip rather than a clip-on one. The UV-5Rs felt a bit more robust in the hand. Still, they seem to be holding up well with the kids and scouts.- There's no key lock. The channel-select buttons are easy to press accidentally and get off-channel. The only feedback is an audio announcement of what channel number one is on, which is easy to miss. It'd be nice to have it where one would need to hold down both channel buttons for a few seconds to enable channel changes would be nice.- The out-of-the-box power levels are not legal. By default the radios come set to transmit at 2W on FRS channels 1-16. However, FCC regulations only allow FRS radios to transmit at 2W on channels 1-7 and 15-16 (and 17-22 for radios that support channels 17-22, which these do not). Channels 8-14 are required to be limited to 0.5 W on FRS but the GT-22 is set to transmit on 2W on those frequencies. This should be corrected at the factory, and users should ensure they set Tx Power to "low" for those channels.- Oddly, the radio is not locked to the specific, legal FRS channels and one can easily program it to transmit on frequencies on which it is not legally allowed to operate. It comes out of the box with its 16 channel slots programmed with FRS channels 1-16, but users can rearrange the channel order (e.g. Channel 1 on the radio corresponds to FRS channel 12 or something) if they wish for some reason. However, the radios also allow users to enter any frequency in the 446-447 MHz or 462-467.999 MHz range even though it is explicitly forbidden and illegal to transmit with this radio on the 446-447 MHz range and on any of the 462-467.999 MHz range except for the specific FRS frequencies allocated by the FCC. Be warned: you must not program your radio to operate on channels it is not allowed to use. The fact that the radio is programmable to use non-FRS frequencies appears to violate 47 CFR 95.587(a), which states "FRS transmitter types must not be capable of transmitting on any frequency or channel other than those listed in § 95.563.", where § 95.563 lists the 22 FRS frequencies.In short, the radios are compact, lightweight, powerful, and work well. Until Baofeng fixes the crucial issues above (i.e., default transmit power and ability to transmit on non-FRS frequencies), purchasers would do well to purchase a programming cable and use the GT-22 software or CHIRP to adjust the power levels and verify that they're using legal frequencies.

We use these at my church so the sound teams can talk to each other during the band rehearsals. Quality isn't great, but it's decent. Super easy to use and decent range for most buildings.

After reading some of the other reviews, I figured I would need to progam these radios right away to set them to FRS frequencies. I've used CHIRP before for my ham radio, so I wasn't worried about having to do so, but upon opening them, I realized that they are already set to 16 FRS frequencies out of the box. I did end up programming them anyway, so I could set up so-called "private" communication using DCS tones (FYI this does not make it anywhere near private, as anyone else can listen to the channel if they configure the same tone; what it does do is make it so you don't hear someone else's chatter on the same channel and vice-versa (provided they don't choose the same tone as you do.)All of that out of the way, these are very solid little radios for the price range; this is my third set of cheap two-way radios, and so far they seem to be the most robust.- I found the NXGKET set to be completely unacceptable out of the box (the plastic feels like it's going to snap, and sure enough, it does on a single drop.)- The Retevis RT-388 set is far better, but the antenna can break off if it falls in just the right way. Also, I have one of those units that no longer stays on reliably (likely the battery contacts are no longer seated quite right inside, because squeezing it causes it to turn back on.) Also, these not being rechargeable (or requiring removal of rechargeable AAA batteries in order to charge them) is a downside of these ones.All of that backstory said, I am impressed with the GT-22s so far.- The plastic has a good feel (doesn't feel cheap or like it will snap; rather, it feels like it will bend if stressed.) This applies to both the handsets themselves and the belt clips.- They are rechargeable (including via a base, if purchased separately, in which case no cables are required.)- The range is quite good; on day 1 of having them, I was about 1/4 mile away with the crest of the hill between two units, and things were still mostly clear (some background hiss was starting to be audible.) I haven't gone far enough to find the end of range yet, so time will tell. When programming, there is a High or Low power option (presumably, these set the output to either 2W or 500mW respectively, but i haven't confirmed the actual output power.) In order to go about 2W legally, you would need to have a GMRS license ($70 to the FCC,) at which point you would need to buy more expensive radios and announce your call sign every 15 minutes while using them; not exactly as convenient or cheap as staying within the bounds of FRS legality.I've only had these for a few days, but so far, I'm impressed with everything. I wish they had a screen so changing settings (VOX, power level, DCS tones, etc.) without having to hook them up to a computer, but for this price point, that's definitely not a deal breaker for me.