Newbie 2 way radio problems

I’m having difficulty making a brand new pair of 2 way radios work with each other. They are Motorola TLKR T50’s. I am making sure the channels are the same in each unit and sometimes (at best) I am able to make out a couple of words spoken over the units. (Very crackly) The call function itself is very feint to non existent, even in the room next door. (Very crackly) When I call the other unit the small symbol of a connection to the other unit appears and I get a varying broken call signal. Communication between them is the same. I am making sure that all the settings are the same on both radios.
Am I doing something wrong? The instructions for the radios are next to useless and I don’t want to send these back only to be told they work fine. I did use at work a few years ago some Motorola talk about radios and they were as clear as a bell and simple to use.

Thank you.

Sadly, I suspect one is faulty. They should have identical programming, so it sounds like a real fault. If you select the same channel on each, that’s it I’m afraid.