We’re hikers and need radios with the best possible range. I was thinking of getting Midland GXT850, but read that they are complicated to use. We need ease of use. We have older Motorola FRS radios now, but the range is poor.
Any suggestions would be really helpful.
I wouldn’t necessarily say the Midland GXT850VP4’s are difficult to use. Operation of the radio (transmitting and receiving) is basically the same for all brands. There are definitely functions of the radio that is more difficult to use than other brands, particularly the menu system and the group mode.
You would use the menu system if you wanted to turn hands-free or vibrate mode on/off, or adjust other settings on the radio. These aren’t things that you will likely be doing often, and if you go through the menu while looking at the manual once or twice everything should be clear. Most people don’t use the special group mode, and it is difficult to setup for any consumer radio that supports this feature (only a few do).
My opinion is that the extra range that the Midland provides makes it worth dealing with the less intuitive menu. However if you are looking for a more user friendly radio, the Motorola T9550XLR is similar to the GXT85- and would be a good choice.
Thanks, I just got the Midland GXT800VP4 radios. Once we set them up, I’m sure we won’t be changing things, like yous said.