BTECH GMRS-PRO 5W Long-Range GMRS Radio – IP67 Waterproof, Bluetooth VOX, GPS, Texting, NOAA, Compass, Dual-Band Scanner, Off-Grid Location Sharing, Two-Way Walkie Talkie

I have been in the market for some time, for a multi-purpose handheld radio. After looking at all of the competition, the BTECH GMRS Pro checked all of the boxes.I had several requirements, it needed to be waterproof/dustproof, and with an IP67 rating, it checked that box.It needed to be easy to charge. I didn't want to lug around a charging station in order to keep the battery topped off. the This radio charges via USB-C, the same charging cables I already use for phones and earbuds. Another box checked off.And finally, one of the most important items for me was the ability to connect to a headset using Bluetooth. There aren't very many radios out there with this capability, so that really narrowed the field down. The ability to use this radio while on my motorcycle, wearing a helmet, makes this radio the best solution in my opinion. Paired up with the remote PTT button that easily attaches to my handlebars, and easily connecting to the radio via Bluetooth, made this the ONLY solution in handheld GMRS radios. Real world testing in multiple environments still needs to take place, but I have high confidence that this solution will be much better than the existing comm units our group uses, which cut out when there is a boulder between us, or a stand of trees. It seems like the time you need to communicate with the group the most, is the exact time you are unable to do so.This radio also adds the ability to connect to repeaters, to extend your communication range, adds GPS capabilities, with the ability to see a map with other users of the same radio, NOAA Weather Alerts, FM Radio and more.The radio is easily programmable thanks to an app that you use on your phone. It is very easy to use and has a fantastic user interface.BTECH is a USA company with USA warranty and support, however, it should be noted that while the radio is designed in the USA, it is actually made in China, much like many of the other popular radios on the market.If you are really wanting to take advantage of the GPS and texting capabilities of this phone, I recommend that you get two of them, as those features only really work with other GMRS Pro radios. This will be a great function in a SHTF type of scenario, and you'll be glad you have a couple of radios for your family in that, or any other disaster type situation.While this radio isn't as simple as some of the other cheaper options out there, it has everything I was hoping for in a radio.

Holy toledo this radio has so many features. Coupling it with a cell phone completely opens up the doors to some amazing capabilities. This is approaching digital modes for some of the features it has.First off, just using the cell phone to program the radio and share configurations is probably worth the higher price than you get for similar performance with other radios, which are most easily programmed with a computer.Second, the added features that having that cell phone connect bring opens GMRS up to some really cool uses. Texting is a breeze. It is very easy to switch channels. You leave it running and it logs all the traffic. Your saved contact names are on the list so it is easy to review the saved received traffic and you can easily pick out and listen to traffic that you want to hear. For instance, my dad is "Boomer". Each one of his broadcasts has that name attached to it. If he wants to share his location (radio has GPS), he just sends it and it shows up on the map on my cell phone. It will scan for tones, code and decode morse code and a bunch of other random stuff. I just remembered that you can send a channel group by text. I did that for my dad when I had set up a few local repeaters and all I had to do was send him a text and it popped right onto the radio.My dad is super old. I had him get this radio and he can work it just fine.There is no other GMRS radio like this on the market right now at even close to this price. I'm looking forward to them putting out a mobile unit with similar features and I'm going to set it up at home for a base.As far as performance goes, I was able to hit a repeater about 20 miles away that I don't have line-of-sight to, and my signal was reported to be quite clear. Reception was also very clear. I had a chat with someone who was 30+ miles away. I definitely upgraded the antenna. That is a must.For pure performance, there are better radios out there, I'm sure. But for good performance with features that have raised the bar considerably, this radio is the one to get (with a Nagoya 771g). Its features put it in a class of its own. Garmin Rhino has a few more features for 4x the price and probably works a little better, but I don't know. Btech has priced this right and it is the radio to get unless you have a lot of money to spare or are just looking to have cheap point to point comms, like for kids to play with. For cheap GMRS comms Baofeng just released a Part 95 compliant UV-5R that go for about $25 each. For kids to play with I'd just get them a bubble wrap FRS radio.My battery failed after about 3 months and the replacement was pretty easy to arrange and took about 10 days. No complaints there.