Home > Consumer Reviews > Cobra FRS250 Blue MicroTALK2 Two-Way FRS Radio (Single)

We bought two of these as a family Christmas gift to use at the beach next summer. Of course we "played" with them to test them. My 9 year old got the hang of it in just a few minutes. The talk confirmation tone is very handy. The clarity is unbelievable for the price. The range seems fine. I just ordered a third radio because we are so please with the product. They don't seem to eat up batteries like some other electronics products do. We have used the radio's for the past week very regularly and we haven't needed to change the batteries. I am ordering the battery pack just to make sure we have a fresh pack available. These are fun, easy to use 2 way radios that really are alot clearer than I expected. For years I used a regular 2 way radio communication system in my business. The clarity of these radio's were just as good! Great product for a great price! Great way for you to have the ability to communicate to your family from a short distance whether on a trip to the mall or just in the neighborhood. The are compact and will fit in a pocket or purse.

After playing around with other brands and several trips to the discount stores, I've settled on the Micro-Talk 2. Car to car on the freeway, I get about 3/4 mile range (pretty good for 500mW). I get about a mile from the car to the house. Compared to a 4Watt hand held CB, this kicks butt.

I purchased 2 FRS250s for a family vacation to the Adirondak area of NY state. The main purpose of having these with us was to permit car-to-car communications on the trip. The radios worked great. We were able to keep in touch through all the different environments we encountered on the trip including city, suburbs, and mountains.

The cabins we rented had no phones, so when we arrived, the FRS250s permitted cabin-to-cabin communications throughout the stay. My only regret is that we did not purchase the rechargable batteries. But even here, the radios performed better than I expected. Over a 10 day stay, we needed to replace the batteries ony twice even though we kept them on for up to 8 hours a day.

I was surprised to find that the published range of 2 miles was real. I was able to make contact from my boat on the lake to the cabin, a distance of about 2.6 miles. Of course the voice quality wasn't so good, but we were able to communicate.

In all, the FRS250 was a good value. It served us well and performed better than I expected.

I had the opportunity to compare Cobra 280s with Motorola Talkabout 200s. In the end I returned my Cobras and I'm hoping to find some available Talkabouts. Here is why.

#1 Transmission is clearer on Talkabout. No background noise. Cobra's had a background buzz - but you could still understand everything said. #2 Transmission Distance - was almost the same. Talkabouts worked about 50 feet further. However the Antenna factor is important in getting maximum distance out of the Cobra - see #3. #3 Antenna Position - If you don't have the Cobra antenna extended AND pointed in the direction of the transmitting unit - you don't get comparable distance to the Talkabout. #4 Confirmation Beeps - Cobras had 'em. Wish the Talkabouts did. #5 Vibra Alert - Cobras had it - wish Talkabout did.

I paid $89 each for the Cobra 280s. My sister's Talkabout 200s cost her $60 each. In the end, I returned my Cobras and plan to buy some Motorolas because I want the maximum distance (without having to deal with maneuvering the antenna) and the clearest transmission.

I recently purchased a set of these little radios for a camping/hunting trip and they are great! I used them to communicate with my friends while out in the woods and there are very handy. They have a very good range 1.5-2 miles depending on the terrain and the signal is very clear with no interferance or static! they have many useful features such as 14 channels with the 38 sub codes a rodger beep tone that can be turned off if you wish and a privacy(voice scramble) mode. We used them while driving to and from the woods and campsite and basically anytime we weren't in ear shot of each other. I would highly reccomend these radios to anyone I now have several pairs