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

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

I used a pair of these on a hike in the mountains and it was great ! Also used it at a country fair. The privacy feature prevented me from hearing others and kept my conversations secure. The range was very impressive. As soon as there are more in stock, I will buy another one.

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 just bought the Cobra Microtalk2 about a week ago and already, I am extremely impressed! The quality of the product is superb and the range is very good!

Features on the radio include: Auto-squelch, Auto-power saver feature, button beep confirmation, battery power level, Voice scramble(very nice feature), 14 channels and over 532 subchannels, a retractable antenna, a backlight display, and a couple more features.

The voice scrambling feature is awesome on the radio. If you have a home scanner and listen to the radio with the scramble ON, you could not tell what the radio is saying. Anyways, very very nice radio all around, good for just about any activity you want to do in fairly close proximity.

The full range of the radio is based primarily on line-of-sight communication if you want to reach the 2-mile mark. This radio can reach a 2 mile mark, but again, only if there isnt many obstacles in the way. However, I live in a very heavily forested area and the microtalk2 reached up to 1.5 miles with slight static.