Home > Consumer Reviews > Cobra PR 4000 GMRS 2-Way Radios (Pair)

Good Points
- Solid, well built feel
- Loud and strong speaker
- Easy to hold in the hand and control basic functions without looking
at the unit
- Large display with good backlight
- Lots of config. options related to the unit's function

Could go either way
- Lots of extras (clock, compass, stop watch) that I won't use but
others might
- A tad big/heavy but not bad. I do like the use of 4 AA bats. even
though they add weight.
- Squlech seems a bit on the low side but I can't say for sure if this
is good or bad without more testing

Bad
- It can take a lot of button pushes to get to some functions like
Scanner
- Even at the lowest level the volume is still to high for very quiet
environments
- Some buttons are long as they curve around the face of the LCD
(which is a good design, IMO) BUT you have to press at a specific
point along the button to trigger it. Clearly this was a cost saving
measure as there could be no user interface design reason for it!!
- I would have liked a voice encoder
- Not a big deal but I would have liked an icon on the display telling
me if I am using a FRS only, GMRS only, or shared freq.

Range
In an environment of 2 story wood framed homes, 2-3 story brick
retail/comm. buildings, trees, and the like we got .5 miles LOS with
very good sound quality and .95 miles LOS until speach could no longer
be understood. One unit was placed in the 2nd story of a house and
the other was mobile in a car. Elevation was overall flat.

Now, the interesting thing was that it did not matter one bit what
power setting the radio was set on. .5, 2, or 3 watts we got the same
range and sound quality.

Other thoughts on the Cobras:

- Sound quality of OTHER communications (not generated by the Cobra)
were loud and clear (assuming they were in range of course) as posted
earlier. However,
- The units did not pick up sound well at all. I had to hold the unit
right up to my face and speak much louder than a normal conversation
to get anything like a strong voice on the other end. I thought there
might be a mic. setting to increase the gain but there was not.
- You have to have the volume very loud to pick up traffic from the
other Cobra unit. That works until another user near by breaks in and
then you get a blast of sound.

My bottom line:
I thought I would really like these units and felt they would be a
good middle ground between the really cheep $10 units and the high end
$150+ units. They are designed and built well and have a good UI and
a lot of settings. They are easy to use and understand and have great
battery life.

But, with a range of less than a mile in real world use and every
indication of a range not to exceed 2 miles LOS with no obstructions I
just can't see that they justify the...price tag.

Yes, they would be great for using around the park or between a few
houses but so would a $20 pair of FRS radios.

Since effective distance seems to be an item of intense interest, I attempted to replicate what another clever reviewer did. I set up a tape recorder on my kitchen table in front of one of the units, turned the units to a 3-watt channel and drove away in my car, doing periodic distance checks. I went three miles through residential neighborhoods--principally houses and trees.

At one mile, speech was still clear and crisp, but I began to hear increasing background noise after the first mile. However, at 3.0 miles, even though the signal was degraded, I was still able to understand speech with no difficulty.

Not bad at all for a radio in this price range. I have only had the radios for a few days, so I am unable to comment on other aspects yet.

I've been an advisor for the outing club at my high school for over 15 years. We've used several different makes/models but these are THE BEST!!! We've used the Cobra 4000 for cycling & sea kayaking (enclosed in a dry bag), but the situation where they really shine is during wilderness backpacking trips. We frequently split our large group into 3 smaller units. Each unit(usually 12-15 students + 2 advisors) has two radios; one in the front and one in the back. We keep all 6 radios tuned to the same frequency in case of emergency. It's not unusual for each unit to be 3-5 miles away from each other in the mountainous terrain of New Hampshire. We use the "High" power setting on all units and can speak between units quite well. Sure things get a little scratchy as the distances increase but that's to be expected.

I have two of these radios which I use for recreational purposes. I have used them in urban areas and in the woods. While I cannot get 7 mile range, I do get 2.5 to 3 miles, which I am still satisfied with. The conditions I have used them in are rolling hills to small mountainous terrain of North Georgia which translates to very little LOS. Here, radios that are supposed to have a two mile range are lucky to reach 300 yards, so in comparison I think these are well within the ball park.

It is necessary to read and re-read the operators manual accompanying these radios to first familiarize yourself since some functions are not readily recognizable. Such as: The transmit power will vary based on the channel selected and/or the transmit power selected by the user. The manual could use some help from a technical writer to add more description of functionality. It is difficult to determine what accessories are available and specific to the 4000 unit but can be done using a combination of the Operators Manual, Cobra website and information on the container.

I recommend purchase.

I cant believe how far these radios work. I have one at my house and another at my friends house (almost 4 1/2 miles away) and we get great clearity in ur conversations. I recommend this product to anyone.