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

I have found the COBRA PR 4000 one of the best radios I have ever used. It has great range and many features. It is well built and easy to use.

I would highly recommend this radio.

My family have owned four of the PR-4000 radios for almost year, and just purchased a PR-4250. They have consistently outperformed every other radio we have tried in the middle area of the market. The battery life on NiMh batteries is amazing. We have sometimes monitored our usual channel and CTCSS pair sometimes for two to three days at a time, including periodic usage!

As for the range, we get a range consistent with an urban use of a UHF transceiver with 3 watt output, and the receiver sensitivity described int the manual. (The switchable 3,2,.5 power output is much appreciated--especially when communicating with other radios using less power.)

Do not expect the seven or ten miles promised on the package. But this is true for any UHF handheld. I think the only way to get that would be for both parties to be on open water and climb the masts on their sailboats... (I really do wish the manufacturers would stop these milage claims.)

So far, these are the best for the money we have found.

There is a license required for GMRS radios. It is $75. Funny how the merchants don't tell you that. Perhaps because of the "extra" cost? By the way... the fine for unlicensed operation of these radios is up to $10,000.

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.

PURCHASED A SET TODAY AND PUT THEM THRU THE TEST. MATCHED THEM AGAINST THE SP21 MOTOROLA PRO. TESTED ON GMRS FREQS. FIRST THE 3 WATTS DID NOT MEAN ALOT AS THE DISTANCE WAS ABOUT ALMOST 2 MILES IN THE SUBURBAN AREAS TESTED. I GOT MORE DISTANCE OUT OF THE SP21 AND THATS ONLY 2 WATTS. NEXT THE SOUND QUALITY WAS POOR. THE TRANSMIT VOLUME WAS LOW AND NOT VERY LOUD AS A SP21. THE DISPLAY WINDOW WAS HARD TO READ=TOO SMALL OF LETTERING. VERY POOR BACKLIGHT,COULD NOT REALLY TELL IF IT HAD A LIGHT AT ALL. POORLY CONSTRUCTED,FELT CHEAP IN THE HAND. BUTTONS HARD TO PUSH. I AM TAKEING THEM BACK TO WALLMART FOR A REFUND. NOT WORTH ANY MONEY IN MY OPINION. DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL=BIG ZERO. ONE FINAL NOTE. IT HAS A GREAT DIGITAL ELECTRONIC COMPASS SO IF YOU NEED A COMPASS BUT IT BUT IF YOU INTEND ON USEING IT AS A 2 WAY RADIO FORGET IT.