Good Radio, long battery life
349801
I bought two of these radios to use during a family relocation from Southern California to the Puget Sound area. We had two cars and were driving through the Redwoods and rural sections of Northern California. I knew that there would be times when there would be no Cell Phone coverage and there may be some extreme terrain conditions that ruled out using the low-powered "blister pack" radios.

Prior to the trip, I tried the radios in a normal urban environment.  We were successfully able to communicate at ranges of 1 to 2 miles (with one radio inside a vehicle, and one inside a house).  I also wanted to test the radios in "ideal conditions".  I drove to the top of Signal Hill, a small city in the Long Beach area with an elevation of 150 feet and was able to communicate with the other radio in Anaheim, almost 15 miles away.

On the trip I had both radios set to the "Hi" power setting (5 watts) due to the terrain features that we had to overcome.  I was concerned about the battery life at this setting, however the batteries had no problem powering the radios under fairly heavy use on each 8 hour leg of the trip (the radios were fully charged every night).

Overall the performance was great.  They were well worth the money.

The only change I would like to see is a true scrambling feature for true privacy.
4160339
The sound and size of this radio is very good.  Like the other reviews, I have found it eats batteries like crazy!  I bought the adapter with it and if you plan to use it often, I would highly suggest it.
4349581
I bought this radio over 2 years ago as an emergency back-up radio for my 19 foot boat in case of a capsize offshore. I did a radio check and was able to reach a high antenna about 16 miles away - better range than expected. The battery maintains a charge well so it does not require frequent recharging.
1740365
I purchased this radio about 3 years ago and use it at the gym 5 days a week. It has been flawless and is still working. I replace the battery about once a month.
866344
This is a very good radio but it has two major flaws. First, battery life is around two hours on rechargeables and three hours on alkalines, figures Vtech does not dispute. Second, there is no internal charger so the batteries have to be removed and recharged in a seperate charger, that will take six batteries. Pity, it is otherwise an impressive radio.
1141616
I have purchased two of these radios.
The first one died after three years and had been dropped
more times than I want to admit. I've had the second one
now for three years and it plays like new. I think the radio
has earned a great review from me.

Best features are:
  Excellent reception on all frequencies
  Surprisingly good sound from speakers this small
  Simple controls
  Weather bands
  Batteries last a very long time
  Strap makes it convenient to hang from shower head

Least good feature:
  Uses C batteries. The only device I own that uses C batteries.
3429438
Good radio for the price. We use it as a shed radio hooked up to a car battery and no issues so far. The remote does have a limited short range but no other complaints
3063444
This is a very nice radio. Its reception is good and I like the separate on off switch. I use this as a portable and have never plugged the 110 cord in and the batterise seem to last quite well. It is exactly what I wanted.
4647821
telescoping antenna was fragile (lasted 2 days with my 7 year old), but overall, not a bad little radio.  Uses 3 AA batteries.  Sound is plenty loud (did I say 7-year old?)  Reception is good, and no clipping even with very close, high power station.
3601974
The radio is a very nice addition to my collection. The radio is compact but sturdy and solid. The tuner is both sensitive and selective and provides easy tuning. I feel the tuner is the best feature on this radio. With many pocket portables, tuning can be very clumsy and not allow you to lock onto the center of a frequency and you end up constantly fiddling with the tuner to get the best sound. The tuner in this radio just seems to lock onto center as you tune it and it stays there. AM is very sensitive. I live in Cleveland and use station WJR out of Detroit as benchmark of reception. This radio pulled in WJR with ease both during the day and at night. It was comparable to my Sangean DT-210, a digital radio.

The radio has a LED tuning indicator which is a good feature but can be disconcerting as it lights up as you are looking directly at it while tuning the radio.

The sound is very good on both AM and FM. The speaker seems to be better suited for AM talk radio but is certainly listenable on FM. I also like teh fact that this radio is meant to sit on a table or any flat surface, see picture. Many pocket portables end up having to sit on their back or they fall over. Sitting as a normal radio should, the speaker is aimed at your ears and not the sky allowing you to hear this radio better than a pocket radio sitting on its back. Of course, it is not a boombox but you can listen to the radio easily outdoors or in and you certainly won't generate complaints at a campsite at night.

The radio also features a weather band with a selector to choose any one of seven weather band channels. The weather band picks up two stations very well here in Cleveland as long as I am outside. Once inside, it fades completely. I have walked around my house and have found a couple areas inside where I can hear the weather band but not good as when I am outdoors.

The radio runs on four double A batteries. I have had the radio about a week and a half and have been playing it about 4 hours every day with no apparent drop in volume or battery life. I like double A batteries and buy them in lots of sixty.

The radio charged my Sanyo SCP 3810 right off of the four double A batteries. As long as you have double A batteries, you will have your cell phone, another very nice feature.

The radio has a built in flashlight, not very bright but is good for close work. You can press the button lightly and will have light as long as your finger is on the button for a quick look or you can press the button firmly and the light will stay on. Again, another nice feature.

Full disclosure, I received this radio in exchange for an honest review and would have written the same review had I purchased it. It is a very nice pocket radio compared to the many I have owned and is certainly much easier to tune.
44508
I live in the northeast and have used this radio during power outages, as well as on camping trips and while working in the yard.  The reception (both AM and FM) is very good and the weather channels come in crisply and cleanly.  It's easy to use and setup and the solar charger works well as an alternative to the hand crank.

The only complaint is that the speakers are not great.  They are a bit tinny for FM radio but for news and weather stations they do the job well enough.
4500233
I love this radio. I has tons of features and options. It is the perfect first radio and an upgrade from the uv-5r. I hit repeaters 30+ miles from my house. Would highly recommend buying a programming cable and using chirp. I had no issues with the cheap baofeng cable. This certainly feels like a sturdy radio, and I've dropped it a few times, but this radio is cheap for a reason; I do not expect it to be water resistant at all or take a big fall. The dual monitor and transmit is not something that is common especially on cheap radios and is awesome.  The scanning is relatively slow. You can also listen to FM radio, and your other bands will automatically cut in once a signal is received, which is cool if you are waiting around for someone. The speaker itself is also very loud, which I though was unnecessary until I was in a noisy environment. The earpiece is nice enough, and I've worn it for hours at a time at events.

*UPDATE*
I've used the radio quite a bit and I am still impressed. I successfully hit a repeater over 90 miles away on the stock antenna. My only issue is the battery indicator is not very good. It will stay at full bars for awhile, and once it looses a bar you might have 3 more hours, or you might 20 mins. Sometimes it doesn't even make it to one bar, the battery just dies. A little frustrating so just keep the battery topped off or buy an extra one. I still believe this is one of the best handhelds for under $150.
4707612
The reviews are real on this one. There could be some better labeling of button functions and the tuning/jog switch isn't great, but the reception and ultra low-power draw make up for any shortcomings. I can take AA's that other devices have declared dead, put them in this radio, and get 10's of hours of listening. Good stuff.
3136929
After having the radio for over two and a half years I can say that it is the best radio I have ever owned. The sound quality is awesome considering it is a portable system. I have taking the radio on numerous camping trips, tailgates, and vacations, as well as used regularly around the house. It has been left in the rain and after it all shows no sign of wear and sounds just as good as the day I got it. The reception on the radio is great and the digital tuner makes it easy to get a clear sound. The sound is even better when connected to an iPod. The light on it is a bit unnecessary but it still has proven useful. When using battery at a reasonable level the radio lasts a long time (around 18hrs). The only problem with it is a little distortion at high volume levels on battery power only, which is understandable.

Overall, the radio is both great sounding and rugged. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a portable radio. It has served me well to this point and I expect MANY more years of good sounding music from it!
2676045
Great for listening to 16 While boat radio is on operational freq.  Has at least a mile transmit range.  Clear reception.  Good reception of weather channels.  Outstanding battery life.
3179282
Good radio and good features, but as with all radios like this- manage your expectations for range.
Batteries charge and keep charge reasonably well.  Would purchase again.
The earpieces are rather useless though.
3596589
This is the third radio I've had.  It gets good reception and is easy to use.  I tend to be rough on the radios I've had and they last well.  The previous two eventially begin to turn themselves off.  I tried a similar Sony radio and the static and hiss were unbearable.

I would recommend this radio.