Old Walkie Talkie Models Are SO Yesterday! Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio Review
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Are you tired of walkie-talkies with poor battery life, weak durability, and limited range? The Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio attempts to solve all these problems and more. But does it? Join us as we test out this new school device from an old school world, and see if it lives up to its promises.
In this detailed outdoor gear review I go through all the ins and outs of the new Rocky Talkie 5 Watt GMRS Radio. I also compare it head to head with the original FRS Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio and point out the pros and cons based on our very own hands-on experience with it. This is not a sponsored video, we bought these with our own money. In this video, we attempt to help you figure out of this is the best walkie talkie for the money, or if it's not for you after all. If you like camping, hiking, running, skiing, hunting, climbing, mountain biking, motorcycling, overlanding, amateur radio, or RVing, this video is for you.
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00:00 Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio Intro
01:23 FRS vs GMRS
03:00 Rocky Talkie Radio Comparison
05:30 Range
08:03 Features and Benefits
11:15 Price
11:35 Drawbacks
14:15 Recommendations
DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you click on a link we may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
#outdoors #camping
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Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio price and info 👉 bit.ly/46MOb5F (affiliate link, FYI)
Read the full written review for even more insight! 👉 outdoorempire.com/rocky-talkie-5-watt-radio-review/
i wanna say as a company Rocky Talkie is pretty awesome, their Customer service was outstanding and ended up sending us a brand new radio after giving us a call and trying to trouble shoot our issue we had one malfunction after being stored in a box with wet ski gear. 10/10 and would give them my money again. Also another channel did a tear down of either the radio or the handset attachment and found it to be very high quality and not just some generic Chinese electronics.
Nice! Great to hear, thanks for sharing.
i really just wish they would make the FRS Mountain Radio with the same IP67 waterproof rating of the 5Watt. I dont need 5w i just need it to work when i fly off my jetski.
Great honest and funny video!!! A great call out to significant others going through receipts!!! You're now on my follow list, thanks for keeping it real and educational!!
Awesome! Thank you!
This was a great and thorough review. Thanks for going so in depth!
You bet! Thanks for watching.
I'm a hunter, I like it if it had a headphone jack or bluetooth so it doesn't go off when a deer is neerby.
Ya that's a great point. It does have that M3 connector for the optional lapel mic. I wonder if there might be a third party option for a headset with that.
Agree re: bluetooth. If it had a bluetooth option, in my case for pairing with my motorcycle helmet comms unit, it would be damn near perfect.
you can shut off all beeps related to the PTT. You can also turn off all beeps re to power on/off.
Thank you for this review
My pleasure!
I am a avid rock climber. I love the Mountain Radio Walkie Talkies.
I saw they came out with a new model and I was wondering what the benefits are.
Thanks for posting this video.
You bet! Thanks for watching.
Just ordered a set, excited to put them through the paces
Nice! Enjoy.
Very nice looking radio. I like the simplicity and like that it shows the power when you are on gmrs or frs. I have the appropriate license for gmrs and encourage everyone using or entertaining the use of these radios to go ahead and pay the ransom to use gmrs....$35 and you are legal for ten years as well as all family members. After licensing you will receive a call sign and you need to read up on the rules of when you should use it....signing on and signing off for instance. The price is pretty high but I would love to own two.
Good advice. Yeah, they are nice but not cheap.
Just so you know FRS & GMRS are 22 channels as of 2018.
My man. Your channel is incredible and simplistic, you are about to blow up in a few months gaining thousands of subscribers.
Straight to the point. A brief history and guide of use tutorial along with differences in products, while at the same time providing an advertisement service as a secondary business (we know its the main building model)
You don’t act like you know more than you do, normal individual, not character driven, also testing all products and giving scenarios for your audience. This is what tv used to be like, I genuinely feel more educated about the products and the unique and creative shot selection is awesome with the cuts so the viewer isn’t just watching one long shot.
Very impressive I am subscribing
Wow, this means a lot, thank you! It's definitely a work in progress but I appreciate the support.
@@outdoorempirecom you’re awesome brotha I appreciate the quality content
this was great . thank you
You're welcome.
Good info thank you
Glad it was helpful!
And one of the things that I'm also talking about. Is the Zillow walkie-talkies that I've been sold on Amazon eBay and other places again? The ZE LLO walkie-talkies that I'm being sold all over the place. What happens if there's a disaster and you don't have a silk connection?
Well combining that with AGM RS FRS or mers radio GMRS FRS or mirrors radio.
You're basically insuring that people will have service no matter wherever they are.
So if to sell signal is no more guess what you? Can? Still communicate? On.
FRS or GMRS Omer's depending on which brand or which whatever you have.
This is something that's absolutely missing since next tells demise direct talk. What a very important feature.
Because it allowed people to go off grid completely.
And use a regular old fashioned walkie-talkie.
They're kind of walking talking like a children use.
With frs or or or mirrors or whatever but FRS is actually more to the to what I'm talking about but again you can even have. Mirrors and you can even have GMRS so either way.
Why can't you have FRS so either way? That's what these phones are missing mega mega mega time. Weather. It's a Zillow car wacky talkie or whether it's a actual handheld cell phone.
That fits into your pocket. This is something that's really really missing on these devices.
Anyway. I hope companies take this seriously because an in a situation where c*** hits the fan. The Zillow walkie-talkie aint gonna help you? Having an FRS or GMRS or mers radio in your cell phone like that or in your car walkie-talkie that has Zillow. In it.
Now the words they're walking talking after screwing to your car and has like a handheld microphone a fist Mike and whatever having a mirrors FR. S or GMRS radio in that would actually not only in hands you're coming to.
But it will.
Be a necessity should you be in an offer of situation where there is no sell signal whether is nothing doing?
Having that in your regular cell phone would actually be A?
Tremendous gift to society.
Awesome review!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Your review gave me the confidence to order the 5w gmrs 😊
@@treehugger420 Right on! I hope you enjoy them.
I rather get the baofeng gmrs radio they have out if I'm paying that much but I do like the Simplicity of having a pair of these to give out to family members
Indeed, those Baofengs are a good deal but this Rocky Talkie is pretty foolproof.
@@outdoorempirecom very true, that's why I ordered a set for when I'm out with friends and family.. Hope they last a life time 😎✌️
@outdoorempire - Chase, great review. I wish I would have found it sooner... My sister purchased a couple Motorola T600 radios last year and we found we really need at least one more. I did a little searching on CZcams and found the Midland MXT275 vehicle radio, however after speaking to the rep from Midland they said that Motorola was notorious for preprograming the privacy channels. I should check the owner's manual to make sure they were compatible. I was not up for any more research. I am the guy who likes to just pull it out of the box and use it. I did however watch the range test that Rocky Talkie did on the FRS and GMRS radios, that was great too. Anyways... I will be subscribing to your channel, great stuff. By the way, did you know you look like Matt from Meat Church BBQ? you're not brothers are you?
Thanks for the comment and for the sub! Glad the review was helpful and I hear you on liking things to work out of the box. I plan on doing a walkie talkie comparison video soon (I have about a dozen different models). And no, I don't know Matt, but with a name like Meat Church BBQ, I wish I did!
hello. i know this would be out of topic from the video, but do you know a good and cheap FRS radio? i live in Raleigh, NC and i would use it for communications on convoy on highways. Or should i go to the next best thing, GMRS? if yes, i was eyeing on the baofeng UV-5R. hopeful for your advice. thanks
Thanks for reaching out! We've actually been testing a bunch of different FRS and GMRS radios this past year and are about to publish some more content on it. There are several reviews on our website right now. It really depends on what you want in terms of budget, range, battery life, and durability. The Cobra MicroTalk ACXT345 comes to mind as a decent little radio that's pretty cheap. There's a Midland T10 that's about as cheap as it gets and it does the job pretty well too.
Check this page out and see if anything strikes you as interesting. outdoorempire.com/category/outdoor-gear/gadgets/
Curious to see these work on kayak trips
Just remember they don't float!
here's the thing I'm not seeing people talk about. on the intro video from Rocky Talkie it states that you can connect this radio to repeaters, but I don't see anybody trying it. they keep mentioning CT codes, but to get on a repeater you need CTCSS tones(which I presume is what the CT codes are) yet, I don't see it being mentioned outside of that intro video. the "privacy" channels mentioned look like any other FRS/GMRS big box store bought radio. is the ability to connect to a repeater just an overstatement?
That's a great point. We'd like to really test that out, just haven't had the chance yet. We'll See what we can do!
Yes I also wanted to know about this. Was hoping the video would let me know more about that. Great video though. Would love to see another about repeater use.
Pus, many repeaters use split tones!
I live in NYC but a spot woth all hills, trees, cars and houses so been searching for a good GMRS that can get past 1 mile. Im thinking this is a good option. Also that was hilarious how you were channel hopping and found someome who needed more underwear 😅🤣
Nice review. I wonder are there any other good GMRS radios like this A. A little cheaper and B. Alao waterproof and C. Relatively easy to use? Thanks! Merry Christmas 🎄
Thanks for the comment and I think this could be a good option for you, though you'd have to test it where you are to see if it would really work. Urban environments are the toughest because not only do you have obstacles, but you have a lot or interference. You may need a GMRS radio that can transmit up to 50 Watts instead of 5 like this one. There are a couple other good GMRS walkie talkies like this one, but not really that check all the boxes you mention (cheaper, waterproof, easy to use). You may get 2 out of those 3 things. The Midland GXT1000 is cheaper and easy to use, but it's not waterproof. There's the Baofeng UV-9G that is cheap and waterproof, but not sure how easy it is to use.
@@outdoorempirecom Oh wow. I see. Hmm interesting. Thanks for the recommendations. I shall write those down. Appreciate it! I think the biggest drawback with this particular radio(the rocky talkie) is the price for one but otherwise looks awesome 👌
You need a GMRS radio which can access local repeaters. In a city like NY, there is really no radio that can breakthrough all that metal.
@@RKingis I don't live far from a cell phone tower (a few miles) but I have no idea if those also work as repeaters or not. I forgot to mention my part of NYC is not Manhattan, where I live aren't a lot of tall buildings but there are a lot of hills and trees however.
@@RKingis Good news is, this radio can connect to repeaters. So that could be a good option.
My wife and I own 5 heavily wooded acres, all the walkies we have used are usually from big box stores and they ALWAYS break….
On top of that we paddle board, hike in the mountains, mountain bike, and other outdoor activities. I have a great feeling about this purchase, I figured if I keep going to the big box store, I will eventually spend what these cost…..
Update!
They came in and they have been great! I managed to reach a receiver 18 miles away with the longer whip antenna they give you!! Such perfection! I cannot wait to get back to the mountains!
Oh wow! I think you're probably right and I'm guessing these would be tough enough for you. Just keep in mind for the paddle boarding that even though they're waterproof, they don't float. So make sure to use that leash.
I wish you would have talked about how it gets charged. USB? drop in?
Good point, sorry I missed that. Yes, it is USB-C rechargeable. Battery must be charged in radio. To remove battery/swap with spare requires screwdriver.
We just bought some property in a rural mountain area. The town does not have a cellphone tower. I was in the back shed (150 ft away from home) trying to call my wife inside the house. I did not have cellphone reception, frustrating. This property is on 3 acres with trees and boulders but not forest dense. I am in the market for a two-way reliable radio so when I'm on the property I can contact my wife in the house.
Would the Rocky talkie be a good choice for my purpose? Does anyone know? Thanks MountainAngel
I think they'd do swell in your application on 3 acres. In fact these might be overkill. You ought to be able to get away with a cheaper set if you don't care about all the fancy features. We have an article on our website with some sharp options and several reviews of different models too that you might check out.
Baofeng UV-9R ip67 waterproof around 25bucks
Yep hard to beat that price!
Does it float? Does it have bluetooth or similar?
No, it doesn't float and no Bluetooth or app or anything like that.
What Rocky talkie and walkey talking companies failed to realize is?
Is that they need to make this type of thing with A?
Walkie-talkie cell phone not a word GMRS or FRS or even um verse needs to be part of a wacky talking system.
And in Kansas City golf grid and all hell breaks loose at least you have AGM RS FRS or mers radio built into your mobile. Cell phone walkie-talkie. Christian have a better radio in your walkie-talkie cell phone.
So anyway cell phones that are walking talkies are missing this.
Thanks we're FRS or GMRS or mirrors radio and actual walking talking. We can actually talk in case or help break loose and you've get off grid for some reason.
Always built a have an old fashioned walkie-talkie in yourself on that was the whole thing of next hell direct talk they called it.
And something like that needs to be recreated God bless. I hope it does get recreated.
GMRS operators are permitted to transmit at up to ***50 watts*** transmitter power output, on the 16 main channels, but transmitting 1 to 5 watts is more common in practice.
Indeed, you are correct. Thanks for the correction!
Actually 1-7 are capped at 5watts, but 15-23 are capped at 50wats.
@@RKingis it says up to, nor are the frequencies specified. 73 KN6TZZ
@@UB3RN3RD
§ 95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits.
This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station.
(a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits.
(1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts.
(2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts.
(b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts.
(c) 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt
Handheld gmrs radios are limited to 5watts, which coincides with the topic at hand.
I did some research into this. This radio is not that impressive. The TYT MD-UV390 is IP67 (unlike this that’s only IP66), programmable UHF and VHF (this is only UHF capable), and capable of both analog and digital communications, depending on what you want. And, the TYT is roughly the same price as this unit.
Baofeng UV-9R is cheaper
@@phillipsmiley5930 I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that the UV-9R isn’t capable of digital.
Now, the DM-1701 is pretty much a 1 for 1 of the MD-UV390, but it’s also roughly the same price, too.
Keep in mind this Rocky Talkie 5 Watt is a GMRS radio, unlike some of those others. That makes this one more approachable for a lot of recreational users like myself. But indeed those others are great options.
Digital is banned from GMRS.
Well, first off…the rocky talkie is ip67.
Second, completely different markets. The Rocky Talkie is meant to be a compact, simple radio to appeal to non radio dorks, but still compete in range, battery life, repeater capability, etc.
Third, the TYT isn’t legal to transmit on GMRS, if that matters to anyone. It doesnt to me, but there are plenty of radio dork options out there to choose from, if the rocky talkie isn’t your cup of tea. The TYT wouldn’t even be in my top 3 in that case.
Try Baofeng, sir...😂
Noted.
That price is ridiculous! With its feature set it should be priced at $50 each!
For that price, Why would i choose this over a BTech GMRS Pro?
Rocky Talky 5W $165:
-IP67
-Carabiner or gator clip included…
-?
Btech GMRS PRO $139:
- full featured GMRS radio
- Bluetooth
- On-board digital compass
- GPS enabled
- IP67
- can send and receive Texts
- offline maps and location history capability
- type C USB charging
- 2600 mAh battery
You raise some great points. I think a lot of folks prefer a simple, purpose-built tool that's really good at one thing over a feature-packed one that's more complicated to operate and just okay at a lot of things. Sorta like the old Swiss Army Knife vs single-blade debate. But that Btech GMRS Pro looks amazing, I think we might need to test one!
@@outdoorempirecom - Fair enough, but a set of Wouxun KG 805G (super simple, tried and true, 5W GMRS) radios come in at $79 each or Wouxun KG 905Gs ($119 each).
The gmrs pro is a great radio. But, to answer your question…this radio is a bit smaller, easier/somewhat more intuitive to use, has better battery life, and doesn’t have the hit or miss rx that the Btech is known for.
If for pure and simple outdoor use, this is a better radio. If you need gps and texting (that everyone in range can read), the Btech is a better radio.
Problem with the Rockie Talkie is that you can't really get them anywhere
Ya, they sell direct to consumer only. Great small business though.
requires a license from the FCC lol jfc. Uncle Sam always gets his cut.
Well, spectrum *is* a public commons, so some tax on usage is not totally out of hand
Rockie Talkie's radios were not their invention, as they are rebadged Zastone mini9's.
Interesting, I'll look into that.
The price is a bit absurd. It looks suspiciously like a $25 zastone radio from wish.
It's not cheap, but it is well made. I'm not familiar with the Zastone radio you're referring to.
idk for $165.. I need a headphone jack....
They do have a headset jack for an optional lapel mic, FYI.
insane price, not worth it.
Yes… at 200.00 pair may be.. but at that price, I’m pay the fcc licencia and buy a bunch of GRMS radios…🤷🏼♂️
It’s worth it