Walkie Talkie Review (ZX-808)

I am easily influenced. At EMF Camp, I saw my friends Skylar and Cameron using some nifty walkie-talkies out in the field. Skye (patiently) explained to me the joys of PMR446 and - because I was quite drunk I hastily bought some radios on Amazon.

Hey, they were on special - £30 for a pair!

After a few days of use, I've come to the conclusion that they're… basically fine? My main reason for buying them was that they did USB-C recharging (we live in the future now). They didn't come with charging cables or an electrical plug, which is good from an e-Waste perspective. In fact, the whole package is pretty bare-bones. You get the handsets, a belt clip for them, and an instruction leaflet. That's it.

Interface

Pretty crappy! But it works. A cheap LCD screen backlit by two LEDs. No OLED panels or multi-pixel screens - just a bunch of black and white icons.

The interface for changing channels is a bit weird. Lots of stabbing rubbery buttons and trying to remember which one accepts the selection. But it is the sort of thing you'll do once and then leave. Turning the unit on and off is as simple as twisting the knob at the top.

Press the "Call" button and the other handset rings (you can choose between 10 different bloopy ringtones). Press the PTT button and your voice is transmitted. There's also a "VOX" mode which transmits whenever it hears your voice.

Oh, there's also a fairly crappy "torch" which is a weak-ish white LED.

When you release the talk button there is an (optional) beep - so the other party knows you have finished talking.

Range

The PMR446 band is open for anyone to use. So you don't pay anything to make or receive calls. But you don't get much range either. The product description says:

TCXO (temperature compensated crystal oscillator ) technology, ensures the stability and effectiveness of transmission. The walkie talkies for adults long range can reach 5km in open areas with no sight obstruction. If in cities or towns,you could talk and hear clearly without noise within 1.5km.

Is that true? Liz and I conducted a couple of experiments in an urban environment to see how well they coped.

• 1Km - at best we each heard a burst of static
• 500m - enough signal for the call alert, but no voice
• 430m - crackly voice, just about good enough to hear
• 250m - clear voice, perfect reception

Even with me sat at the top of the house near a window, that was about the best we could do.

Of course, there's not much point using these in a city where there's good mobile phone reception. How do they fare in the wide open space of a park?

We went down to our local woods and wandered away from each other.

• 1Km - enough signal for the call alert, but no voice
• 700m - crackly voice, just about good enough to hear
• 500m - clear voice, a little static
• 275m - clear voice, perfect reception

As expected, better when far away from metal structures and lots of stray signals. Perhaps if we were both on top of hills, with nothing between us, we'd get 1.5Km - but I doubt it.

Disadvantages

Other than the range and the UI, the main disadvantage of PMR446 is that it is analogue. Voice quality is adequate, but nothing stellar. There's a fair amount of hiss and crackle depending on the environment.

Although the Digital Coded Squelch allows for hundreds of different channels without interference, they're all unencrypted. So don't say anything you want to keep private.

There's a fairly stiff belt clip on the back, with a small hole if you want to hook it to something.

It takes the weird double earpiece / mic connector so beloved of these devices. No standard 3.5mm and certainly no Bluetooth.

Should you get some?

Are you often in a field far away from mobile signal? Do you enjoy saying "over" a lot? Are you preparing for the collapse of civilisation which still, somehow, has USB-C cables?

If so, these are for you!

Useful to have in a go-bag, and probably handy if you're on holiday somewhere without great phone coverage. And, of course, lots of fun pretending to be on the A-Team or something.