There is a number of things to be careful of, when buying a walkie talkie radio. Some of them are pretty basic. Make sure you don’t get pressured into buying walkie talkies which are outside your budget. Make sure that you don’t buy into exaggerated claims of radio walkie talkies range or coverage, and so on. What follows are a few more things to be wary of.
1. Do verify if the walkie talkie 2 way radios that you’re buying require a license.
This is pretty important, since you don’t want to run afoul of any laws inadvertently. Now, not all radio walkie talkies require an FCC license. If you purchase an FCC-certified Family Service Radio, for example, then you won’t need a license. But if you plan to get something with a greater range (more than 2 miles, for example), such as a General Mobile Radio Service radio, then you’ll need a license. Whether or not you need a license, this will be usually indicated in the item description, but do check.
2. Depending on your needs, you may want to get something with the ability to vibrate.
After all, you or whoever will be using the thing, might be using it in an environment where it’s important to remain quiet. If the radio walkie talkie that you buy doesn’t have vibration alerts then you’re either out of luck, or perhaps you could hook it up to a hands free kit, if it’s compatible with them. So if quiet operation is important to you, check for this feature immediately.
3. Confirm the build quality of the walkie-talkie radios that you’re considering.
This isn’t necessarily size related. There are robust walkie talkies out there which come in pretty small packages. And there are also cheap walkie talkies which are fairly large and seem sturdy, but which won’t last quite as long as expected. So it’s important to check out the unit in person, if possible. Hold it in your hand. Rap it with your knuckles. Get a sense for how solid it feels in your hand.
You’ll also want to do some research. Try to find testimonials and blog or forum posts from people who’ve actually bought the unit. Did they encounter any build quality issues shortly after buying? Or do they seem impressed by the overall build quality, even after a few months? Information like these are invaluable for trying to get a true picture of the overall robustness of a particular gadget. And it will also help ensure that the gadget that you eventually do purchase will, in fact, live up to your expectations.