Midland SpeakEasy 75-507 -- Easy communication!

These radios were given to my sons (ages 7 and 9) for Christmas. We have two of them. They were a good choice because we wanted something beyond the “toy” walkie-talkie sets that don’t end up working well. We wanted to have real radios that would be functional yet sturdy enough for two active boys to use and nice enough to be useful for adults to use, too.

This model has 14 channels that can be used instead of only one or two. You can set it to scan through all channels or leave it on one. There is a Dual Watch mode where you can set it to two different channels and it will alternate between the two.

The radio is a nice, compact size, measuring about 2 x 4 inches. The antenna is a solid, rubber coated one that doesn’t retract. It has held up well. I was concerned about that with the kids and I wanted this type of antenna instead of a thin wire one.

The radio is a FRS (Family Radio Service) one, which means you do not need a license to operate this, as you do with some others. That makes it great for casual users.

We use this a lot around our acreage. The boys or my husband can be reached when outside, whether in the outbuildings, zooming around the farm on the golf cart, or just outside playing and I need to call them in for supper. Without the radio, it sometimes is hard to locate them. This cuts down on yelling into thin air with nobody but the dog responding!

I conducted my own “test” of the unit and it starts getting static-like around a mile apart, but I was able to talk to about 1.8 miles. There was static, but I could still communicate with it. This wasn’t in a straight line from the other radio. There were trees, rolling fields and buildings in the way, and I was also inside a vehicle. I think out in the open it would have been even more clear. In general use, there is static here and there, especially if you have the volume turned up too high. I don’t think it is worse than other radios I have heard, however.

There is a call button to page the other user. To talk, you have two choices. You can press a button called PTT (which means “push to talk”) with every transmission, or you can set it to “VOX” which can be set to low or high sensitivity. With VOX, you do not need to push the button to talk; you simply talk into the unit or into a headset (recommended). This would be handy if you were doing a task where you needed your hands free and you could still talk and receive messages.

The battery to switch between PTT and VOX is incredibly small. It is only about 2 millimeters square! If you are going to spend much time switching between the two modes, you may be in for some frustration. For a tiny-sized button, it has quite sharp edges, too.

A wrist strap and a belt clip are included with the radio. The unit uses 3 AA batteries, which are not included. You can buy an optional charger and use rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries, but we haven’t tried that yet.

There are many uses for a 2-way radio. If you are with a group of people, two parties can split up and still communicate, such as at an amusement park, shopping mall, etc., or traveling close together by car. Fishermen in separate boats could communicate with each other, too. I’ll leave that one to my husband to test out on his annual fishing trip to Canada. I’ll stick to the mall instead.

This radio has proven to suit our needs. We needed something that wasn’t a toy, but not the top of the line, expensive radios, either. The radios are sold separately, not in a pair, and are $29.99 each at Amazon.com, although you can often find online discounts if you search enough. This is great for an in-between radio that functions well and won’t break the bank if the boys get a bit too rough with them. Boys will be boys, after all.