Midland LXT500 series

Buyers should be aware that while these radios have 22 channels, the higher-power, longer-range channels (1-7 and 15-22) are GMRS channels which require an FCC license costing $65 to operate. Unlicensed users are limited by law to the lower-power, shorter-range FRS channels (8-14).

We bought these for our daughter for out at our summer vacation campsite, she loves them cause she and her friends can go run and play and we can check on there where abouts or they check in with us. we also use them at home when she goes to a friends house. the signal strength/range is very good she can go blocks away. she got lost looking for a friends house and called me asap i was able to talk to her while i went to find her, made it nice cause she told me the street sign where she was at and we found her right away. we decided to see how true the range was and took one to the video store which was 15 to 20 city blocks from my home and we got awesome reception, some static but not bad at all. the next test will be going further to see if they do have true range. if you want a nice product for this type of use i suggest it.

These radios were bought as a test for other radios from the midland product line. They were used nov 5-12 2012 on private land approx. 800 acres 200 of which is wooded the rest farmland. There is nothing but hills and valleys here where my family hunts in the 200 wooded. We have no base station between the radios. The reception is great, clarity of the sound as well. We have since decided to purchase more of these rather than the more costly ones from midland radio line. They have done very well for us and will continue to use them time and time again. A+ product.

Be aware these are only 22 channels and don’t have the privacy subchannels that the more expensive radios offer. If you are OK with that they will likely be fine. I didn’t realize models were available with the subchannels until after I ordered these so I sent them back and got the Midland GXT1000VP4 with the privacy channels.

My initial thoughts on the lxt500 radios are favorable. These are no frills radios, but they seem to serve their intended purpose well. In regard to some of the complaints about batteries and battery charging, I’ve noticed two things that might cause some people confusion, and lead to some of the complaints here…1) If you just sit the radios in the charger, they are not charging. They must be pushed down firmly into the charger until they click into the charger, at which time the two charging lights come on, and 2) The battery indicator icon appear to be only a “low battery” indicator. It only displays when the battery needs charged and it is not a “live” indicator that begins didplaying a full charge, and then gradually shows a decrease in power level down to low. NO, instead according to the owners manual (and from what I have discerned from reading those materials and checking the radios) the battery icon in reality shows a 1/4 full low battery. It only ever shows the 1/4 display, and it only shows it when the battery needs charged (other than the quick screen flash of all the icons when you first turn the radios on). Also the picture you see on the sales literature shows a sticker that overlays the screen when the radio leaves the factory. Bit shows a picture of a full battery, but the actual battery indicator icon only shows the 1/4 level full battery. Sorry for the redundancy of this review, but I wanted to try to explain this in some detail because I cant help but wonder if the two things I’ve written about above are causing some people confusion and resulting in their mistakenly thinking the batteries are not charging correctly.

I use these for my kids while they are outside, since they don’t have cell phones yea I’m that mom I send them with a Walkie they check in and I call them to check especially since they are all over the neighborhood the range is great durability is great battery is ok we go a day it’s about dead. Other wise love the purchase

Great fathers day gift. Getting ready for deer season. Work perfect in our area. Delivery was quick and just as described in ad.

I actually got this product for work. We were in need of some radios and I checked out on Amazon. They are light weight and easy to set up for first use. I was using it between different floors and it works great. There is no static what so ever. When my manager at the time moved to different state she called me to send them to her since I had no use for them anymore. And till this day she is still using them.