- Rechargeable Long Range Two-Way Radios with Earpiece 2 Pack Arcshell AR-5 Walkie Talkies Li-ion Battery and Charger Included

I bought this Arcshell AR-5 two-pack specifically for a multi-day outdoor event where cell service was basically non-existent. I’ve used high-end Motorolas in the past for work, and I was honestly skeptical that a two-pack at this price point could actually compete. I was wrong—these things are absolute workhorses. Range & Audio Clarity: The "long range" claim is always a bit tricky with walkies, but these performed impressively. In a dense wooded area, we were getting clear signals at about 1.5 miles out. In a more suburban/open setting, we pushed it to nearly 3 miles before we started getting any significant static. The audio is surprisingly crisp; it doesn't have that "muffled tin can" sound that cheaper radios usually have. Even with background wind, the built-in mic picked up voices clearly. Battery Life & Charging: This is where the AR-5 really shines. On a full charge, these lasted through a 14-hour shift of constant back-and-forth chatter, and the low-battery alert didn't even kick in until we were heading home. The fact that it comes with individual charging docks is a huge plus—you just drop them in at night and they’re ready by morning. No fumbling with tiny micro-USB cables in the dark. The Earpiece Experience: I love that these come with the earpiece/PTT (Push-to-Talk) headsets. If you’re doing security, event coordination, or just want to feel like you’re in a spy movie, these are great. The ear hook is soft plastic, so it didn't hurt my ear after wearing it for six hours. It's perfect for loud environments because you can actually hear your partner without cranking the radio volume and annoying everyone around you. Build Quality: They feel "pro." They have a nice weight to them and the plastic doesn't feel brittle. The belt clips are sturdy (they didn't fly off when I was jogging), and the knobs for volume and channel switching have a very satisfying, firm "click."

We used these while driving two cars from Oklahoma to Florida. They worked great and were very very helpful. Not sure about the range of these because we always stayed pretty much within eye sight of both cars although I did take a wrong turn a few times and we used the radios to find each other again. Again...these made driving two cars SO MUCH easier and were very very helpful, and even fun at times. --Boring details--- I thought about giving these a 4 star rating and not 5 stars simply because these radios do not comply to FCC regulations in that the out-of-the-box frequencies were NOT within the required FRS (family radio service) frequencies. I write software and was able to reprogram the frequencies on these radios to the FRS frequencies. I don't think these regulations are enforced at all but I re-programmed them anyway. It was easy to do using a free app called "CHIRP" and requires a separate programming USB cable to hook these radios up to your computer to reprogram them, it was easy to do. I think anyone using these as is will be just fine as they are. Only twice along our long trip we heard other people talking, surprisingly both were restaurants using them to take orders. If your looking for an easy way to communicate between cars on a road trip these cant be beat. Again, I don't know the range, it's not great, but absolutely very usable on two car road trips. We accidentally left both radios on in our cars over night and in the morning they both were still working and usable! I charged them up again in the hotel room again anyway. These are great radios, I have already told friends about them and how they made the long road trip so much more enjoyable.

These are decent walkie talkies! You can speak through them clearly. The audio is nice and clear. Love the fact that these are rechargeable and not battery powered. The charge itself lasts quite awhile, and the range is excellent. Mine were precharged and I could use them right away. A computerized voice will let you know when the walkie talkie first powers on, the volume level, and the channel numbers. I bought this for my grandmother to use in case she needs me while I'm outside working or just helping out in another part of the house. This is great for my grandma to use as she has trouble with her vision and she can use this herself without having to look at anything, just twisting the knobs and holding in the button. The only minor issues I've had with these is they cause interference with my police scanner and TV. I also used a small strip of painter's tape to cover the small light on the front of it. When you press the talk button, a red light shines brightly your face. It is entirely too bright. This light should have been on the back of the walkie talkies, not the fronts. But again, that's very minor to me. The price is great, and I do recommend buying!

EDIT: The seller sent me new, upgraded headsets upon reading my review. These headsets are much better, thank you! One star for the headsets that were included. I just started using the headset. Apparently the headset’s construction is weaker than my ear?? I was sitting in my office chair wearing the headset, when the walkie slid off my lap. In the two foot drop it took from my lap to the floor, it snapped the headset assembly completely into two pieces, effectively breaking the entire headset (see picture). My ear is constructed of standard-issue human cartilage, so I was surprised to see my ear was stronger than the headset. Another note about the headset, it is NOT compatible with VOX. The headset keeps the mic muted unless it is keyed, so that essentially defeats the hands-free point of the headset. The radios do work, but range is really limited despite the high power output. The signal only travels a few blocks which is to be expected with buildings around, but I would have thought the extra power would give them a longer range than a few blocks - the point of walkies is so that you can talk without having each other in sight. The radio units themselves are pretty good for the money, I dont know that anything better exists at this price point. They are great for around the house so I dont have to yell, but don’t expect to get much further than yelling distance with these.

UPDATE: Gf had a bad fall and broke her ankles. These things now act like a call light. Charge them each night and they last well more than a day, she can contact me anywhere in the house quicker than a text. Countless times we have been thankful for these when she needed pain meds at 3am, loud enough to wake me and get me to her. A fun toy turned into a life saver! Test: GF is in the bathroom of my basement, ranch home, basement is solid surrounded by dirt. I drove to the gas station 0.6 miles away and we could still talk. No open air for these things and sure it was crackling a bit but I had no problems understanding her. I mean for 25 bucks come on, that's pretty damn good. It's sending through nothing but dirt, houses, basements, countless WiFi, underground lines... I expected a block or 2. Further used them throughout the day and the next day until they died. So about 30 hours of random use, but they were fun to use so it was fairly often. Nice to just be able to talk in the house without shouting as I'm working on something and need a hand. These will also be great when we kayak, I hate having to shout on the water. Voice activation works, headset works, we just preferred the manual method. I also like how the talkies say the channel name out loud as u switch the knob for ease of use. No looking down trying to find a tiny number. Huge plus.

Great little walkies! I bought these not expecting anything fantastic, given the price of a bit over $10 per walkie. I've spent much more on other name brand units in the past. Turns out I'm blown away by the range, sound quality, and battery life for these things. They easily reach a solid mile in our neighborhood with very crowded houses and trees. In a more rural area with less obstructions, they would probably reach more like 3-4 miles. The sound quality is outstanding, far better than other name brand units I've used in the past like Motorola and Uniden. Some of those advertise 20+ mile ranges, but in practice they have trouble reaching half a mile in a crowded neighborhood. We use these for my 7 year old son who likes to go on bike rides in our neighborhood with a group of other kids (7-10yrs). He takes one and I keep one and he checks in every 5-10 minutes. Anywhere in the neighborhood he is still able to call and check in with minimal static. These seem fairly durable and well built. The batteries last a long time between charges. The best part is if one gets broken or lost, it's less than $15 gone. So far they are holding up great though over the last 2 months of use. If you want to unlock extra features like scan, a loud emergency siren, and be able to change each channels frequency, you'll need the programming cable and the free software called CHIRP. The cable can be found on Amazon for less than $10. Only really needed if you want to tinker with it, or if you want to alter the frequencies. Overall we are very happy with these and have already convinced some other neighbor friends of ours to purchase the same walkies.

I bought these for our kids to be able to communicate with their neighbor friends across the street. They like to coordinate leaving for the bus stop, when they can play, etc. The two-way radios are disappointing. The houses are less than 100 yards apart and the reception / sound quality is unusable. They work ok if you are both outside and reasonably close (maybe 50 yards). *Update* - Arcshell reached out to me after seeing the review and worked to make things right. I increased my overall rating from 2 stars up to 3 stars based on the excellent customer service. These radios are rechargeable. However, the instructions say you need to remove from the charger after 3 hours or it will damage the battery. We want to leave on the charger all the time it is not in use. I originally chose these because they are rechargeable, reasonably priced, and had good reviews. I wouldn't buy them again. I suggest spending a bit more and getting something better quality and better range.

EDIT: The AR-7 walkie talkies are the best ones. I definitely recommend getting them over the AR-5's. Originally I had bought and returned two ArchShell AR-5 Walkie Talkies, and left a review with 2 stars that detailed my issues with their Ikea-like design requiring a screwdriver to attach the peices and for their poor noise quality. ArcShell customer service reached out to me, and apologized that the walkie talkies had not worked to my expectations. They then offered to send me 2 complimentary new ArcShell AR-7 Walkie Talkie radios. The only thing I can say is WOW!!! If only these had been available when I was first looking for a walkie system. From the first look, I could tell these were going to be a better selection. I went out and tested these with a coworker of mine. We played loud music and walked all over our workplace attempting to find an area where we couldn't hear each other because of external noise. I am happy to say that these are SO much better than the AR-5's with picking up vocal noise vs outside noise. Arcshell even made these much more simple to put together. No more screwdriver, everything snaps and locks tightly in place making these much more comdfortable for run and gun operations. Now I don't have to allot 10 minutes to putting otgether the walkies, these are just grab and go. The range is better, the sound quality is better. These are definitely worth getting for anyone looking for a decent set of walkies. My thanks to Arc Shell for convincing me to give them another try. It is good to see a company that truly values its customer's experience. Original Post: FOR the AR-5's These were quite simple, even after the IKEA like setup process. (There are a lot of Parts to put together for each walker, which is somewhat useful and simultaneously annoying as even the belt clips require a screwdriver to attach. Overall the design and the included earpiece felt good. The issue was I had bought them for myself and another cameraman to film a live musical performance, and it’s a clear example of the old saying, you get what you pay for. I’m fairly certain you would have a hard time hearing anything a person is saying with these once you walk out into a city street. Their high noise tolerance is very low and you can barely if at all understand what the other person is saying. So, if you are say working a silent movie, or a reality show, where no one except talent speaks above hushed whispers, these walkies work great, however in a public setting, or at a construction site, a building project, etc... I wouldn’t suggest them.