[Review] X-Talker Extreme Dual Pack T77VP5 by Midland

If you’re in the market for two-way radios for adventuring outdoors, climbing, camping, or any other miscellaneous undertakings like learning to paraglide, the X-Talker Extreme Dual Pack T77VP5 by Midland is a great set to have. Not only do you get two simple and easy to use, compact and durable radios, the kit also comes with two boom microphone headsets, a desktop charger that charges both radios while only using one plug, and a nice hard carrying case to keep them in.

The first point worth mentioning is that I can attest to the durability of the T77VP5 radios. I’m not sure that Midland would absolutely guarantee that their radios would survive falls constantly from hundreds of feet but when my X-Talker fell off my paragliding harness as I was soaring a few hundred feet in the air above the ground, I was absolutely astonished when I found my radio and it still worked. Not only did it work flawlessly, it still looked brand new. There is definitely something to be said about the materials used to build a well-made and durable product. While I wouldn’t purposely continue to drop this radio from heights to the ground below me, it was nice to see that after just one mistake, the radio wasn’t done for. For what we’ll be using these radios for, there’s no question that they’ll see some abuse over the years and we are confident that they can withstand it.

When I was first looking at the T77VP5 the range of up to 38 miles definitely caught my eye and got me excited. While I understand fully that achieving this range means that many variables have to be met, I was surprised to find that pretty much past a mile and a half in flat country, we were losing contact. Like I said there are many variables at play when it comes to radios of this sort but I was expecting just a bit farther of a range than 1.5 miles (we were on totally flat land with a line of sight and no big obstacles). When we head back to Colorado, it will be interesting to see how the range is there with mountains, lots of trees, rocks etc. For what we’ll be using these radios for, that range shouldn’t be an issue at all but if you have different ideas in your head for uses, it’s important to keep this in mind.

We’re very excited to have these for certain adventures, especially for something like rock climbing where communication is imperative for the safety of climbers. There have been instances where we’re climbing and either the top of the climb is out of sight/yelling distance or maybe it’s windy and hard to hear your partner. Having easy to use communication between climbers will really add a level of safety.
 These are also going to be amazing for photography and filming. So often we have to do shots multiple times (especially when it involves a truck/car/motorcycle) because we can’t easily communicate at a distance. No more working to get a shot 20 times when we can stay in constant contact with our X-Talkers. 

The VOX feature (voice-operated exchange) is a huge benefit and we have found ourselves using it a bunch. For paragliding lessons, this was key as it allowed me to keep my hands on the controls at all times while being able to communicate with my instructor. It is worth mentioning that in considerable wind the VOX system will pick up the wind as voice and create a lot of unnecessary wind noise on your partner’s radio. 

The Weather Alert Radio with Weather Scan is invaluable especially if you are traveling in remote places with little to no cell service. Especially in the summer, weather can change in an instant; having the ability to listen to weather could make or break an adventure and help you stay out of emergency situations.

Something that is fairly insignificant but really important to us and did not go unnoticed is the fact that you just have to plug the desktop charger into one plug on your outlet and it will charge both radios. We’ve never had two-way radios that could be charged together and when we are in the camper, outlets are scarce so this is really beneficial in that regard.

 If you’re looking for durable two-way radios that are easy to use, quick to learn, and communicate clearly, the X-Talker Extreme Dual Pack T77VP5 by Midland is the set to have. It’s nice to be able to have a nice case for everything to fit, to stay organized, and to protect the radios. If you’re in the market for two-way radios, professional grade radios, or business radios, with over 50 years of experience, Midland is the way to go.

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