@hamradio2 I almost bought these radios until I seen this video. I also asked a question on a FB post that was deleted and my question was would it work if all cell towers were out? Can someone please give me some advice. I am not knowledgeable with radios but am willing to learn. I am in search for 4-6 hand held devices that would work over 60 miles or so that I could communicate with family should the grid be down. Please point me in the right direction or just the best device for this and if I could listen for emergency alerts that would be great too but primarily need to be in contact with family should the time come that no cell phones or internet work
@@jessicaturner6972 @hamradio2 this is my question as well. I just need to know which radios to buy for my entire family that do not rely on cell towers. We have had two instances of cell phone outages in our area just in the last few months, one due to a storm and one due to technology failure.
The $100/yr. charge (for 2 radios) and the fact they deleted your FaceBook posts when you pointed out the annual fee is a deal breaker for me. I won't do business with a company that does that kind of thing.
Can you use it as a cell phone? Ot is it only allowed to be used on the radio network? Can you recieve phone calls? Only way I would do this. 50 dollars a year for only call service.
@@ThePullnfool No, they are cellular devices that won't work 5 feet apart. Take them out of cell coverage and you have fancy paperweights. True 2 way radios don't have that problem.
@@ThePullnfool they don't work flawlessly because cell networks are incredibly flawed and unreliable. Watch this video - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0k6STAdRVhA.html
@@HamRadio2 I have used these radios all over and have one in California with a friend and a friend in Maryland.. I am in Michigan.. We have ALWAYS had crystal clear reception..
Thanks for making this video, Glad you are doing a video about them !! You just saved my ministry $1,497.00, was about to buy 2 Rapid Radios Nationwide PTT Walkie-Talkie Base/Car Units and Rapid Radios Nationwide PTT Walkie-Talkie 6-Pack was just about to pay for them and wanted to do more research on how it works and found you ( So you also just saved me $400 a year as well no way we could afford that as well!!!) Thank you! :)
@@ThePullnfool they aren't "radios" they are crappy cell phones, and significantly overcharge for their LTE only IOT SIM cards. Not only that but they are just more rebranded cheap garbage, and I would never accept having a device that some company can remotely program without needing my consent. They also can track you, no thanks. Just use the cell phone you already have and get your HAM license so you can use real radios instead.
Wow. I charge students $50 for both Tech and General license training manuals. Teach a 13 week Tech/General licensing class. Then Test them for the $15 ARRL test session fee. Then they pay $35 to the FCC for a 10 year license. And then they’ve got actual radio capability locally or around the world!!!!! These radios you just showed are FRAUD due to their marketing practices.
You bought these radios on your own dime so I joined you channel because I appreciate you doing that to help me learn without spending my own money. $400 for a pair is crazy.
@HamRadio2 Lets put our thinking cap on for a second. Would you rather put your trust in an app or the entire cellular spectrum? Also what does Zello require? Hint: it's a cell phone.
Glad you are doing a video about them :). I've been asked about these as well - they look like push to talk cell phones. I think their deceptive marketing is really abhorrent - they make it sound like the walkie talkie is doing all the work of connecting you, and they advertise that it's never billed. I'd like to know the FCC id as well of the handset to dig into who made them.
Not true, the first year of service is included, after that they charge $50 ANNUALLY per radio for service, IF you want to continue using them. You won't receive a bill, you'll have to renew your service. Maybe not so clear on the front page, but this is CLEARLY stated in the FAQ section, so not deceptive. And it's they're probably designed by China and operated by the NSA, who cares 🤣 Edit: added bill info.
@@MadCloudDisease they only recently added some of this info though. I would add I wasn't even taking about billing but also look at their videos - they really do make it seem like it's some kind of miracle walkie talky with unlimited range.
@@HamRadio2 to be honest here, anyone with a radio has ‘access’ to those channels/frequencies, right? They are not secret like knowing the real number to 911 is 912…lol
Too often, we hear unlicensed operators ask on our LICENSED amateur radio repeater, "Radio Check! AUDIO!!!" I want to keep my license, so I don't answer.
Right I thought of that same comment when this guy mentioned that they are on cellular network. Haha looks like they won’t be talking to their kids at college when shit hits the fan haha smh
Yes I have my phone but when I'm out even in the mountains I have my Motorola xpr7550e. And my anyone 878 Then I can scan I have GPS. Aprs analog and digital field programming is a must pre program the radio for the area your going to be in and have GPS and aprs set to go when you need it
Good stuff Jason as usual. Excellent job on calling them out on false advertising and no yearly/monthly fees. Definitely not geared for a SHTF “radio”.
So i found this page because i turned on my Rapid Radios after 3 months of them sitting powered off. All 3 of them reset and are completely useless without contacting them and waiting to get them re-registered. I am learning now what a scam it is. Thank you
I was really close to buying a set of their radios but I did a lot of digging into the comments & found someone posted the $50/year per radio. That made me changed my mind.
THANK YOU! I was literally about to hit the buy button on a 4 pack of these for me and my family specifically if the grid went down. Right before I did I was like "Let me check reviews on this." Your video popped up and I am so glad. Thanks. Do you know of any good, relatively inexpensive, HAM/CB portable devices? I'm in Florida, and I have one daughter 2 hours away in college and the other in college in Alabama. I want to make sure I can communicate with them if the grid goes down. Thanks!
Thanks for making this video!! They are misleading people about emergency communications and possibly preventing people from actually taking the right steps to achieve their communications goals.
Hello, I think you are more expert than me, but I think that multimedia, all those sensors that are cellular, such as Bluetooth, which give a twist, serve as positioning, NFC, which serves as task control, GPS, gyroscope, man down , accelerometer and of course multimedia live videos, photos etc. They give an operational advantage in the world of work. This will not replace conventional radios, but it is a contribution. Will join him. I'll tell you what I see in the future of PoC, each time children -35 years old do not call each other on the phone, they use WhatsApp, spam emails, they open a door to the most advanced PoC services for work, and less like Samsung with The Xcover Hytera line launched a product in Thailand the P30 with Rtos operating system, faster without communication delay. But with a Free license, with 1 annual sim card, the commercial is extraordinary, people camping, granny talking to granddaughter. I see a super good future in the PoC world and I think that the more popular PTT is, the better the world will be, faster, more efficient and much more fun. Greetings and I subscribed to your channel
So happy i found this channel! You're the guy i needed to 'talk' to about those radios. I am decently prepared, and live alone in a rural area about 3 hours from Dallas. My family lives near Galveston. I have been looking for a way to check on them if we have an EMP, or what have you. I give up! I was hoping this radio would be the solution. Nope! Thank you for the info!!!
This is a clear case of misleading advertising. At the price you paid, I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a class action case against them in the future.
I think for what they are they work well. They work off a different carrier band so they worked when all cells went down last week. A well prepped individual would have both
Radios are basically the only off grid system. Depending on who you want to talk to and what kind of range you need there is CB, MURS, and FRS for license free radio services or GMRS and amateur (ham) radio licensed services. One advantage of GMRS over ham radio is that your immediate family can share your license. However with ham radio you can talk all over the world with the proper licensing and equipment. There are a few different ways to charge batteries for handheld radios and power base stations without being connected to the grid.
Thanks for sharing this information. I was looking at their website and noticed the same thing about no monthly fees ever, then saw the $50 per radio, per year after the first year. Like you said, that is a monthly fee, just billed annually. I was looking into these radios because our cell phones do not work where we hunt for a week during buck season. Now my son and I, he goes with me, use various different brands of FMRS radios. We could use Amateur radios, but I am licensed and he is not. Just this year I applied for my GMRS license and now we can use GMRS radios. But I thought this radio would be great to have at camp to check in with my wife who would be at home 100 miles away. I don't even know if these radios would work there, they may, but I know we are close to the Green Bank, WV where the Green Bank Observatory is located. The Green Bank Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the National Radio Quiet Zone in Green Bank, West Virginia. Even Amateur Radio operators have to run minimum to low power if they live within a certain distance of the observatory. Again, thanks for sharing. Juddie
When you started talking about these radios at the beginning I wondered if it was from My Emergency Radio. When you mentioned they were from Michigan I knew it could not be a coincidence. Then you mentioned their contact info listed on their Facebook page. If I would have read the video description I would have known without watching the video though. It is sad that they are using fear of uncertainty and misleading claims about their fees to market these POC radios. The average person will see the "no monthly fee" and think it is free, then get fired up when they get a bill from the company. I find the timing of this upload to be quite interesting due to the recent AT&T outage. I know I would not spend $200 on something that is essentially a push to talk cell phone when I can spend the same for a smart phone that will work with my carrier's infrastructure. If I am going to spend $200 on a push to talk device it will be an actual radio that doesn't need infrastructure to work.
Appreciate you doing a video on these Jason! Had a family member send me a link to these and asked if they were any good, didn't take me long to tell them no, at least not for the application we need them for.
I saw their website as well. I won't pay 400 for 2 walkie talkies when they are connected to celluar networks. However they do have off grid ones for 69 I believe each. Does anyone know of a great walkie talkie company that has off grid communication in case power goes out in the U.S. and other countries with 100 mile range? Thanks
So I was thinking about the fees and came up with this. Maybe they don't personally charge fees and the monthly fees are charged by the LTE provider. Do you think that may be possible?
It’s a lie by omission. There is no monthly fee just like a prepaid phone has no monthly fee. If you want the dumb thing to work, you have to pay for another $50 SIM card per radio per year.
it is scummy. And I'm not on their side, but legally, they're correct. it's not a monthly fee if it's billed yearly. lol the devil is always in the details and the fine print. So technically they didn't lie
Glad you did this, hopefully it gets a ton of views. Side note what are you using for the flag you have in the background? Also 2:38 you mention cell service when it was down today...lol
Good day to do it with the cell outage today. Mine is still down here. Has been since 3AM. I'm very close to you. Just down the highway in A-town. Bet they wouldn't work today. 🤣
I've also made comments on their FB page only to have them deleted shortly after. Guess they don't want the truth to interfere with their misleading advertising or comments on their page.
Thanks for the video because now I will not buy one I was thinking about it now that you've explained more about it which the company would not explain it makes me not want to buy him so I will stick with my off-grid gmrs radio or my 2 meter or my 70 cm
Here in Nova Scotia, our internet and cellular networks don't last all that long after the power is out... Those radios would be useless after a day or two without power to the local networks. They could have a use for a business that's in cell range, though. Part of the reason I'm currently in the Ham course is because the cell network drops with no power and local hams are the only way anyone has information on what's going on
Yep, I have zello and it is active all the time. Whenever some of my buddies call, I receive it, even if I have the app closed, it runs in the background.
Not really, we were using free zello for family everyday comms, these are Much more simple,, even the younger grandkids have no problem with them. the zello work that you pay for is 8.00 a month per radio, plus whatever a data sim card monthly cost would be , and use a single carrier. these a re better in my opinion for everyday comms and small businesses where you do not need tracking or dispatch services
Yes, if you must use cellular Zello is the way. If you already have a phone why spend more money on severely overpriced devices. With Zello you set up your own groups and user names, no relying on a provider getting around to doing it for you. And no extra cost beyond what you pay for cellular service. If cellular service is down your out of luck. If you can not figure out Zello you should not be using a phone.
Wade works creative was on Fox n Friends this morning promoting these.... As soon as he said it works off the LTE network and that there is No monthly fee and they're good if the Power goes out..... My ears perked up!! What a waste of time! Thanks for the video!
You cannot beat the good ole CB/SSB/Ham radios. You can use them nationwide and even make overseas connections. Don’t get hung on these gimmicks with LTE and other non-sense. During the last hurricane in FLorida, we were out of cellular service for days. My CB radio was a life savior because you are not relying on anyone to provide you service. Lot of people make fun of CB’s, but they are an excellent communication tool. You want reliable off grid communication, CB and Ham is your solution. In case of an emergency, CB/Ham radio will still work. Great video by the way. My 2 cents.
Glad its working for you. CB is dead here most of the time and when people are out there they tend to be very cliquish and you're not talking to them unless you are running an amp or close by. CB is a crappy band for interference. These modern radios don't have good filter crystals like the old school Cobras had. Also much of the band is full of people running massive power.
Ham, CB and other radio frequencies are only really helpful, if someone is able to help you. It’s great that with HAM you can reach someone on the other side of the planet, but unless they can bring you the help or supplies you need it doesn’t really matter.
Yeah if you want to hear everybody on their asking for a blowjob on Channel 9 CBS would be awesome do you have to have an Antron 99 play The Screaming Eagle booster which would be illegal by the FCC to be able to get out anywhere
Right on Buddy. That is Why I still have by CB and also on GMRS to. Radios is Radios NO Internet Anything over the Internet or Cellular It is a Bullshit so call Radios
The first thing you said that made these radios a No sale for me is the fact that they are internet and cell tower-reliant. When SHTF the first thing that will go down is the grid and internet/cell service making them useless.
Thank you for putting this video out there because I was seriously thinking of picking a few of these up for my employees so we did not have to keep using our cell phones, which become a pain due to their lack of battery capacity throughout a work day and because I dislike covering my $1300 phone with shit - not just dirt, literally shit. We work underground in lift stations and in sewage pump stations to repair muffin monster effluent pumps which digest human feces. I knew something was wrong because these sounded too good to be true, and as you pointed out, they are too good to be true.
was going to get a pair for hurricane coms with my wife, but i am not paying a yearly fee. I have some 5 mile cobra radios that work just fine. we just use them in times of storms when we are out of sight of each other, but the work well past the boundaries of my neighborhood so it is all good.
I was interested in these for farm use, tractor to tractor.. after watching your video I’m skeptical. is there a radio you would suggest for on the farm use?
The other radio you listed towards the end of the video that you challenged them about on Facebook do I need a ham license to do that and does it work without service also
So I was looking at these also and they have them listed for $899 but offer now 60% off so $399 for two. But then when u go to checkout they then will off a third one for $199 w $50 off for $149 for 1! Sooo how much are these things actually!?! Is one $199 or $449.50?! I feel like they are screwinf w the price to make it seem like gettin a deal when your not!!! What y’all think?!
What do you reccomend for the small ‘hand held’ ham type radios that some of the folks use? I’m getting my ham license. Thank you in advance! Glad I found you before I bought these
Thanks, you just saved me a good amount of money, very tempted from their add on RU-vid, but I felt there was a catch to the free service, thanks again. Oh yeah, I just subscribed.
Similar to the Nextel phones we used in the 90s-00s. We had locomotive service personnel all over the country and it was super handy to reach them instantly with PTT on our phones.
Thank you for your update and review I was going to buy these radios and actually I did before. I actually saw your RU-vid video and luckily they didn’t ship yet and I canceled it and they did indeed refund my money right away which I was happily surprised about I do have a question now I live in an area or I should say a home in an area that times doesn’t have any cell service and I my daughter who lives about 300 miles away, I want to be able to talk to her what is the best way to communicate if a satellite phone the best way or is there any other least less expensive way for me to do this? Any advice you have would be great.
Blackview had a radio-phone back in the day. It included a 2m/70cm radio with ptt and Voip apps as well but now discontinued. They still had one with built in Flir though. \
Used to have a service here in Alabama that we used that was Southern Link it was a direct connect that it was a cell phone plus a direct connect between handheld phones.73
That might be the service Sprint bought from Nextel. I used to have a Nextel phone, and I could talk to anyone that I had programmed into my phone. My phone also had a feature where I could change to mode to a direct mode and use the phone's walkie talkie direct to another Nextel phone.
@@kd5you1 I had a Nextel phone one time then when I was driving for a trucking company here in Haleyville Alabama they used the southern Link it was though the railroad and Alabama Power
I would love to hear your his recommendation also. And do we need to pay or a plan and a sim card? I have basic radios that say they have a 28 mile range but only go less than one mile and are very disappointing. I need some help. Thank you
Considering the name of the channel I would venture to guess ham radio would be his recommendation. If you only need local communication all you need is a Technician license. If you need regional to global communication you would need at least a General class license. Keep in mind everyone you communicate with would also need an amateur radio license. If you just need local communication with your immediate family you might be able to get by with GMRS as the license covers you and your immediate family. However depending on the distance you need to cover you still might need a repeater.
@@bengarnett9022if those radios are blister pack FRS radios with a short fixed antenna the range is severely overstated. The ranges claimed are based on using them in a totally flat area with no obstructions such as trees, bushes, or buildings.
Wow!! Thank you so much for doing this video!!! I was just about to finally break down and order them and the fact that they are cellular is exactly what I don't want. I want something that works when the cellular goes down!! Thank you!!
@thomasadam1579 I'm not sure what you mean. It is just just talking on nextel or a radio with full quieting and no delay at all? In fact, people are using old nextel phones for this purpose.
I have Zello. Maybe it’s just my phone or whatever but I talk to a contact pushing a button on my screen and then I get a notification of a response then I have to click play like voicemail to listen to the response. It’s not instant ptt. Maybe because I have iPhone or something who knows.
Just purchased our set of 3 radios, so far they have been great. I'm in Indiana and my husband is in Nevada and they worked the whole time he was driving there. He'll be in the middle of the desert for Burning Man, so we'll see if they work there. There is no cell service there.
You kind of hit the nail on the head: this is a publicly accessible wide-area P25 equivalent system [piggybacking off of the existing cellular infrastructure] in which you purchase your radio and pay a $50.00 per year "affiliation" fee. The value *may* be in that you can "affiliate" via any nearby tower site. Also, if I recall correctly, Nextel phones [which these are supposed to be based off of, yes?] had the ability to speak *directly* to other phones without broadcasting over the network so long as you were within a certain range, which these "radios" don't appear to have the ability to do.
What brand of walkie do you suggest that I can give on to brother 300 miles away. Best for $. Budget conscious, but something I can count on. Thanks for all u do!
Looks like it has screen functions similar to older cell phones, just packaged in a walkie talkie format with a push button to talk. Fees for $50/year however are not actually that expensive. The only problem is, if there are network outages they'll be about as useless as other phones.
Your opinion: i am a truck driver and i drive in 6 western states and i am looking for communication to my home besides cell phone. Ham wouldnt work because my famiky wont have a ham license. I was looking at these as an option but is there something better. I also overland too. Thank you and great video.
Thanks for making time to make this video!! What would be a good radio i could use at a race track with about a mile plus range, and has the ability to plug in an ear piece and mic into my helmet?
Good information Jason, thanks. One question I would have is, does the working of the Rapid Radio network depend on Rapid Radio servers or infrastructure? Or is Rapid Radio only dependent on the cellular provider after setup? The delay from one radio to another seems to me they were essentially a DMR or other digital mode radio connected to the cellular network for data only. That is why they are so cheap because they don’t use much data..
This is so much deceptive marketing it’s practically fraud. People’s problem with “monthly fee” isn’t the monthly part. Also, most people interested in radios in the era of everyone having a smart phone in their pocket is to have communication outside of cell coverage areas.
I called them to ask my questions, Rapid Radio is totally dependent on Terrestrial cell infrastructure, this includes the towers, data centers and electricity. These radios are not capable of talking to each other without this infrastructure, so grid goes down, you are stuck with two bricks. You may get a honeymoon period where they work as the required infrastructure is supported by diesel power but if a tower's diesel goes down, or the data center or the IP network between sites, you can't use these radios. you are dependent on a lot of contingent power plans for these babys to work in an emergency situation. I opted not to buy them. Thanks for confirming my assessment.
So these won't work like a walkie talkie in the woods/mountains, corrrect? since they rely on cellular service. Thank you for the video by the way!!! Much appreciated!!
HAM radio won't reach another state without packet repeaters....if the power is out and the packet hop repeater doesn't have a generator an H/T will also be a brick. They are great for getting information when severe weather hits, with the rights mods you can listen (not transmit) to a plethora of frequencies. Used to be able to scan cell frequencies and hear one side of cell calls!
We have had nextel, ptt from the begining (1993 beta tested nextel) all the way thru sprint nextel, then sprint after nextel lost the big lawsuit against the Gov and FCC. Then from sprint to now AT&T PTT units. We are currently running 5 PTT units for work - each unit is 35.00 monthly charge for AT&T- these seem to be a better deal over a 6 month period. I like the fact that I pick up my radio push one button and get my dispatcher or can go into the group button. We will update later.
thank you so much for this video. You have helped from not blowing $400 bucks. I was excited at first thinking what a great off grid tool for grid down. Wait nope if grid is down these become paper weights
I spent 41 years working in engineering at Motorola including development of the Nextel walkie talkie phone. By FCC rules all "Cell Phones" must have a means of location for E911 type emergencies. A CDMA or LTE type phone can meet those requirements without an internal GPS device but eats considerable battery life to do so. For this reason, all "cell phones" usually have GPS receivers and can be tracked very accurately. This thing was probably designed for minimum cost as an IOT (Internet of Things) device and may not have a GPS receiver inside. I believe the word IOT was mentioned in one of their videos. If that's the case "big brother" will only know which cell site you are on and which antenna you are using on that site, with some signal strength info as well. This provides which direction and rough distance you are with respect to that tower. 73, from KB4LRE
Hmm. As soon as i review their connection disgrams, i realised that they are using the cell towers. Plus backend servers(another point of failure). So i've got a stupid question: whats the advantage vs my regular cell phone except the montly payments? Any thoughts? If i understand correctly if cell towers are not available, so this radio is in trouble...
They will NOT work in shtf situation. I am in Law enforcement and I will tell you we had a tornado come through and took out the cell towers. Guess what NO CELL service in the area and we had to go back to point to point radios. These won’t work without cell service it is just that simple. They are AWESOME when everything is good, I would recommend them for that but not in a power outage, tower down situation.
I know some people that have these radios and one went on a hike where they said had zero bars on their cell phone and they were able to communicate with the other radio 50 miles away. Why would this happen? I'm thinking because the radio has an external antenna and the cell phone does not.
That might be part of it. Also, this company claims that these radios work on all 3 carriers in the USA - if that is true, then they will have service where your cell phone won't since your phone is probably only on 1 carrier. But when ALL carriers are unavailable.....these won't work.
