CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 10/11/2001
Playful front
As we said, the Eco Trek FRS 440 has a pretty unconventional design. Its casing is primarily white, and it has some rubberized turquoise highlights that are designed to help prevent damage to the radio, though the unit is sturdier than it looks. There's also a rather unusual, integrated antenna housed in the Sportsclip, which sits atop the radio and locks onto a belt loop or a handbag strap. Should you find yourself without a belt or a purse, the FRS 440 is relatively lightweight (6 ounces) and compact enough (5.25 by 2.2 by 1.2 inches) to fit comfortably in a pocket. As a bonus, Uniden bundles an earpiece/microphone set for hands-free use, which is usually an optional accessory for most radios.
Feature-wise, the unit has all the basics, including a power-saving mode (which kicks in after 5 seconds of inactivity), channel scanning, a silent vibrating call alert, and five different call tones, making it easy to identify your incoming calls from those of other Uniden radios. The countdown timer can be set from five minutes to three hours and sounds an alarm when the time expires, which helps users sync up while shopping or hiking. This radio also has a seven-channel NOAA weather receiver, an FM radio, and a temperature gauge. Unfortunately, the weather receiver isn't up to par (we had a hard time locking onto a station in a fairly unobstructed environment), and the temperature reading (displayed periodically on the LCD in either Fahrenheit or Celsius) was off by as much as 15 degrees. On a positive note, the FM radio receiver fared well, picking up clear signals on most of our local stations.
Beefy battery
We were generally pleased with the unit's performance. Not only were we able to communicate clearly with another FRS 440 from up to 1.5 miles away before suffering significant signal loss, but the automatic squelch feature did its job, reducing weak signal noise and preventing unwanted radio clutter.
Although Uniden claims a battery life of up to 50 hours using three AA alkaline batteries (not included), we managed only 40 hours during our tests. Still, that's pretty impressive, considering most radios are in the 30- to 35-hour range. An optional nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable battery pack is available, but such cells don't typically last as long as alkalines. Continue reading
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