Motorola MG167A Walkie Talkie Review

The Motorola Mg167A is by no means an enthusiast walkie-talkie. I’d personally recommend you these if you are looking for something for kids. These are quite durable, and are great if you are planning on outings or going camping.

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Unboxing

These come in a transparent packaging, and opening it up is simple, just cut off one side. Every package that you buy has two units inside it. Once you have opened it all up, you need to fit in the batteries.

The Motorola MG167A

The Motorola MG167A

Inside the cover where batteries go, there is an anti-theft white barcoded self stick piece of plastic there. You need to take that off and not leave it. The batteries won’t fit properly otherwise. This won’t affect the operation of the radios. You need to pry off the sticker. The batteries will fit on each side of it. Battery life is about as good as the kind of batteries you use (Duracell, Energizer, etc.). They use three (3) double-A batteries, each, so you’ll need a total of six (6). Buy and use good batteries, and you should have great life as these units don’t consume much power when in use.

Setting these up is as simple as holding down the power button, and that’s really it. You don’t need to program these devices to make sure they work. There is no place to plug in a headset on this, which is slightly disappointing.

Design

There are five buttons present on the front of this device. It comes in two colours – one which is pink, and another which is a mix of blue and yellow. As far as I go, the latter is much more appealing. However, the pink one is slightly cheaper compared to the blue one.There is a small loop on the bottom that you can use to attach a cord or a clip through so you don’t lose them easily. The buttons are made of soft, solid rubber. They aren’t backlit though.

The build quality is really good. The plastic is very grippy and does not look cheap at all. It seems that this unit might also survive a few falls. The build quality is actually quite rugged. It did fall off twice from my hands, and it made no difference to it. There is a small scratch which is quite normal. However, I wouldn’t place any bets on that. These aren’t waterproof though, so I hope you don’t spill too much water on these.

 

Features

There are not a lot of features present on this Motorola. The ones that are present are aimed at children. It has a call tone which you cannot customise. A call tone is what people calling you can hear instead of the normal default ring, it grabs the attention of your family and friends before you start speaking. It’s similar to the caller tune feature that is offered by a bunch of carriers.A keypad lock is also present here. This prevents your personalized settings from being inadvertently changed while being handled by kids. There is a low battery alert that reminds you when batteries are running low.

The MG167A are perfect for kids

The MG167A are perfect for kids

The audio quality on this is decent and is how I have come to expect from all of Motorola’s offerings. The squelch while not that great, is definitely not bad. The three AAA batteries that fit inside can last you about 3 days. Mine lasted 2 days with heavy usage. There is no auto-sleep function here. Therefore, you need to make sure that you turn the power off once you are done using this device, otherwise the batteries will get drained very fast.

Range

You can read through all of my previous articles, and one thing is a constant.The communication range quoted is calculated based on an unobstructed line of sight test under optimum conditions. Actual range will vary depending on terrain and conditions and is often less than the maximum possible. Your actual range will be limited by several factors including, but not limited to terrain, weather conditions, electromagnetic interference, and obstructions.

The range that is advertised by the company selling you a walkie-talkie is never true. Walkie talkie ranges are measured under optimal conditions. Buyers should be aware that you might get less than mile range in an urban area. The 16-mile range only applies from a mountaintop to another mountaintop. In an urban area, the package clearly states a range of up to .7 miles. I have been testing these in a city where I found that they have about a 1/2 city block range. This may increase to a block if both people are outside.

Downsides

There is a very slight delay when you press the push-to-talk button, and when the unit actually starts broadcasting. During repeated use, this occurred 4 or 5 times and while it is not a deal-breaker, it is certainly very annoying. You eventually get used to it, though. One more complaint that I have is that price is definitely on the higher side when we compare this to other radios that are for kids on the market. However, this is natural for almost all the Motorola products on the stores.

Motorola MG167A

Should you get these?

These radios beep when the sender finishes talking and you can also send a beep to the other party if you want to. My only regret with this is they work on batteries only. There is no charging dock, which means that you may have to spend a lot of money on batteries. I always tend to buy rechargeable batteries, so this issue is a non starter for me.

Conclusion

The Motorola MG167A seem to be suitable for kids aged 4 and older. This thing is designed in a way that there are very few things you could mess up. The range takes a serious hit if you’re in a house with multiple stories and lots of walls between the two units, but for kids, it’s more than enough. If your child is reasonably tech savvy, he or she will definitely enjoy them.

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