The Sokos KD-WT-SK-001 is the best seller on Amazon right now. For the price, it almost seems like an impulse purchase to me. Hence, I went ahead and ordered these two, and tried them out. While the model name is quite a handful, the performance definitely has left a good impression on me. Coupled with that, it is easy to use as well. This model is marketed for kids and for marine time usage. It is categorised under marine two-way radios.

The Sokos KD-WT-SK-001

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Unboxing

Unlike a lot of other two way radios, this walkie talkie comes in a non-transparent box. The box contains two radios, wrapped in bubble wrap. I always appreciate bubble wrap. You need to buy your own batteries though since there are no batteries included with these. You get two colour choices here. There’s a red colour, and there is a blue colour. I prefer the red one more, and it is on the darker side.

If you like technicalities about colour, it is a medium violet red. There is a removable back, where you can plug in the batteries. The walkie-talkie has a clip, so you can clip it onto your belt. The charging port doubles up as a headphone jack on this unit, so that is definitely an interesting design idea. There is a manual inside as well, and it contains all the things you could need to set it up.

Design

As I mentioned earlier, there are two colours to choose from. Moving on, looking at the dimensions of this, it will easily fit inside an adult’s palm. This device is made out of good quality plastic. The in-hand feel is really good. The device is actually quite sturdy as well. You could easily drop this thing a couple of times and it would survive. This is due to the plastic build of this device. There is no waterproofing on this device. There is a blue LED light on top of my unit.

I love this colour.

As far as buttons go, the usual buttons are all there at all the right positions. If your child has ever used a walkie-talkie before, they will have no problem using this at all. The push to talk button is on the left side of the device. There are up, down keys as on the left and right side of this device. There is a menu button in the centre. the power button is on the extreme left. There’s a signal button as well.

Features

For about thirteen dollars a piece, expecting professional features is definitely not what I had in mind. There is an auto scan function on this device. You can adjust the volume electronically from the menu. There is an auto squelch as well. A blue built-in flashlight is definitely handy at night. The device has a backlit LCD display as well. The blue one has a blue background colour. That is definitely a nice touch. However, there is only one colour to the LCD display.

The promotional image

Parents who might be setting it up for your kid can lock this device to a certain frequency. This helps parents who have kids which are curious and like to play around with their walkie-talkie. A low battery alert is present as well, which alerts you about changing your batteries. Using this device is as simple as pressing the PTT key. There is a vox function here as well. It checks all the right boxes when it comes to the features a child could make use of. There are CTCSS numbers as well, and the manual is quite detailed.

Range

I love how this company has handled how it tells the buyers about the range of this walkie-talkie. They have separately mentioned the range in open air communication. They also mention the range in an urban setting. This is good on the part of transparency. Often companies throw up wild figures like “range of up to 18 miles” while the actual range is barely a mile or two.

The blue coloured walkie talkie

The manufacturer says that you can have up to 5 miles of range in a peak to peak setting, and up to three miles in a densely populated zone. Note that the number of obstacles in the path of the walkie-affects the range quite a bit. The device works on three frequency channels: 8,20 and 22. The frequency range is from 400-470 MHz. The transmission power is not the highest I have seen, but at the price point, it’s fine by me. It is comparable to other walkie-talkies in this price range. You do not need a licence to use this walkie-talkie.

Downsides

I know that a lot of features that are present in professional HAM radios are not here, but then again it would become apples to oranges comparison. What I can certainly say is that there are no batteries included in the box, and this means that there are hidden charges here. A set of batteries can easily cost a lot over large amounts of time. I have always invested in rechargeable batteries, and I have a charger for those as well. However, this is quite a bit of cost if you are shopping on a budget.

One more downside is that since the company is relatively new finding support for these walkie-talkies is difficult. These are more of a “throw if doesn’t work” kind of radio. That is fine by a lot of people, but if I am buying a product I do certainly expect somewhat support for it, at least during the warranty period.

Conclusion

These radios are heavy and well built and do not burn a hole in your wallet while buying. The size is perfect for little kids and they will love playing around with these walkie-talkies. If you are on a budget, this is an instant recommendation from my side!