BAOFENG BF-888S Two Way Radio (Pack of 6pcs radios) – Customize Package
I used these on Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas and this review is based bf88 MOSTLY on that experience as well as a visit to Disney World.
regarding range, the stated theoretical range is a complete joke. I cannot imagine that, even in ideal conditions they are anywhere close to real.
We had a cabin on the 12th deck of the ship (open deck above pool area) at the very front. Below is a list of areas I tested from our cabin to other parts of the ship and the results.
• Cabin to outdoor deck on same level: perfect
• Cabin to interior area toward back of ship somewhat hit or miss, some static,
恩博平台 but definitely useable
• Cabin to 5th Deck straight down: worked surprisingly well. We could use these for basic communication from deck 12 to deck 5 so long as one of us was not in a closed in area on the 5th deck (main mall deck). For example, it would work in the open areas, but not so much in a club/restaurant
• Cabin to 5th deck on other side of ship (back): no service at all
* Cabin to 3rd deck straight down: Could only hear that someone was trying bf88 to communicate, but nothing more
Battery life is decent, but there is no indicator telling you when the battery is low or full. This is a big shortcoming in my opinion, especially since they warn you not to overcharge these or charge before they need it. One of the units we got seems to stay on (can hear a hiss) all the time. A couple of boxes were a bit crushed even though the shipping box was fine (indicating they were crushed prior to shipping), but the units seemed to be intact. These are small and easy to carry or wear. The build is solid (more than I thought it would be).The antennas are flexible, but if they get bent, they do not completely return to straight.
Apparently these can be re-programmed via a computer, but there is no indication at all about how to do this. We just opened them, charged them, and they worked (just set to the same channel).
We also took these to Disney World (specifically Animal Kingdom) as well as Legoland in Florida and they worked much better outdoors than they did on the ship (no surprise there). Don’t expect to communicate across the whole park or from inside a ride line where your cell does not work to someone outside (because it won’t work), but they work pretty well to speak to someone a few hundred feet away (again, no where near 35 miles or any other number of miles). bf88 One positive was that we did not have any issue with picking up anyone else’s communications on the ship or at either amusement park we went to. Maybe we just got lucky or maybe these frequencies just aren’t that popular.
