About as good as you can get, quality/function wise, for the price

I have and do own several makes and models of GMRS/FRS style radios, but my wife likes these..This is old news,but,the catch is that GMRS channels require the $80 GMRS license. There is no test, it is good for 5 years and it covers the whole family, so not all bad .

It is kinda like having a drivers license and car insurance, you can easily drive a car without them, but you are still supposed to have them.

Swat ain't gonna break down your door if you use it without a license, but many licensed users are on the radio, so you may hear someone with a callsign remind people that the license is needed and in reality the FCC can and on limited occasions does enforce that law. It sounds dumb but manufacturers should have made this info more obvious to consumers.
Anyway, back to the review..

My favorite radio (the $400 Icom F60 with GMRS & repeater freqs) is police/fire Dept grade, waterproof to 3 feet, can be programmed for any repeater frequency/PL and holds 128 channels.

My second favorite is also a professional grade Midland(only about $250)set for GMRS, but it is even bigger than my ICOM. There is a huge difference in performance between the expensive radios and the average FRS combo radio at the store, but performance takes a back seat to conveniance for my wife.

Compared to the cheap combo radios, they are both somewhat big, and my wife will not carry either one to save her life. Plus there is no way I trust my kid with a $200 radio. So, I began my quest for the cheaper smaller versions available that my wife would be willing to carry.

I have had several models before I got these.
I finally got these and have been happy.. They are light and the size is not bad, just small enough to be acceptable to my wife..

They have all the popular/needed features. The only strange thing is that if you have the keylock activated and turn the radio off the lock deactivates, kinda strange set up.

Another reviewer also mentioned that the CALL button also gets locked out with the keypad lock, again strange and it is true, but the other reviewer was smart enough to just key the button once before speaking, to send out a roger beep as the call ringer(good idea).

The screen is kinda wierd, in that, if you look straight at it, the LCD display appears weak and dull, but move the radio at a slight angle and the display is sharp and clear,but no big issue.

Over all they have become the favorite wife/kid carry radios. They are not too big( which helps reduce the wifes embarrasment at having to carry it), are very light and battery life is pretty good..The quality of the build is suprisingly good for the price and the buttons operate crisp and appear durable.

Range and use are as to be expected (1/2 mile to 2 mile max on average, depending on terrain). The only model my wife likes better are the really small 3 mile Unidens, that unfortunately have no CTCSS codes.

A word of info on CTCSS codes. Contrary to marketing claims these are not really private.. Even with CTCSS, Everybody on the channel will hear your conversation, but if they are not on your CTCSS code, you will not hear their transmissions.

This CTCSS is good in Disneyland or at ski resorts, where the channels are busy and you would normally have to listen to kids playing on the radio, but you have to remember that if someone else on the channel transmits a moment before you, your transmission will be cut off and not go out and you would never know since you could not hear them speaking.

That is why it is a good idea to use the monitor button to make sure the channel is clear before sending.

Manufacturers are making some unrealistic talk distance claims and once you learn the basics of GMRS capabilities you find that you may as well have a small 3 mile range model, rather than a big 12 mile model, since in real life they will work close to the same distance. As a general rule, the antenna and radio location are far,far,far more important than wattage output.

A small,weak 3 mile radio may reach 20 miles from an airplane or mountain top, while a larger,more powerful 12 mile radio might only reach 1/2 a mile on the ground.