Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought these based on their high reviews for a hunting trip in Northern California's Sierra Nevada range. We did not anticipate having cell service, and planned on using these radios as our main communication in the field. Overall build of the units felt fine, and out of the box I was looking forward to a lot of the features (private channels, silent mode, etc.). Unfortunately the included battery didn't even last 2 hours (for both units), despite both being completely charged. We had anticipated having close to 10 hours of battery life and had backup AA batteries just in case, but these radios went from showing full battery to beeping loudly with a low battery message, and then immediately shut off. We charged the radios completely using the included car charger attachment that afternoon and evening, and the exact same thing happened the following day. We lucked out on our trip because we ended having decent cell service and our group was able to communicate with each other, avoiding a potentially extremely dangerous situation. When the radio was turned on it worked great, but I simply cannot depend on it with such poor and erratic battery performance. Different pieces of gear have different levels of importance on a backcountry trip, and IMO communication is towards the very top.