I have many hand- held HAM radios and was I surprised at the quality of the clear and strong sound of the speaker and transmittingdistance of these radios. They sound as good as many of the higher end radios I own. You can't go wrong getting a pair these radios.

These Walkie Talkies for Kids strike a great balance between simplicity and functionality. Ideal for outdoor play and fostering communication skills, they make an excellent gift for children aged 3 to 14. While there are minor considerations like battery usage and the absence of advanced features, the overall durability and ease of use make them a reliable and enjoyable addition to kids' playtime adventures.

Probably more like 3.5 stars. Have bought 3 boxes of these for a total of 6 units so far to practice with during hiking and beginner prep for potential emergencies (with plans to upgrade later).My 7 y/o has a sense of the units' most basic functions. I think these would be most functional for a soludly smart 10 y/o or 12 y/o of average intelligence for kid age starters.I had quite a time trying to figure out basic operations, set up, and use parameters. The instructions are not amazing. I found that a lot of information out there on FRS+ radios don't slant towards super beginners. Usually my trusty YTube research ventures pull through, but there is either lots of hazy garbage info or too high-level info. My best advice to search something like "best practices for emergency (FRS) radio / walkie talkie use". Those results should at least give you a sense.Decent sound transmission during our practice runs in our suburban neighborhood were between 1500-1750 feet (so just under a 1/3 of a mile). This was with moderate obstructions (park trees, a park pavilion, wooden play structure, and a 3 story brick faced apartment building) and low-to-moderate elevation changes.3 walkie units were set to the same channel. 2 of those units were stationed at the park across the street and one went to the apartment property. Voice transmission could be heard within the building in the hallways with moderate clarity, which was pleasantly surprising. The property 'dips down' on a slope so that stories 2 and 3 are at and above street level. From the ground outside with the building completely between the park and the radio, the sound was pretty decent. The park in this instance would be situated at a higher elevation. It has a number of mature trees, but there is a large expanse of open space and undulating ground in the middle for disc golf and running around. The sound was also totally fine while transmitting while standing outside on one of the 2nd story balconies facing the park. I checked and measured the pinpointed distances on the Google satellite map.If you're handing these units to unsupervised kids, my suggestion would be to have a plan in place if they overhear voices and/or run into people trying to talk to them on these open radio channels. Like switching to pre-agreed backup channels, having call signs (instead of saying real names), group/team names, and cloak destination/location names. We have a code word for approaching or suspected danger that's in the realm of "cupcake".I can't speak to battery life at the moment as we're still in test/practice mode, but do plan on upgrading to lithium batteries or the Retevis rechargeable battery pack in time.