Everyone is surely familiar with movie scenes featuring people using walkie-talkies. Today many people use them when traveling, driving, or organizing large events. Security guards, restaurant servers, and other workers use them too. So which mode of walkie-talkie should you choose? What are their prices, advantages, and disadvantages?
A handheld walkie-talkie, also called a handheld radio or two-way radio, is a convenient wireless communication tool. In many situations it is much more convenient than a phone. For example, when traveling with friends in a remote area without mobile service, when a driver on a road trip cannot safely hold a phone while driving, or when a large event needs highly efficient team communication, a walkie-talkie is very useful. Some may ask whether a phone can do these things too. In most situations it can, but where mobile service is unstable, when a team needs to communicate, or while carrying out another task such as filming or driving, spending more than ten seconds taking out a phone with one hand, unlocking it, and making a call can cause unnecessary trouble and delay the task. Picking up a walkie-talkie and pressing one button lets you speak immediately. Have you ever called a friend while out having fun and worried because they would not answer, only to discover that the phone was on silent or buried in a bag? With a walkie-talkie, the other person can hear you without answering, making communication extremely efficient.
These devices are an analog walkie-talkie, an analog/digital dual-mode walkie-talkie, and a 4G walkie-talkie. If you are an ordinary user rather than an amateur radio enthusiast with an amateur radio license, how should you choose?
The first thing to consider is whether it is legal. What? Can using a walkie-talkie be illegal? Yes. Radio spectrum is a very limited resource. If a walkie-talkie transmits on a frequency, that signal completely occupies the frequency within a certain range, preventing other people or legitimate services from using it. China’s laws concerning public walkie-talkies are not very complete. Under Ministry of Information Industry document No. 793 from 2001, “Frequency Allocation for Public Walkie-Talkie Services in the 400 MHz Band,” public walkie-talkies—also called civilian short-range radio walkie-talkies—are generally understood to be allowed to use 20 frequencies from 409.7500 MHz to 409.9850 MHz, with transmit power no higher than 0.5 W.
However, in November 2019 the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology formally issued Announcement No. 52, updating the “Catalog and Technical Requirements for Low-Power Short-Range Radio Transmitting Equipment.” The 2019 announcement removed public walkie-talkies from the catalog. As a result, their legality is currently relatively unclear. What if you use frequencies outside those 20? Without an amateur radio license and a station license, that is certainly illegal frequency occupation. As an innovative device, however, 4G walkie-talkies currently have no relevant regulations; we can think of them as feature phones, which users can legally use normally.
What everyone cares about most is the effective communication distance and call quality that the different modes can achieve. In cities, low-power walkie-talkies have a short range when buildings block them and other signals interfere; the exact distance must be tested in the actual environment. In unobstructed open country, however, two devices can basically communicate as long as nothing lies between them. When the signal is good, digital signals encode audio and therefore sound much clearer than analog signals. Think of the difference between the analog television you watched as a child and digital television today. A 4G walkie-talkie also uses a digital signal and, in theory, should sound very clear when mobile service is good. In actual use, though, friends and I have experienced occasional audio interruptions even in cities with full 4G signal, which may be related to quality control. So, ideally, 4G call quality = digital walkie-talkie call quality >= analog walkie-talkie call quality. In terms of distance, a 4G walkie-talkie works anywhere there is 4G service, while analog and digital radios depend on propagation conditions and transmit power.
A 4G walkie-talkie’s range and call quality depend on mobile service, which is easy to understand. For traditional radios, many factors—including transmit power, antenna type, and propagation conditions—determine range and quality. Within the relatively legal limits, however, you can transmit only at low power of 0.5 W, and the environment is not something you can change, so the real-world experience of different models may not differ much. With a strong signal, digital audio is considerably clearer than analog. In a poor or noisy propagation environment, analog may let you hear content mixed with white noise, while digital can distort and become completely unintelligible. Current digital walkie-talkies generally also support analog mode.
Besides legality, range, and call quality, there are other points to consider, such as price, standby time, water resistance, and charging-port type. Chinese-made walkie-talkies offer much better value than international brands. A 4G model also requires a fixed data fee. The standby times of the models I use feel quite similar: after taking them out for two or three days without turning them off, normal use does not require charging. For outdoor use, consider water resistance; for a long trip, consider the charging connector. Nobody wants to pack a pile of chargers in a suitcase, and a single Type C cable would be much more convenient.
To sum up, if you use a radio only in cities or other places with good 4G service and want a relatively long range, a 4G walkie-talkie is a good choice. If you often travel to remote areas, consider a public walkie-talkie. If you want greater range or want to study radio, take the operator exam at your local radio association and legally set up and use a station. If you need it for commercial purposes, follow the relevant laws and regulations, pay the frequency-usage fee, and help maintain a healthy radio environment.