Excellent video those Rapid Radios are great! And the customer service was great as well. Thank you very much to the customer service team Patsy M. And Garrett B. For giving me excellent service and again excellent radios they are truly an asset to the communication industry!
these radios have a yearly fee and they lie about that plus the cost to add more devices to your group. these are from a trash company don't buy them. they require cell phone service to work and that may not exist in an grid down or emergency scenario. everything this company touts these can do in an emergency is a lie, and again they cost $50 a year that's about $4.25 a month, even though they say there is no monthly fee.
So they tell you upfront there is an annual fee and how much it is. He even says, "If you want to look at it as a monthly fee it's about $4.25 per month." They don't claim they will work when all cell towers are down, they tell you "This is NOT an off-grid system." He never said you could add members to your group for free. They have to do work to add members to a group. Why wouldn't they charge for that? How often do YOU work for strangers for FREE? EVERY SINGLE claim you make about them is false. You don't have to like the company or the product. But why are you making things up about them? Just don't buy one of these things! You prepper guys have been marinating in your conspiracy theory juices for too long!
Damn, the company shills are out in force, aren't they? Or are they all just suckers who bought into this overpriced garbage and feel they have to justify their dimwitted purchase against any criticism.
If the some cell towers have back up generators tied to them then they should work. How do I know this? Because a friend of mine installs generators at cell tower locations
@@preparedmind101 He is right. The cell network will be the first victim in a cyberattack which is increasingly likely. The towers are then irrelevant and so is this device.
@@TK-cl1jm Neither is @preparedmind101. They don't claim they are an off-grid solution. And he DID say "that guy" would complain about it. Observe reality more.
@@TheBCSledder If you're really determined to change the meaning of words to hold it over a company's head and disregard that its once a year thing; then sure... It's a subscription. You win.
@preparedmind101 it's not "changing words", the point is there's a fee to make it work, it doesn't matter how far apart the payments are, it's a subscription end of story. The company rep on the radio said exactly what I said.
I agree if it's not a subscription than what is it? A fee? A service charge? All I know is rapid Radios act like you buy the radio and you good to go no hassle NO SUBSCRIPTION..... they basically hide and put the yearly fee in fine print. They also have deleted at least 50 comments I have made on a face book advertisement comment section of theirs where I kept telling people about the yearly charge. It's pretty shady
great concept, but u have to understand what they are. Their marketing is horrible and prays on folks that don't understand radio. Also there marketing says no monthly fees, but after the first year its actually $50 per device
@@TK-cl1jm This comment makes no sense unless it is to confirm she is a CIS woman or post-op transgender. What is your point except for name-calling which seems to be the extent of the substance a Trumper/MAGA ever presents unless it is violence?
lol ! All these what ifs about towers going down.. what if you lose all electricity, and no gas for generators and can’t find batteries and not everyone has solar panels , and what if and what if …….. all your radios are paper weights .. so get over it ….
At least the Rep on the radio admitted to the $50 per year, per phone. Their advertising is certainly not equally honest by claiming "No monthly fees EVER". Save your money, as Rapid Radio is going to be class actioned into oblivion.
Imagine being so obsessed by a person that you have to reply on every comment about him in a COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC video about radios. Get a friggin life@@superbmediacontentcreator
These things are totally worthless if the cell service is down. They require you to be near a cell tower to work, if the cell tower is down, these radios do not work. So, they are worthless during an emergency and they totally lie about being free... they are 50 dollars a year per device.
I bought these same radios with the service for a fraction of the price. They’re good for a business like mine where we are all coordinating in and off construction sites
If you guys are old enough to remember the Sprint Nextel system, this is very similar to that principal. It is still dependent on the Grid and repeaters of cell towers. Whereas Ham is independent of the grid and does not rely on the grid. Ham operators use their own power source and antennas to communicate. The UHF and VHF frequencies(typically) rely on repeaters or pretty much is "Line of site" whereas HF can easily reach Globally. Justz putting it out there, geeting your Ham license is NOT that difficult. I was 56 yrs old when I decided to get mine, and within 2 1/2 years I reached the top tier of license. Ther are 3 classes: Technician=1st, General=2nd, Extra=3rd. With each progression it allows more access to more frequencies. So Chris I recommend you go for it, and keep up the good work and videos.
We use these kinds of hand held radios at our trucking company, not this particular brand but the same thing. We use a couple hundred rented semi trucks during the harvest season and the company does not put CB radios in all of them, instead each truck has one of these hand held radios assigned to each truck. They are simple to use, you basically just scroll on screen to the contact you want to talk to then press the button and talk, no dialing or waiting for someone to pick up on the other end, you talk and the other end hears you and vice versa. and the screen shows you who is talking to you and if you miss a coms you will see a message on screen who called you last. We work in some pretty rural way out there fields and I have only had maybe once when I could not get a signal, a complete dead zone, they work 99% of the time.
Then it'll be "Well what if the generators go out?" Solar Panels. "Well what if the sun shuts off?" You can't win in the topic of radios. It's it's own paradox in the world of gear. Nothing will ever be good enough.
I have a question. If I buy 2 radios for me and a team mate, if I buy another radio, will you program that frequency into the 3rd radio? How many radios can you have on one frequency?
Some of these comments are so stupid lmao...if you are buying or looking to buy these without realizing they are LTE or internet based, you cant read. They serve a purpose for the fact that you can just hit one button and talk to the whole group. Max people you can call at once is a 3 way call on a cell phone. If you have 10 talk groups on this radio with 5 people in each group, that's 50 people you can talk to at anytime with the push of one button. It has its purpose for some people. If you like your cell phone, then don't buy the freakin radios.
That is all true. The problem is that is not how they are marketing it. They are appealing to people who want an emergency type radio that will work when their cell phones go down. You can have a good product and still deceive people to buy it. I was asked to research it by someone who trusted me. It is not for emergency use like they are advertising on the radio I told them. However, I would have bought my kids one instead of a cell phone when they are younger. I think it would be great for family use instead of a cell phone.
If the cell network goes down which is likely will with a cyber or other attack these are worthless. Only slightly better than cell phone since it can switch carriers. Not suitable for preppers. Ham radio is the most flexible in an emergency assuming you have backup solar power (long or short distance) . GMRS might be an option for maybe up to 30-40 miles and short distances with handhelds. License required but no test or knowledge involved. With a Cyber Attack the entire network will be down, the towers are irrelevant.
@@preparedmind101 Its very possible the multiple cell networks that went down because of a dry run for a cyber attack. It affected MULTIPLE networks in different parts of the country. That's not the end of the world but an increasingly likely scenario.
How much less do you think they should be? You know THEY have to pay for the bandwidth, right? They are not in business to give away free goods and services.
@@ernie5229 no but you also cant price yourself out of business, priced right for businesses to use for work cause they can right it off , thats just my opinion
@@Knarf14 It's $4.25 per month! If you can't afford that, can you afford$3? $2.50? Do you really think they can run a business charging $0.99 per month? What do you think the price should be? Keep in mind you DON'T know their expenses!
If I can get my ham licence than anybody can. Study and you will pass. Nothing is surefire but ham radio is your best option for emergency communications when cell towers go down.
I'm curious how these would pick up / transmit in very rural areas where cell tower coverage is very week or drops competely. Also, what if I travel to another state that is very rural with no cell tower coverage...although they are not down, but just farther away.
It is possible to be in a complete dead zone where no company's cell service covers that particular spot, and in that case you would not get a signal and the radio will not work. You can look at a area coverage map for each cell service.
They use cell towers to work. If no cell phones work these will not work. They are not magic. They use cell towers. If there is no tower there is no communication. It doesn't matter which state you go to. They fail the same in Oregon without a cell tower as they fail in Texas without a cell tower. They use cell towers to work. Got it?
What a great review! Thanks so much for your insight. So many people bashing this company for one reason or another and not even clicking on a link to get more info which is all on their website! I just received mine and loving them so far! You made me laugh! 😆 EXACTLY! If you can use them, buy them, if not, don’t! Not everything is about the end of the world! 🌎 I am still living and these things are awesome and will really come in handy!
So Rapid "Radio" won't work in a hurricane, or a major power outage. But at least the CEO wasn't trying to hide the fact its not a Radio, it's a cellphone without a set carrier.
If you look at all of the band plans for each carrier, AT&T has the longest range frequencies, so if AT&T doesn't work it's likely others won't reach either
So here's my question and it's not one of those, what if ninja gotcha questions. Is there a way to turn off service and reactivate it. For instance let's say you want to buy the radio now, but not use it, because maybe you can't quite afford it right now or maybe you wouldn't use it in a regular manner that would justify paying for it now but see a use for it in the future but are also worried about supply chain issues and future availability.
If you can't even afford two radios who do you think you are going to be talking to? You make absolutely no sense whatsoever. You're kind of pathetic to think you're going to buy one walkie-talkie.
So same as Nextel Direct Talk. Still need cell signal so if out in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal, it’s useless. I can do the same thing on my Apple Watch’s Walkie Talkie feature with direct talk.
Another question...why would you buy this version over the My Emergency Radio- Emergency VHF/UHF Radio. I realize this is a different radio and uses frequencies outside the cell version, I assume this is similar to GMRS or HAM... GMRS is very inexpensive w/ no test, and Ham is rather expensive and requires a test...Do you have to have a FAA License to use VHF/UHF? If they program based in your area/state, would it cover repeaters for the vast majority of my individual state?
Excellent video those Rapid Radios are great! And the customer service was great as well. Thank you very much to the customer service team Patsy M. And Garrett B. For giving me excellent service and again excellent radios they are truly an asset to the communication industry!
these radios have a yearly fee and they lie about that plus the cost to add more devices to your group. these are from a trash company don't buy them. they require cell phone service to work and that may not exist in an grid down or emergency scenario. everything this company touts these can do in an emergency is a lie, and again they cost $50 a year that's about $4.25 a month, even though they say there is no monthly fee.
They are like Trump as the "parse" words. There is no "monthly fee" because there is an annual fee. Come on man...
So they tell you upfront there is an annual fee and how much it is.
He even says, "If you want to look at it as a monthly fee it's about $4.25 per month."
They don't claim they will work when all cell towers are down, they tell you "This is NOT an off-grid system."
He never said you could add members to your group for free.
They have to do work to add members to a group.
Why wouldn't they charge for that? How often do YOU work for strangers for FREE?
EVERY SINGLE claim you make about them is false.
You don't have to like the company or the product. But why are you making things up about them?
Just don't buy one of these things!
You prepper guys have been marinating in your conspiracy theory juices for too long!
President Donald Trump is the man. 2024 our only chance to survive@@superbmediacontentcreator
Damn, the company shills are out in force, aren't they? Or are they all just suckers who bought into this overpriced garbage and feel they have to justify their dimwitted purchase against any criticism.
Working in North Carolina in a major emergency situation where cell networks are not working
So in a grid down they are pointless
Congrats! You were the first "that guy" I said would show up. 🏆
If the some cell towers have back up generators tied to them then they should work. How do I know this? Because a friend of mine installs generators at cell tower locations
@@preparedmind101 He is right. The cell network will be the first victim in a cyberattack which is increasingly likely. The towers are then irrelevant and so is this device.
@@preparedmind101He's not wrong. Shill less.
@@TK-cl1jm Neither is @preparedmind101. They don't claim they are an off-grid solution. And he DID say "that guy" would complain about it. Observe reality more.
Bring back my yellow Nextel i550 brick and we'll call it good. I really miss that thing.....
#missthe90s
Just use Zello on a cell phone.... This is no "radio" it's a kiddie cell phone.
EXPENSIVE JUNK. It requires cellular access so do NOT work everywhere. May as well use Zello on you phone!
They never answered how they could avoid charging a monthly fee. Kinda sus!
I’m confused by the “no subscription fee claim” yet you have to pay $50 a year for service?
What's so confusing? That's not a subscription fee or contract. $20 a month is a subscription. That's what all the others do.
So it's a $4 per month subscription...
@@TheBCSledder If you're really determined to change the meaning of words to hold it over a company's head and disregard that its once a year thing; then sure... It's a subscription. You win.
@preparedmind101 it's not "changing words", the point is there's a fee to make it work, it doesn't matter how far apart the payments are, it's a subscription end of story. The company rep on the radio said exactly what I said.
I agree if it's not a subscription than what is it? A fee? A service charge? All I know is rapid Radios act like you buy the radio and you good to go no hassle NO SUBSCRIPTION..... they basically hide and put the yearly fee in fine print. They also have deleted at least 50 comments I have made on a face book advertisement comment section of theirs where I kept telling people about the yearly charge. It's pretty shady
Needs cell phone tower connectivity to work. Useless if cell service down.
Does it have GPS? Can Amazon use it to track me during the Apocalypse so I can still get my Amazon packages in the woods?
Why does Rapid Radios have the Comments Turned OFF on all their YT videos?
great concept, but u have to understand what they are. Their marketing is horrible and prays on folks that don't understand radio. Also there marketing says no monthly fees, but after the first year its actually $50 per device
They are like Trump as the "parse" words. There is no "monthly fee" because there is an annual fee. Come on man...
@@superbmediacontentcreator More like Cameltoe Harris
@@TK-cl1jm This comment makes no sense unless it is to confirm she is a CIS woman or post-op transgender. What is your point except for name-calling which seems to be the extent of the substance a Trumper/MAGA ever presents unless it is violence?
lol ! All these what ifs about towers going down.. what if you lose all electricity, and no gas for generators and can’t find batteries and not everyone has solar panels , and what if and what if …….. all your radios are paper weights .. so get over it ….
Great, I'll definitely look into that.
🤔so they sell million radios in the next year or so. Then apply a subscription fee or your radio is useless. Just saying
Obviously... ah the poorly educated.
At least the Rep on the radio admitted to the $50 per year, per phone. Their advertising is certainly not equally honest by claiming "No monthly fees EVER". Save your money, as Rapid Radio is going to be class actioned into oblivion.
They are like Trump as the "parse" words. There is no "monthly fee" because there is an annual fee. Come on man...
Imagine being so obsessed by a person that you have to reply on every comment about him in a COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC video about radios. Get a friggin life@@superbmediacontentcreator
Wow Chris!
Thanks for this information. Great video content!
These things are totally worthless if the cell service is down. They require you to be near a cell tower to work, if the cell tower is down, these radios do not work. So, they are worthless during an emergency and they totally lie about being free... they are 50 dollars a year per device.
I bought these same radios with the service for a fraction of the price. They’re good for a business like mine where we are all coordinating in and off construction sites
Where?
If the power went out to long you wouldn't be able to charge your radios anyway unless you had some kind off solar power bank
If you guys are old enough to remember the Sprint Nextel system, this is very similar to that principal. It is still dependent on the Grid and repeaters of cell towers.
Whereas Ham is independent of the grid and does not rely on the grid. Ham operators use their own power source and antennas to communicate. The UHF and VHF frequencies(typically) rely on repeaters or pretty much is "Line of site" whereas HF can easily reach Globally. Justz putting it out there, geeting your Ham license is NOT that difficult. I was 56 yrs old when I decided to get mine, and within 2 1/2 years I reached the top tier of license. Ther are 3 classes: Technician=1st, General=2nd, Extra=3rd. With each progression it allows more access to more frequencies. So Chris I recommend you go for it, and keep up the good work and videos.
Interesting and necessary topic. Thank you!
We use these kinds of hand held radios at our trucking company, not this particular brand but the same thing. We use a couple hundred rented semi trucks during the harvest season and the company does not put CB radios in all of them, instead each truck has one of these hand held radios assigned to each truck. They are simple to use, you basically just scroll on screen to the contact you want to talk to then press the button and talk, no dialing or waiting for someone to pick up on the other end, you talk and the other end hears you and vice versa. and the screen shows you who is talking to you and if you miss a coms you will see a message on screen who called you last. We work in some pretty rural way out there fields and I have only had maybe once when I could not get a signal, a complete dead zone, they work 99% of the time.
What’s the annual fee for the service you’re using?
It sounds like these are decent radios but as long as you know the limitations you should be good. I don't see anything connecting to a scam here.
Many cell towers are installing backup generators. Not all but it’s getting better just in case the grid goes down.
Then it'll be "Well what if the generators go out?" Solar Panels. "Well what if the sun shuts off?" You can't win in the topic of radios. It's it's own paradox in the world of gear. Nothing will ever be good enough.
@@preparedmind101 I agree Chris, and I own 2 Rapid Radios and I think they are GREAT 👍
You can get the same ability from loading Zello app on your phone or buying a zello radio.
I have a question. If I buy 2 radios for me and a team mate, if I buy another radio, will you program that frequency into the 3rd radio? How many radios can you have on one frequency?
Almost unlimited users, it's basically a cellphone that connects to a dmr server via cellular internet.
Can I ADD radios to the same "set" - LATER?
Some of these comments are so stupid lmao...if you are buying or looking to buy these without realizing they are LTE or internet based, you cant read. They serve a purpose for the fact that you can just hit one button and talk to the whole group. Max people you can call at once is a 3 way call on a cell phone. If you have 10 talk groups on this radio with 5 people in each group, that's 50 people you can talk to at anytime with the push of one button. It has its purpose for some people. If you like your cell phone, then don't buy the freakin radios.
That is all true. The problem is that is not how they are marketing it. They are appealing to people who want an emergency type radio that will work when their cell phones go down. You can have a good product and still deceive people to buy it. I was asked to research it by someone who trusted me. It is not for emergency use like they are advertising on the radio I told them. However, I would have bought my kids one instead of a cell phone when they are younger. I think it would be great for family use instead of a cell phone.
If the cell network goes down which is likely will with a cyber or other attack these are worthless. Only slightly better than cell phone since it can switch carriers. Not suitable for preppers. Ham radio is the most flexible in an emergency assuming you have backup solar power (long or short distance) . GMRS might be an option for maybe up to 30-40 miles and short distances with handhelds. License required but no test or knowledge involved. With a Cyber Attack the entire network will be down, the towers are irrelevant.
They're great for campers, hikers, hunters, kids/parents, and everyone else not just sitting around waiting/hoping for the world to end.
@@preparedmind101 Its very possible the multiple cell networks that went down because of a dry run for a cyber attack. It affected MULTIPLE networks in different parts of the country. That's not the end of the world but an increasingly likely scenario.
Again, AGAIN, A-G-A-I-N, they never claim they will work when all cell towers are down!
You guys sleigh me!
Don't work where I live now cell service
No cell service, no communication.
They would probably be ok to have but monthly fee is to much
They are $5.00 a month if you want to look at it that way.
@@superbmediacontentcreator per radio , it adds up
How much less do you think they should be? You know THEY have to pay for the bandwidth, right? They are not in business to give away free goods and services.
@@ernie5229 no but you also cant price yourself out of business, priced right for businesses to use for work cause they can right it off , thats just my opinion
@@Knarf14 It's $4.25 per month! If you can't afford that, can you afford$3? $2.50? Do you really think they can run a business charging $0.99 per month? What do you think the price should be? Keep in mind you DON'T know their expenses!
If I can get my ham licence than anybody can. Study and you will pass. Nothing is surefire but ham radio is your best option for emergency communications when cell towers go down.
I'm curious how these would pick up / transmit in very rural areas where cell tower coverage is very week or drops competely. Also, what if I travel to another state that is very rural with no cell tower coverage...although they are not down, but just farther away.
It is possible to be in a complete dead zone where no company's cell service covers that particular spot, and in that case you would not get a signal and the radio will not work. You can look at a area coverage map for each cell service.
I would expect they would need the same cell signal as making a call on a regular cell phone.
They use cell towers to work. If no cell phones work these will not work. They are not magic. They use cell towers. If there is no tower there is no communication. It doesn't matter which state you go to. They fail the same in Oregon without a cell tower as they fail in Texas without a cell tower. They use cell towers to work. Got it?
Can you use these for overseas calls if you get a radio for a person living there?
I don't think so unless those carriers are there. Email them and ask.
@@preparedmind101 They say they can but that has not been tried and mapped for various countries.
Can u call 911 ?
If you have friends or other family members that buys a Rapid Radio, would you be able to talk to them?
You need to do a survival list or ww3 top 2 knifes
What a great review! Thanks so much for your insight. So many people bashing this company for one reason or another and not even clicking on a link to get more info which is all on their website! I just received mine and loving them so far! You made me laugh! 😆 EXACTLY! If you can use them, buy them, if not, don’t! Not everything is about the end of the world! 🌎 I am still living and these things are awesome and will really come in handy!
This company lied and everyone should return them. People were looking 4 radios to use in emergencies and that's what we were purchasing these for
So Rapid "Radio" won't work in a hurricane, or a major power outage. But at least the CEO wasn't trying to hide the fact its not a Radio, it's a cellphone without a set carrier.
Ironically they are being used in hurricane Helene aftermath and cell networks are down but they're reaching out to towers outside the down network
I like the idea with these radios.
Thanks for sharing them Chris. 🇺🇲🔪🌲🔥
Probably will not work in the back country wilderness?
If there's cell coverage they will.
These look great. I am going to get a few.
So if I buy 2 pack I cannot add more later?
You should be able to add more later.
cool
So if I am out of the country my AT&T phone will work. Can I talk to someone in my group back home?
If there are Verizon or T-Mobile towers nearby.
If you look at all of the band plans for each carrier, AT&T has the longest range frequencies, so if AT&T doesn't work it's likely others won't reach either
So here's my question and it's not one of those, what if ninja gotcha questions. Is there a way to turn off service and reactivate it. For instance let's say you want to buy the radio now, but not use it, because maybe you can't quite afford it right now or maybe you wouldn't use it in a regular manner that would justify paying for it now but see a use for it in the future but are also worried about supply chain issues and future availability.
You'd have to ask them, but I don't think so.
You'd be spending hundreds betting this company exists then
If you can't even afford two radios who do you think you are going to be talking to? You make absolutely no sense whatsoever. You're kind of pathetic to think you're going to buy one walkie-talkie.
Glad he came clean on the $50 per year fee.
They are like Trump as the "parse" words. There is no "monthly fee" because there is an annual fee. Come on man...
It’s right on their website!
It’s written right on their website .
@@denisejohnson2851 It didn’t used to be AND “no monthly fees” is their main marketing pitch. I think we can both agree that’s misleading.
Bottom line these are dependent upon cell towers same as cell phones. Two thumbs down for me.
Everything is dependant on something. Some are dependent on distance. Some are dependent on repeaters. There are no magic radios.
Yeah if they use towers...
Not a SHTF. solution
They are dependent because they are cell phones. It is just software to make them function like walkie-talkies. Ah the poorly educated.
@@preparedmind101 I like this comment. This is a marketing gimmick and a guy who cut a deal on the backhaul time with the carriers.
Can I use it to order pizza during a grid down situation?
Not unless your pizza shop owner has one and is in your group.
Would these work on a cruise? I assume yes if the cruise uses LTE repeaters.
Yes It Will
In theory yes if the ship has cellphone services of some sort.
If a cell phone works these will work. Why so many questions like this?
"But will they work on the moon? Why if I hold them up real high like this?"
lol!
these are not shtf radios ....I'm dumb as dirt and I have ham licenses
I got three and i love them very convenient and the rapid radio customer service is great thank you for the video
So same as Nextel Direct Talk. Still need cell signal so if out in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal, it’s useless. I can do the same thing on my Apple Watch’s Walkie Talkie feature with direct talk.
Another question...why would you buy this version over the My Emergency Radio- Emergency VHF/UHF Radio. I realize this is a different radio and uses frequencies outside the cell version, I assume this is similar to GMRS or HAM... GMRS is very inexpensive w/ no test, and Ham is rather expensive and requires a test...Do you have to have a FAA License to use VHF/UHF? If they program based in your area/state, would it cover repeaters for the vast majority of my individual state?
It's a cellphone but you cannot call any emergency services. There are free walkie-talkie programs that do the same thing.
Glad he came clean on the $50 a year
Per radio. For two radios, that's $100. A single radio is worthless. You'd have nobody to talk to.
sound quality on that radio was horrible!!!
What?😂 It was just loud. It sounds fine. I use it to talk to Will an hour away.
I thought the exact opposite, it sounds fantastic.
Isn't this just a network radio running Zello or some other PTT app?
It’s what Nextel was, uses cell network.
Basically yes. There are many phone apps like it that are free
Exactly this. You're paying for the Push To Talk button, basically.
Do those apps use all cell towers or just your individual carrier?