GMRS radios are a non-negotiable part of our travel kit. Whether we’re staying in touch on the trail, communicating in an off-grid campsite, or coordinating with other vehicles somewhere remote like Baja where cell service simply doesn’t exist, a solid radio setup is essential. Today I’m reviewing a pair of Retevis EZTalk 5 GMRS radios, and these are some of the most feature-rich handhelds I’ve tested. Here’s everything they can do, plus a real-world test from a hike near our house.
What’s in the Box
Each radio ships with the handheld unit, a battery, a belt clip, an SMA-threaded antenna (so you can swap it for something bigger or smaller depending on your needs), a lanyard, a charging base, a wall plug, and a USB-A to USB-C cable. That cable can charge the radio through the dock, or you can skip the dock entirely and charge straight into the USB-C port on the radio itself.
That’s actually one of my favorite details on this model: the charging port lives on the radio body rather than on the battery. I’ve had older radios where the battery’s charging contacts wore out over time and stopped making a reliable connection. Having the port built into the radio itself feels like a much more durable long-term solution.
Standout Features
Color LCD screen. Unlike the muddy monochrome displays on older radios, the EZTalk 5 has a sharp color screen that shows both channels (A and B bands) at once, along with their privacy codes and status icons.
Dual programmable buttons. One side button is dedicated to push-to-talk, and there’s a separate function button on the bottom for the flashlight — a smarter placement than radios that stack everything on top. Both buttons also support a long-press for a secondary function. I’ve set mine up so a short press toggles between A and B bands (letting me monitor and talk on two channels at once), and a long press quickly toggles privacy codes on and off, which is handy if I need to talk to someone who isn’t using one.
Deep menu system. Inside the settings you’ll find zone and channel management, volume, an FM radio tuner, call tones, signaling, scanning, emergency settings, weather alerts, Bluetooth, radio cloning, and a factory reset — essentially everything you’d expect from a much more expensive commercial radio.
Companion apps for iOS and Android. Both apps let you connect over Bluetooth, pull your radio’s settings onto your phone, and edit everything from there instead of navigating tiny on-radio menus. Worth noting: the Android app has more functionality than the iOS version, including a couple of features I’ll get into below.
Bluetooth “BT Call.” This is a genuinely clever feature, and it’s Android-only for now. Once enabled, you can clip the radio to your backpack or pack and use your phone as the mic and speaker. Press and hold the push-to-talk button in the app, and your voice routes through Bluetooth to the radio and out over the channel — no need to have the radio itself anywhere near your face.
Built-in GPS. Each radio has a GNSS chip (using the GLONASS network rather than GPS) that can transmit location data to other radios over the air. Even without the Android app, you can view your own coordinates under Main Setting > GNSS. You can set the radio to share your position automatically at intervals ranging from 15 seconds to 30 minutes, or send it every time you key up. On the Android app, this becomes a live map: teammates’ names, last known positions, and timestamps all show up, and it still works without an internet connection. With service, you can even switch to satellite view. The app also supports geofencing, track drawing, and manually pushing your location out to the group.
These are the kinds of features you simply won’t find on a traditional $25 bubble-pack radio, but they’re layered on top of solid, traditional two-way communication — not a replacement for it.
Real-World Range Test
Numbers on a spec sheet only tell you so much, so I put the radios through an actual test. I sent my son Luca inside the house with one radio while I took the other on a roughly two-mile loop hike through our neighborhood, getting as far as about a mile away at the furthest point.
We were on GMRS channel 20 with a DCS privacy code enabled (a reminder that GMRS does require a license — mine cost somewhere around $80–90 and covers my whole immediate family for several years, and it’s a simple process, no test required).
Right from the start of the trail, communication was surprisingly clear, even with Luca deep inside the house behind drywall, windows, and doors, roughly a quarter mile away with no line of sight. As I moved farther out and dropped into a canyon lined with houses and dirt embankments on both sides, I expected to lose the signal entirely, and while it did get choppier, we could still make out words in and out. Once I climbed back up out of the canyon to higher ground, the signal cleaned right back up, even at the farthest point of the hike near a mile away.
Along the way we also picked up a fair amount of other radio traffic in the area, which isn’t surprising in Southern California, but it’s a good reminder that using a privacy code (DCS or CTCSS) is worth doing if you want a cleaner channel, even though it won’t stop others from hearing you if they’re on the same frequency without a code.
Final Thoughts
The Retevis EZTalk 5 is bulkier than the radios most people are used to, but that extra size buys you better battery life and a bit more physical protection without adding much real weight. I’ll also admit I like the playful green color scheme. It’s a small thing, but showing up on the trail with a colorful, clearly recreational radio (instead of something that looks tactical or official) tends to read a lot friendlier to other people you run into out there.
Between the GPS location sharing, the Bluetooth app control, the FM radio, the emergency and weather functions, and genuinely solid real-world range, these have become our go-to radios for trail communication, off-grid travel, and everywhere in between.
If you have questions about setup, licensing, or how these compare to other radios we’ve used, drop them in the comments — happy to help.