It's adequate, but you get what you pay for

I'm not sure zippyoloo reviewed the same product that I bought. A mile and a half into the woods? XACT's own website states that heavy foliage will decrease the range, and I experienced this: at a distance of about 500 feet in a gently-hilled pine forest, the reception started to break up to the point that it was useless. As soon as we came out into the open, it was fine again.

I got the Xact simply to help keep tabs on the kids when we're at parks and other open spaces, and this unit seems like it will be "good enough." It's not even as good as the clunky walkie-talkies I had 30 years ago - but at less than $10, it's almost a disposable item, and it suits my limited needs just fine at that price point.

It's my first "2-way" since those clunky days, so I can't honestly compare it against its competitors. Lacks some common features, like privacy codes and varying call tones. LCD back-light is useless. While it has a belt clip, a hole to attach a lanyard would be nice. VOX mode works well. The user interface seems OK, although it seems like too many steps to change the channel. Some of the other menu navigations seem overly complicated, but I don't need to do them that often. Again - it's under $10! I don't expect greatness.

My main complaint: I bought three of these at the same time. One of them does not work with the other two. The frequencies appear to be miscalibrated: if the "good" ones are on Channel 1, I have to set the "bad" one to Channel 17, for example. And it's not just an offset, so that I might simply "add 16" to figure the right channel. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. Channel 15 maps to Channel 3, etc. I haven't yet contacted XACT for replacement/repair, and at under $10, I might not bother; just get a new one.