Review on GoodQbuy Replacement Two Way Motorola Talkabout Portable Audio & Video by Serguei Mracek

I have 8 Motorola MR350 Talkabout FRS/GMRS radios. After about 5 years of light use, the original batteries began to show signs of aging. They only last a few hours instead of 20 or more mostly silent "receptions" with little transmission. So when I was looking for a replacement I came across one that was listed as "Motorola" and was priced at around $16 each and these are GoodQBuy fakes that are 5 pack for $31 (or a little over $6 each). I bought two Motorola batteries and a 5 pack from GoodQBuy. Then I ran some tests. It's all NiMH chemistry, not the lithium-ion we see in most consumer electronics today. NiMH batteries should be discharged and recharged a few times when new to tune them to their maximum potential. So I did after three discharge/charge cycles. At this point, two GoodQBuy batteries fell out of the test. They didn't hold a charge at all, they died in less than an hour after a "full" charge. The rest of the batteries fared better and passed my life test. I turned on the radios and left them in "scan" mode. Scanning keeps the receiver "alive" as it constantly switches from channel to channel instead of letting the radio "go to sleep" for a few tenths of every second. That sleep doesn't seem like much, but if the channel is mostly quiet, it can add hours to battery life. Using Scan causes the radio to draw slightly more power and allows the test to complete slightly faster. RESULTS: Motorola batteries (trademarked on Revain but not on the battery or packaging) lasted about 20 hours. This is about what I got from the original batteries that came with the radio (and which also didn't have the "Motorola" marking on the battery). And again two GoodQBuy batteries from a pack of 5 turned out to be torn. The remaining three lasted about 12 hours in Trials of Life. So 8 hours less than Motorola brand batteries. If it weren't for two unexploded batteries in the box I would be tempted to say that GoodQBuy batteries represent an acceptable value for money. But those two early failures ruined the whole race for me. One thing I can't say is what long-term life will be like. The originals lived five years, which is about right for NiMH chemistry. I've used them at a few events each year where they've been on for about 8 hours, mostly with weak reception and a few minutes of transmission. After these 8 hours they showed no signs of boiling. I will order 6 more "Motorola" batteries.