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Reviews For: Motorola XTS 2500

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Motorola XTS 2500
Reviews: 5MSRP: 2,500
Description:
High-performance digital portable radio complies with P25 standards, operating on local and wide area networks. Multiple bands and water-immersible model available.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.motorola.com/business/US-EN/XTS2500_US-EN.do?vgnextoid=a5e423805ae46110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0055
N4KVE Rating: 2021-05-16
XTS2500 EXCELLENT RADIO Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have these in UHF, 800, & 900 MHz. They are fantastic, & the ones I use for ham radio have the FPP flash. That means they can be programmed from the keypad. Truly rock solid radios, & the prices are falling due to so many being retired from commercial service, being replaced by APX’s. The military bought a ton of UHF lo split 2500’s, & they have very dim displays because they were used with night vision goggles. Easy to restore to normal. My last UHF military one was $200, & those all came with AES-256 boards.
KD0DUJ Rating: 2020-04-21
Better than the Astro Saber 3 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got the XTS 2500I vhf model 3 with FPP and it is an outstanding HT and this is my first XTS series radio that I own and Motorola built a great radio and the P25 audio quality is outstanding and so is the analog audio the other thing is that the astro saber 3 is bulky and heavy. I recommend the Motorola XTS 2500I for use on the ham bands. If you purchase a UHF version the band split needs to be 380-470Mhz.
NC5P Rating: 2015-08-11
Love this radio! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This one is the VHF with FPP. Sensitivity is excellent and both transmit and receive audio is first rate. 2700 mAH Li-Ion battery lasts and lasts. Its a great travel radio, especially paired with the 5/8 slim duck Smiley for getting into distant repeaters. I also have the short stubby Smiley and the stock wideband, which is a compromise but to be expected for the frequency range. I have the Emergency Speaker-Mic, which sounds great both TX/RX. Only one P25 repeater here but it gets in clearly even indoors. Want to get a 900 MHz one next.
G0YNM Rating: 2013-10-27
Superb HT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
P25 is rare here in the UK, but we bought some from the USA for UK 70cms use, along with our Astro Spectra's.
Ours are full original tags, FPP UHF 380-470 P25 types with a good flashcode, both are model 3 full keypad sets, and they're simply superb.
You can see why first responders and other Emergency service types use them .. the quality.
Nothing i can type here would do justice to the quality of these sets or their features, just to say they're the best HT's available that we could afford without selling an arm, kidney or mortgaging the cat. again. The receiver is (almost literally) bulletproof & nicely sensitive. full TX/RX in DSP on FM and P25, MDC, Astro 25 digital, and encryption we cant use on Ham :( speaker audio is loud, full and clear on both modes
TX is solid too. 1700maH battery lasts well, professional equipment.

only niggles:
cant find decent full body size leather case.
backlight is poor.
expensive.
if you want quality - look at the XTS ... prob avoid anything from China though.

W2WP Rating: 2009-04-24
You get what you pay for,! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you need a VHF or UHF radio that is rock solid on the RX as well as the TX this is the radio for you. After owning the XTS3000 I wanted a smaller/newer P25 Motorola. The XTS2500 is a solid as they come. Yes it can be costly but if you know where to purchase it can be had for well below $1000 with a new 2000mAh Impres battery, new Impres charger, antenna, belt clip, dust cover, and programming cable. This includes FPP and P25. Once you have the software, programming is very easy. I have the Front Panel Programable which makes entering frequencies a breeze.

If you want to take your HT experience to the next level this is surely the way to go. I've tried using HT's from the "Big Three" and now they feel like toys. :)