WSHT525

I can see that. I use Car Play to avoid that but not everyone has it or wants to pair their phone to their car (my wife is one of them).

You can pair with a speaker and it works, but anything with a mic no joy unless it is your phone. I still cannot see the benefit of answering my phone on my radio since if the radio is in range of my phone, I can just use the phone? It is dumb. Seems to me that they could make this a full-functioning TNC and corner the cheap market, at least on the ham side where you can do digital modes. Agreed on Chirp, not only is it a much better application and interface, I've found that some of the settings won't stick if I use ODMaster (such as channel display and dual watch) but will if I use Chirp. Since all my radios except one (5RH Pro GPS) are compatible with Chirp, I have basically one file that I can use for all my ham radios and one for GMRS radios. Honestly, this radio wasn't worth buying in my case as far as being a good addition to my collection, I have several others that work as well if not better that don't have the bugs and quirks this one does. It is small and light, I'll give it that, but that can be a con as well as a pro. At least if it does an Alice Cooper and goes under my wheels, I won't shed a tear. Then again, that fits for most of my radios as they were purchased with that possibility in mind .

Wild. I got my GMRS license for local comms when out and about off road and camping (formerly had ZJ\YJ, AMC Eagle, and Ram, now in the Subie ranks along with a lifted & modified '79 Bus) where the people I'd occasionally go out with had no desire to get their Technician ticket, but more importantly, avoid the hams rag chewing on simplex when I'm trying to find out if i need to cut left or right on the trail to avoid dragging on a rock. Want to talk to people in your area while away on vacation just for the sake of talking to them?? Your vacations must suck. If it is something important, a phone is vastly more timely. If low priority, that's what email is for. If it just to socialize, then why are you on vacation? Then again, I've got my General ticket and I refuse to pay the cost of entry to do HF and have zero desire to collect contacts like Pokemon. 34 years in IT has given me my fill of talking to strangers around the world yet is that side of me that enjoys the technical challenges of trying different modes and seeing what I can do for as little $ as possible. The name of the horse is "Bob." As in Microsoft Bob. A solution to a non-problem.

I've had mine for a few weeks. I don't have the standard H3 so I cannot make comparisons. Understand that the H3 Plus is a beta radio that has had 4 firmware updates since I've gotten mine. It still has a few issues but those primarily are on the ham side of things and shouldn't be an issue for GMRS. Pros: it is small and light. Charges pretty quick. Battery life seems decent considering the size. Speaker is loud enough to be heard with the windows down while driving 60, though if you have loud exhaust, maybe not. Receive quality is good. Signal reports have been decent. Cons: The bluetooth PTT only works with the ODMaster app. If you want to use bluetooth with a speaker mic, you are still going to have to use a dongle. I suspect this is because any BT device you pair to it, it sets the radio as "Emitter" and if you change that to "Receiver" it drops the connection. Maybe a later FW release will fix this but currently, no joy. If you want to program with software you are stuck with either the ODMaster app, website, or a really clunky CPS. The rest of the cons are on the ham side.