I wholeheartedly agree that Cobra
radar detectors are rubbish (
see my review). But
my experience with the GMRS radios has been quite different. For that matter my experience with my Cobra CB has also been quite different. In both cases, the Cobra radios have performed up to the capabilities promised.
The GMRS radios, operating on the licensed, high power bands, with a full charge, give useful range. It must be remembered that the "12 mile" rating is explained in the manual. Generally this represents the maximum possible range under ideal conditions. As soon as conditions deteriorate, you get
considerably less.
That means, as soon as you no longer have line-of-sight, atmospheric interference, low batteries, use the low-power frequencies (or leave the radio in low power on the high-power frequencies), geographic obstacles (hills, rock, etc) you are going to lose range. Also, the "12 mile" range is with squelch OFF. That means you have RF noise as well as the signal of people talking. This increases the range you can communicate though it will not be as crystal clear as with squelch on. With squelch turned on, the radio will not let you hear weak transmissions, so you may not realize you have greater range.
We routinely use the Cobra radios from car-to-car on long trips. We use them when we go shopping, to zoos, basically to any activity where we might get separated. It's more reliable than cell-phones under many circumstances. I have had clear conversations at over 2 miles using the licensed, high-power frequencies. Even with a ridge between me and the other party, I can communicate over a mile.
We often send the kids out to play with the radios. This enables them to stay in touch with us at home and increases the range that we feel comfortable letting them go. We have twice had incidents where the kids called for help and we were able to respond a lot more quickly than if one of them had tried to make it home. In both cases the kids were over a mile away. We live in a very mountainous area so to me that's great range for a low-priced radio.
As an aside, I have had times where I have communicated over 10 miles with the Cobra CB. In those cases, I was atop a mountain and the other party was in a line of sight below. The radios were properly tuned (SWR) and had large ground planes.
You just won't get good performance out of
any radio if conditions aren't right, if the radio is not set up properly, if the batteries are low, or for whatever reason, the radio is not set to operate on high-power.
I wouldn't expect to ever get 12 miles out of any but perhaps the very most expensive GMRS radios - they're just too small to pull that off in a practical sense.
If you're looking for a radio you can live with losing or breaking, and you are good with 1-3 miles of useful range (depending on conditions) then I maintain that
the radios I got will work just fine. If you really need 12 miles range, you probably want to go to VHF or Ham, and the license that goes with them.